Matthew Hirons - CV (Download)

Profile

A well motivated Internet Computing student from Hull University who has a passion for technology. Acquired 18 years experience in the IT sector as a Web Developer/SEO consultant where my creative initiative, ideas and a genuine enthusiasm would allow me to progress and respond to new challenges.

Possess a wide range of skills in related disciplines and am reliable, flexible, numerate and meticulous. A personable team player with a positive, proactive attitude and excellent communication skills developed throughout university and work experience.

Skills

Communication: skills enhanced by giving presentations as part of my university course. Confident in discussing client's websites and search engine optimisation both in person and on the phone at The Web in a Box.

Leadership: organised a group presentation regarding a project plan for a piece of software. Involved delegating tasks, setting clear objectives and meeting regularly to monitor our progress.

Teamwork: working alongside other developers and designers in a fast-paced office environment, learnt that teamwork was the key to success for everything to run smoothly and improved my adaptability.

Time management: planned my time efficiently to ensure performed highly in both university coursework and examinations.

Creativity: developed a number of visual appealing and engaging websites and enjoy photography.

Problem solving: interested in tackling Java programming university coursework that involved creating a functional library system. Required thorough planning and testing. Achieved a mark of 80%. Quickly solving client's technical problems at The Web in a Box. Applying and experimenting with Web programming languages and disciplines.

Languages Software/Systems Disciplines
PHP Adobe Photoshop Object Oriented Programming
MySQL JetBrains PHPStorm UML
XHTML Microsoft Office Data Modeling
CSS Apache Standards Compliance
JavaScript nginx Interaction Design
JAVA Subversion (SVN) User Profiles
PERL Joomla/td> Information Architecture
XML VirtueMart Coding guidelines from OWASP
RSS Opencart SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
SVG    
SMIL    

Member of the British Computer Society (BCS)

Education

BSc Internet Computing (Hons), University of Hull
2:1 (just 2% short of a first class degree)

Final Year Project (of above course)
The focus of this project was to discover what will make a successful University campus Web presence. The side effect of this research project was a scientific approach to the development of an innovative Web site for The University of Hull, Scarborough Campus. A site was already present, but as identified, there were numerous areas for improvement in terms of creating a promotionally effective Web presence.

(See the BSc Information link for more information on my degree)

Hagley R.C High School Sixth Form
'A' Levels: Maths [B], Physics [B], Chemistry [C], Geography [A]

Hagley R.C High School
10 GCSEs including [A] in English, Mathematics, Science and Graphics and [B] in French

Work Experience

Web Developer, The Web In A Box
Fast-paced environment involved in web development projects and maintenance for a wide range of industries. Exposure with open source platforms (WordPress, Joomla, Opencart) as well as extensive bespoke development (PHP, MySQL, jQuery, CSS, HTML) and Apache server administration.

Key achievements include:

Adhere to web standards and ensure code is written well and designed to a high standard.

Leadership and communication skills developed whilst training apprentices delegating tasks, setting clear objectives and meeting regularly to monitor progress.

Web Developer, Bird and Co
Working on both internal and external Web development projects in a team environment alongside other developers and designers. Extended my knowledge in many areas of Web development including Object Oriented code and SVN.

Web Developer/SEO Consultant, Self Employed
Carrying out Web development and SEO projects for clients in a range of industry sectors. Effective time management and self-motivation has been critical since turning to self-employment.

Web Developer/SEO Consultant, Get Marketed, Bham
Directly responsible for all new search engine optimisation (SEO) and Web development within the organisation. Extensive technical knowledge of all aspects related to the Internet resulted in effective SEO and Web projects. Attention to detail and time management skills ensured new sales were processed as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Customer Advisor, B&Q Warehouse, Kidderminster
The role involved dealing with customers' enquiries, stock control and using specialist machines in the store. Completed full induction and further training modules. This position greatly enhanced communication and team working skills.

IT Assistant, All About Computer Services, Kidderminster
Primary task involved developing a basic HTML website for the company. Also accompanied supervisor on various call-outs. This position called upon many skills learnt as part of my degree and tested the ability to put them into practice in a 'real world' situation.

Personal Interests

Travel: value travelling and had the opportunity to go on a round-the-world tour including LA, Fiji, Sydney and Tokyo.

Music: enjoy seeing my favourite bands live.

Cars: member of a car club & attend meetings to share our passion for cars.

Sport: keen mountain biker and hiker

These interests highlight a determined and competitive attitude.