Are CMS Developers Real Developers?

Last week, .NeXt Generation hosted a CMS Panel to debunk the myth that CMS developers aren’t “real” developers. Even though we were one man down, we had a great discussion between Anthony Dang (Head of Development, ISS LiquidMetrix), Joe Price (Technical Director, Ethisys), and Mark Everard (Technical Director, Made to Engage).

Why does this stigma exist?

We began by discussing why this stigma exists in the first place and the predominant reason seems to be that there is a collective lack of awareness of what CMS developers actually do. When I was inviting people to attend this meetup, I had several people reply to me “well, obviously CMS developers aren’t real developers, all they do is make websites”.

Another reason seems to be that, because a lot of CMS developers work for digital agencies, their work is more exposed than traditional application developers. If a CMS developer messes up on a project, it’s more visible than if they were developing an internal application. It probably doesn’t help that digital agencies are often driven by strict deadlines set by eager clients, which can lead to rushed work.

There also seems to be a tendency to assume CMS’ are all the same, so CMS developers get asked to work on new CMS’ to the same standard as their specialism. For example, and Umbraco specialist may be asked to work on a Sitecore project, without being trained in that system or given any support, because they’re both based on C#. CMS developers, like most developers, are by-and-large pretty smart and would undoubtedly be able to pick up a new CMS, but it takes time and practice to master it.

Why should we bother debunking this?

For hiring managers, if you don’t appreciate the value CMS developers could add to your team, then you could continue to miss out on top talent. We all know that resourcing for developers can be challenging (normally) because the technology market is so candidate-driven (current pandemic excluded), so it’s important not to limit your talent pool further by job title. As Anthony said in our meetup, not everyone understands the benefits of CMS experience. For example, Umbraco, in his words, is a “C# developer’s playground” and exposes world-class design patterns, so it’s a good skill to have in your arsenal.

For developers, you need to be aware of this perception to understand how to combat it. You may have been passed over for roles / opportunities because of this prejudice without realising.  

So what advice would you give to developers?

It’s good to embrace your niche, but don’t close yourself off to new technologies. You should look for ways to broaden your skill set that supports your specialism. Get under the hood of your CMS to understand how it all fits together and start thinking about the architecture behind it. Can you talk about hosting it in Azure, using Powershell, ElasticSearch etc? When you can do this, you’ll sound a lot more impressive than “I can build websites with Umbraco”, and this will help prevent you from becoming pigeon-holed.

We’ve mentioned that CMS developers can get lumbered with new CMS’ they don’t have experience in. If this ever happens, don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know”. If you don’t, it could come back to bite you on the arse, so best to be upfront and honest.

Keep your GitHub up to date, especially with all the new tech you’ve been learning. If you’re caught in an interview with a hiring manager who thinks you only build websites, you can use it as evidence to the contrary.

What advice would you give to hiring mangers?

Remember to look beyond the job title, it only tells you so much. You may see CVs that say “Full Stack C# Developer”, but actually the tech they’ve worked with is very out of date and legacy. Compare that with “Umbraco Developer” who understands good design principles and the architecture behind the CMS, who do you think could be the stronger candidate for your team?

Share this advice with your HR / internal recruitment team. Make sure you’re all on the same page about what’s important to look for in a CV. If you don’t, they may be filtering out strong candidates because they didn’t fully understand your requirements.

Understand the benefits of CMS experience. Some argue that you shouldn’t write code for the sake of it, and if there is an efficient and effective out-of-the-box solution, why reinvent the wheel?

What did we learn?

It’s pretty obvious when you think about it, that you shouldn’t judge someone based on their profession. There are good and bad developers, accountants, bankers, lawyers, recruiters etc, and looking at a job title only gets you so far. When we start appreciating the value-add others can bring to a team, then we open ourselves up to greater opportunities to recruit top talent.

What are your thoughts on this? Have you been a victim of this stigma before? Has it changed your mind about what CMS developers are capable of? Do you disagree with any of the above? Leave your comments below!

You can watch the full meetup here: https://youtu.be/fJxv-FsemGo.

It goes without saying, all the comments above are my own opinion and not that of Xpertise's.