Article summary
Five years ago, I had just finished three years working here at Atomic Object, and wrote up a blog post reflecting on some of the projects I had worked on, to give a window into what the job is like. Now, in 2026, it’s been eight (!) years since I started. I don’t think I’ve ever spent eight years doing anything, so it felt like the right time to check back in and see what I’ve been up to.
Projects
At the time of my last post, I counted 17 projects from the first three years. Quite a few! But like I noted, not counting very short term engagements, it was closer to around 4 major projects per year. I generated the same breakdown as last time, and you can see that trend has definitely changed since 2021.
Despite some of the color changes in the chart (which can be separate contracts for the same client and project), since 2021 I’ve really only worked on five additional projects. Essentially one per year! That puts me over 20 in my eight years, but the reality now is that I’m working on roughly one project per year. In fact, both my current and previous projects have had me for more than a year each. This is a trend that reflects my growth in my role and the company – in these last five years, I’ve begun to be relied upon as a tech lead, which entrenches me more on long-term projects. It’s probably also a reflection of the types of projects we take on as a business.
I previously wrote that the variety of work was something that suited my interests. With 17 projects up to that point, it’s obvious how that scratched that itch. With longer tenure on projects now, have I been able to keep that up? Yes, but through other means. While there are definitely periods of work that feel repetitive, or at least boring, being more involved with technical leadership has given me a variety of experiences on individual projects that simply hopping from client to client wouldn’t necessarily be able to match.
Technologies
As far as project stacks go, there’s nothing out of the ordinary to report on. But the projects themselves have brought some interesting experiences. I’ve helped build out a custom CMS, modernize frontends for some state government tools, and most recently, create an iPad app focused entirely around interaction with a bluetooth peripheral (a project that has required some creative problem-solving every once in a while). But of course the biggest change since five or eight years ago is the introduction of AI tooling into our profession. I don’t have any commentary to share on that here, but it’s definitely been an enabler for me and everybody else to try and do things we otherwise couldn’t have before. No doubt a follow-up post to this a few years down the line will be able to reflect on many more changes to what I work on and how I work on it because of AI alone.
Reflecting on 8 Years
It’s been fun to come back and reflect on my eight years here at Atomic and as a professional. As always, I hope it gives an interesting view into what it’s like to work a software consulting job like this. I’ve also been around long enough now to appreciate that eight years is a significant tenure for anyone in any job, and while the bulk of this post is about who I’ve worked for and what I’ve worked on, what’s really kept me around so long isn’t the work as much as it is the people. It’s got to be a cliche to shout out your coworkers on the company blog, but trust that this is an earnest expression of my appreciation for them! If you’re a colleague and you’re reading this – thanks for making it easy to stick around. When the robot that eventually takes my job writes the next iteration of this post, I don’t think they’ll have had as good a time doing the work as I have.