About me
I'm a thrill-seeker and entrepreneur.

SEAN SZURKO
WEB DEVELOPER AND UX SPECIALIST FROM CHICAGO
I am a full-stack Ruby on Rails developer with heavy interest in UX and all things front-end. I started coding for fun and to satisfy an itch for a local social networking app. I then began learning new web technologies, such as JavaScript, Heroku and Amazon-AWS to improve existing and new projects.
I am an entrepreneur and adventure seeker. Some of my favorite activities outside of programming are downhill mountain biking, snowboarding and fly fishing.
Resume
Places I've worked and skills I've acquired over the past decade or so.
Bluewater Inc.
2017 - PresentRemote Ruby on Rails Developer
Full-Stack Ruby on Rails Developer at Bluewater Inc.
Camfil APC
2016 - 2017Remote Ruby on Rails Developer
As a full-stack Ruby on Rails developer at Camfil APC, I am in charge of maintaining all aspects of our customer facing site, CamfilAPC.com. This includes implementing new ideas from management with a heavy focus on front end and user experience. But, can also target increasing organic page rank via on-page SEO, or squashing bugs and increasing test coverage in the existing code base. Understanding user needs and potential pain points via Google Analytics is another large part of my position. Often leading to an intimate and sometimes frustrating knowledge of browser quirks and nuances when it comes to cross-browser compatibility in JavaScript, jQuery and CSS.
- Maintained all aspects of CamfilAPC.com
- Redesigned, wireframed, mocked-up and prototyped new ideas for customers
- Increased unit and integration test coverage
- Employed on-page SEO tactics to increase organic page rank
- Constructed tools to increase coworkers productivity and increase company sales
- Fixed bugs and refactored codebase from inherited projects
Freelance Web Developer
2015 - PresentFreelance Web Developer
As a freelance web developer I am a jack of all trades, from simple Bootstrap bug fixes, to building full scale, complex social networking apps. Maintaining honesty, efficiency and professionalism with project timelines and cost projections allow me to stay ahead of my competition and keep clients happy. I am a stickler for the "details", and clean, professional UX are my core design principles.
- Managed client budget and timeline expectations
- Learned new and applicable tools for projects
- Quickly adapted to changing design trends
- Delivered clarity to vague initial project specs
Poker Professional
2008 - 2014Online Poker Professional
During my 6 year career as a professional poker player I climbed from small stakes, full ring, no-limit hold em' to become an expert in high stakes shorthanded and heads up games. Due to ever-increasing regulations, market shrinkage, and decreasing hourly expectation I decided to quit and exited online poker in early 2014.
- Conducted deep statistical analysis of opponents and tendencies
- Solved complex decision tree problems
- Placed 4th in WSOP event for ~137k
Services
I am a moonlighting freelancer and currently offering a variety of small to mid-sized project services.

- Template to Fully Custom Solutions
- Beautiful User Interfaces
- Industry Leading Practices
Web Development
I am experienced in all facets of web development, but I specialize in crafting beautiful designs for small to medium sized businesses and intimately understanding target markets.
My builds are W3C standards compliant and are fully responsive with the latest devices and browsers. In addition to fully custom solutions I also provide template and à la carte services.
Skills
Technologies I excel at.
I'm strongest on the front end of the stack and have an expert level understanding of HTML, CSS, and Bootstrap. My code is clear and concise but doesn't sacrafice readability in order to visually shorten it. I understand Ruby and JavaScript well and have a decent understanding of several of their gems and libraries, ensuring I'm not reinventing the wheel with every project. In addition to hard programming skills, I posses several softer skills, such as Illustrator, Sketch, and Invision App for wireframing, mockups, and prototyping.
Ruby on Rails
85%
JavaScript
75%
HTML5
90%
CSS3
90%
Bootstrap
95%