Web agencies & career

Let's start with the definition of a web agency. It's a company that provides services for other companies. For example, a company that builds sites or webshops means the development team is working with multiple different end clients; as a result, they have limited time and a limited budget. Web agencies might have internal teams or freelancers, which they can borrow from clients. And it's the dark and bright side of the coin.

There are seven reasons for that:
1. Because of the company's mainly flat structure, there is no way to grow. You will stay primarily on the same team and in the exact role forever. There might be some exceptions, where you can move from junior to middle or even senior developer. However, the company is not interested in helping you grow. And there is a second reason.
2. The company has a relatively fixed hourly rate, which is what they ask from clients; therefore, they cannot sell hours of senior developers to clients. If they stick to a fixed rate, they will get a smaller margin to cover operational costs and make some profits. In the end, it does mean you cannot expect a salary that is good enough according to your level of expertise—a max 3-6%(inflation) increase at the end of the year.
3. You cannot expect high quality because the agency is a Chinese factory. In the world of IT, there are three ways for solutions: quick and dirty, acceptable, and perfect. Agencies are balancing between quick and dirty and acceptable. There is no time and budget for perfection. There is mostly no documentation and no unit/integration/functional testing.
4. There is almost no focus and a lot of stress. There might be a few projects in parallel when you constantly need to switch between them, and you should deliver tasks nonstop. By default, you will always be late. And you are lucky if you only work on projects. However, most web agencies also have a support lane. There might be even more. You might have 7-12 tickets/day from different clients.
5. You cannot become an expert if you only work on typical projects with almost nothing new.
6. Agencies depend on clients; therefore, they might switch directions/frameworks to stay profitable, etc. In this case, your streamlined career with specific technology might no longer be relevant. A company might also become bankrupt if it has no clients or if clients cannot pay.
7. Most estimates will be rough unless the same functionality was built before for another client.

Let's summarize:
- No possibility for growth, in case you aim for higher lader
- No in-depth experience
- A lot of stress
- Middle pay
- Uncertainty and no stability for your future

If you are new to the branch or just graduated from high school, it's probably the best place for you to gain your first experience and make your CV presentable.

Let me clarify it:
- You can work with more experienced colleagues who can guide you
- Your pay will be most likely accurate to the market for juniors
- You can learn how to work with different clients on different projects
- You can expand your network quite quickly

If you are smart enough, you can get additional benefits by completing certification and letting the company pay for it.
You can also attend conferences to show up, expand your network, and look for more exciting companies.

I understand. Sometimes, you might be in a situation where you need a job and have almost no time to find something more suitable. However, don't stay that long if you are looking for a career. 

Don't waste your time.