So What Industry Are We In Anyway?
Recently I applied for a new (cheaper) business account after over a decade with my current bank. Filling out the application reminded me of doing this very same thing many years ago, and not being able to find my ‘industry’ in the list they provided. Back then I just assumed it was because web development was pretty new. Imagine then my surprise when I found exactly the same problem on this latest application.
The banking application has ten major ‘Industry’ options, and a much larger list of sub-items underneath that. Here are the ten major categories:
APPLIED SCIENCES
ART, CULTURE, RECREATION AND SPORT
BUSINESS, FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION
HEALTH
NATURAL RESOURCE INDUSTRY
NOT EMPLOYED
PROCESSING, MANUFACTURING AND UTIL
SALES AND SERVICES
SOC/GOVT SERV, EDUCATION AND RELIGION
TRADES, TRANSPORT, AND EQUIP OPERATORS
I went through every single item under each of these, and not once was the word ‘Internet‘, ‘Web‘, ‘Computer‘ or even ‘Information Technology‘ listed! There were two references to ‘Technician’; once under APPLIED SCIENCE and once under ART, CULTURE, RECREATION AND SPORT, but I didn’t think that was the right fit. I was tempted to select ‘Embalmer’ but thought that might not mix too well with the business name.
Where were all the names we know and love: ‘Front-End Engineer‘, ‘Database Administrator‘, ‘UX Designer‘, ‘SEM and SEO Specialist‘ and just plain old ‘Web Developer‘? For that matter, why isn’t ‘Internet Services’ or something like that its own industry. Considering that this form was created by someone in this business in the first place you’d think they would notice the glaring inconsistency.
I finally decided that my business was best represented by ‘Business Service Professional’ working in BUSINESS, FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION. If they’d allowed it, I would have checked off a whole number of titles that gets closer to what really goes on in web development: ‘Arranger‘, ‘Transformer‘, ‘Choreographer‘, ‘Comedian‘ and ‘Butcher‘ come close.
You can see the list here (pdf).
