by Zell Liew

How to get hired as a junior web developer (it’s hard but you can do it!)

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It seems impossible to get a job as a web developer. Each job posting you see says that you need to know React, Vue, Angular, Node, Gulp, Webpack, Sass and plethora of other skills you may have heard about, but don’t understand at all.

Is it possible to get hired without knowing all of them? Can you learn on the job? Will you get rejected for not having enough experience? And how much experience do you really need? Two years? Five years? Or more?

Can you even get a job without spending three years coding things yourself? Why is it so hard to get a job as a web developer?

In this article, I’ll share my thoughts about getting into web development. I’ll also talk about how I found my first job as a developer.

First, it’s not about getting a job

This may sound contradictory, but it’s not about getting any job. Before you look for your job, you need to know what you want to do, and where you want to work.

Do you want to be a developer for a creative agency, where you make beautiful websites that are designed by the most creative people you’ve ever met?

Do you want to be a developer for a startup, where you build cool stuff (like apps) and hopefully create something that makes the world a better place?

Do you want to work in a large company, where you’d gain the stability and salary a large company can offer, while still doing something meaningful?

Or do you want to freelance and help people make websites while you travel from place to place?

You must first know where you want to go before you can get there. If you want to get just any job, you’ll end up trying to learn everything and getting nowhere.

So, first, begin with the end in mind. Ask yourself — what do you want as your first job? When you do so, bear in mind that you can change jobs later. Start at a creative agency, then freelance or create a startup later if you want. Your answer is important, because it’ll inform your path as a developer going forward.

Learn the necessary skills

Once you’ve decided where you want to go, you need to learn the necessary skills to get there.

If you want to be a developer for an agency, you need to have a keen eye for design. You need to be able to convert Photoshop documents, AI, or Sketch files into websites. You may also need some JavaScript skills to provide animations and interactions that fall in line with the design.

If you want to be a developer for a startup, you need to have some business sense. You need to know which features are important and which aren’t. You also need to be able to make applications for your startup (make sure those JavaScript skills are good enough), and you need to be able to communicate your thoughts and ideas to your colleagues.

If you want to freelance as a web developer, you need to know both the front end and the back end (in Wordpress, at least). This way you can take on jobs for agencies, startups, and your own clients. Freelancing right off the bat can be a difficult thing to do. You need to learn the business side of things along with the technical side of things, all at the same time.

If you want to become a developer in a large company, I don’t have much advice for you. I’ve never worked for a large company myself, but I’d suggest that you do your research before applying.

I do know that, before you apply for the position you want, you need to demonstrate that you have the necessary skills and the right attitude to work independently without supervision. That means you need to create a portfolio.

And I’m not just talking about your website. I’m talking about a portfolio of work that makes you proud. It doesn’t matter where you keep it, but you need to be able to bring it up and talk about the things you’ve made. Your portfolio should contain at least one (preferably more) project that you can show to your potential employer.

Once you have this ready, begin applying for a job.

But what about those tough requirements?

Finding a job through an advertisement is difficult. I’ve definitely struggled with it. Searching for a job that way stresses me out and makes me feel like I don’t know nearly enough.

Even today, if I look at any random job ad, I can safely say that I don’t meet all the requirements. I don’t know enough to be dangerous with React, Angular, and Vue at the same time.

But that didn’t stop me from finding my way into web development, and that doesn’t have to stop you either. You can do so much than applying for jobs through advertisements.

Here’s what I’d recommend: hustle your way into a job.

How to hustle

While I first learned about web development, I worked at as an intern in a small startup. I was mostly doing administrative work at that time. In about a month, I built my first Wordpress site. I designed and built it myself. It was hard for me to contain my excitement. I was so proud of it!

I wanted to tell everyone about that site (spoiler alert, it’s my blog, the very first version). I showed it to my manager and talked excitedly about my progress with web development.

To my surprise, she started asking me questions about the company’s Wordpress site. Could we change the colors in a Wordpress WYSIWYG editor? I told her we could, and showed her how to do it (inline styles FTW! This shows you how bad I was then).

I answered all her questions. And I asked if they wanted more functionality for the site, like a Datepicker that properly links visitors to their hotel booking API. She was excited about this idea, and I spent the next month or two pushing aside my admin tasks while learning some jQuery. Then I got the job done ?.

You see, you don’t need super awesome skills to get into the web development field. You can begin almost anywhere! Possibly even in your current job.

Aside from hustling within your company, you can also go to meetups. It’s the best place to look for jobs, as far as I know.

Go to meetups

Aside from hustling within your company, you can also go to meetups. It’s the best place to look for jobs, as far as I know.

Many companies hire people from meetups. I got my first part-time job as a front-end developer this way while I was still in school. I simply walked into every meetup I could think of, introduced myself, and talked to people. That’s it.

But what if I’m shy and I don’t know what to say?

You already have things you want to say, don’t you? You’re excited about web development and want to share it with everyone. You want to talk about what you’ve done. You want to learn so much more. You want to get hired as a developer. You want to…

Express yourself. Say whatever is in your mind. You’ve kept it bottled up inside of you, because you’re afraid that nobody wants to hear about your boring life. You’re afraid that people will frown on you. You’re afraid that people will ignore you.

But your life story is what companies want to hear. They want to hear about you to make sure they hire the right person. So feel free to share.

Yes, you will be ignored. Yes, you will get rejections. So what? If you stay in a corner without talking to anyone, you’re rejecting everyone before they reject you. And then what’s the point of going?

You need to step out of your comfort zone and be honest with yourself and the people around you. Say what you want to say, share what you’re excited about. Speak your mind. Miracles will happen sooner or later. I guarantee it.

Should I talk to certain people?

Talk to everyone! It doesn’t matter whom you talk to. If people resonate with you, they’ll ask questions and let you talk more. If they’re not interested, they’ll find a way to escape, and that’ll prompt you to talk to someone else.

All it takes to start the conversation is this: “Hi! I’m Zell!”

From there, it doesn’t take much for people to ask you who you are, what you do, or what you’re doing there. You can then start sharing about yourself and asking them about themselves. Remember to listen when they talk. It’s only polite to return the favor if you want others to listen to you.

What if you don’t get any leads?

Don’t expect success. You won’t land a job with everyone you meet. Don’t even expect to land a job with ANYONE you meet. You’re just there to share who you are, meet people, and hopefully make some friends. Don’t expect anything, but welcome it if it happens.

(And things will start to open up for you. Try it!).

Follow up

If you want to talk to someone further, make sure you follow up. Send them an email after the event. Say Hi. Try to help them out if possible (look at their website and ask them about stuff). Most people will appreciate you for trying to help.

You don’t have to be an extrovert

I hate crowds. I still do. If you find me at a meetup today, you’ll think I’m an anti-social person who only cares about free food. But if I can do it, you can too.

Wrapping up

Is it hard to get a job as a web developer?

Yes. It is especially hard to get a job if you’re trying to get hired through job advertisements. You’re comparing yourself with thousands of other people, which is why it’s hard.

Besides applying for jobs through advertisements, try talking to people and sharing what you’ve built. You might find your way into web development without knowing how you did it. I still don’t know how I did it, but I’m happy and grateful for the things that have happened along the way as I’ve shared my journey with others.

I hope you’ll get into web development, and I hope you have fun while doing so. :)

By the way, do you want to learn JavaScript but don’t know how to start? If you are, try going through this JavaScript Roadmap that I’ve built for you. In it, you’ll learn how to overcome your barriers to learning JavaScript, and you’ll get a roadmap to follow to learn JavaScript properly. Have fun!

Oh, by the way, if you liked this article, I’d appreciate it if you could give me some claps so more people see it. Or you can share it. Thanks! ?

Originally published at zellwk.com.