Have gone back to college as didn't want to miss the opportunity to get the HND in Electrical Engineering out of the way, was my original career choice (but I saw it was going nowhere) so have been pretty busy, but am managing it now...

 

Has anyone here managed to land a job in the industry recently? What skills did you show them? Can you give me an example of your website? Or your CV? Do you have a degree? I'm basically trying to get an idea of what standard I should be up to right now.

 

I've been to a few interviews in the summer, never got the job despite thinking I did well, but nope. But I get the impression the standards are high, so I would be willing to work for free.

 

I want to change my approach to just saying i'd work for free, but usually when you send them emails you don't get replies, i've done it millions of times before, so what now? And I've been applying through indeed for ages, still struggling.

 

So I guess it's just like every other industry I've tried, lot's of competition. Want to try networking with people but need to know people that will help get that start, seriously I would even pay people to get me a place. Once I get that start I can focus and naturally i'm motivated so it speeds up, can't really get moving at home.

 

I get the impression many of the experienced developers had an easier start, there don't seem to be too many developers around here who have been learning this in the last few years.

Edited November 11, 20169 yr by NullDrone

The trick to getting a job is to start developing stuff. If you have a great portfolio then a prospective employer has evidence that you can do the job.

At college i'm completely fine to do my work...

 

At home now I have no chance, I basically have to get high on my adderall to enjoy anything atm so it's a struggle. I'm battling this and it'll make me stronger than ever.

 

Today I created a timetable for myself so I know when to do things, it's so much easier to do **** when you actually feel pleasure.

 

I think I need a checklist also so I can tick off everything I need to do, it can be hard for me to know what to do next. This is what I have -

 

• Easy:

• Watch PHP Videos

• Watch SQL Videos

• Read Codeschool Slides

• Watch Codeschool Videos

• Watch Wordpress Videos

• Practice Git

• Watch "How to think like a programmer"

• Moderate:

• Read YDKJS

• Code up other websites HTML + CSS

• Practice writing PHP + SQL + Wordpress

• Practice writing node.js, angular.js

• Practice with htmlandcssbook.com and http://javascriptbook.com/

• Hard:

• Code Up Organizer JS

• SEO Plugin that anaylses page contents

• News website

• Website that tracks support for trump/clinton

Could you help update on this?

And by the way, I know people here think I'm lazy but years ago I used to wake up nearly 2 hours before work as I was that enthusiastic, by 19 I saved £10k working on minimum wage, life was amazing those days...

It's the hard stuff that matters. You can watch a hundred videos on how to build a widget but it's building your own widgets that matters. Very little in your list will get you a job as a developer.

 

How are you getting on with your multi-function website you were building?

You only applied at one job? I must have applied at around 50 and got something around 49 rejections... It only takes that single one.

 

I am sure I have mentioned this before: Why are you taking on a full stack approach? Choose frontend or backend and focus hard on it. If you want to focus on frontend then drop the PHP, SQL Wordpress, Node

 

Focus solely on HTML, CSS, JavaScript with a little bit of Git - You won't need Angular for junior roles, plus it sucks, React is the framework to learn but that will come much later.

 

get good at those and you'll be able to get a job as a front end dev - provided you have the right attitude and come across well in the interview. Qualifications don't matter much in this industry. I've never been asked about my degree.

Edited November 12, 20169 yr by rbrtsmith

I've applied many positions and have got a few interviews but never got the job for them.

 

I've been focusing on front end, I simply just know some back end.

Edited November 12, 20169 yr by NullDrone

How are you demonstrating your front end skills? Where is the website showcasing all the clever things you can do?

I've applied many positions and have got a few interviews but never got the job for them.

 

I've been focusing on front end, I simply just know some back end.

 

Your list of things to learn doesn't suggest you are focusing on front-end when I say focus on it I mean something like 95% of your study time should be spent on frontend. It's not easy you have to keep pushing forwards. You need good people skills too as you will be working as part of a team - it's important in interviews that you demonstrate you can collaborate well with others.

How are you demonstrating your front end skills? Where is the website showcasing all the clever things you can do?

 

You don't really need a website showing that. My blog is as simple as it gets. But I guess that my articles demonstrate some of my own abilities. That said employers aren't looking for clever things unless they add value for their clients. So being able to do things like improve page performance, well organised and architected code and so forth are the kind of skills employers seek.

 

Github in my opinion is the best place to show off your code to potential employers. You can also publish to GitHub pages to show dummy site examples. The demo for my Framework lives on there.

Edited November 12, 20169 yr by rbrtsmith

That's what I meant. There needs to be somewhere to show off your abilities - a website is a good platform but github does the job just as well. The key is to have something somewhere to show a prospective employer.

 

For example, If they ask about a responsive gallery or contact form validation or whatever it's good to do the Blue Peter thing and say 'here's one I prepared earlier' or to be able to complete a task and upload the results.

If you are applying for jobs show us your Portfolio.

 

Can't show a portfolio you will STRUGGLE to land even a junior role.

I recently got my first junior role. I wrote a post about it here - http://www.webdesignerforum.co.uk/topic/85699-i-have-my-first-web-developer-job/. My portfolio is www.iwillbeawebdeveloper.co.uk - it features 6 sites using HTML, CSS, JavaScript and jQuery...mainly anyway.

 

None of the sites are anywhere near perfect, but they work responsively (mostly) and show I can code and create.

 

If you do not have a portfolio website, with at least a few websites, then I struggle to understand how anyone will employ you.

 

I would advise pushing these to the top of your list:

 

1. Quit the adderall.

2. Build a website using what you know.

3. Build another website using what you know.

4. Build another website using what you know.

5. Build a portfolio website to show off your new websites.

 

Concentrate on building. Build, build, build. Now! Today!!!

 

If I can do it, so can you.

Edited November 18, 20169 yr by James Winfield

I recently got my first junior role. I wrote a post about it here - http://www.webdesignerforum.co.uk/topic/85699-i-have-my-first-web-developer-job/. My portfolio is www.iwillbeawebdeveloper.co.uk - it features 6 sites using HTML, CSS, JavaScript and jQuery...mainly anyway.

 

None of the sites are anywhere near perfect, but they work responsively (mostly) and show I can code and create.

 

If you do not have a portfolio website, with at least a few websites, then I struggle to understand how anyone will employ you.

 

I would advise pushing these to the top of your list:

 

1. Quit the adderall.

2. Build a website using what you know.

3. Build another website using what you know.

4. Build another website using what you know.

5. Build a portfolio website to show off your new websites.

 

Concentrate on building. Build, build, build. Now! Today!!!

 

If I can do it, so can you.

 

 

You only really need one example website. Beyond that employers tend to be more interested in your actual code. This is where GitHub comes in. Employers won't spend time looking at all your example websites so if you want to demonstrate one just make that focus on making it as strong as possible.

 

In my case my blog is super simple and the site itself doesn't demonstrate anything advanced, there isn't even any JavaScript there beyond analytics. However my posts speak a lot about JavaScript and my Github account has many repositories covering JavaScript, CSS etc. Open source contributions count for a lot here.

 

You could even have a Codepen account demonstrating some techniques you know, then employers can read the code directly.

 

TL;DR you just need to demonstrate that you can code effectively and put all the pieces together in a project. Beyond that you will need to demonstrate your ability to work as part of a team - open source helps here Just think about how you will add value to an employer, they want their employees to deliver value so give them that!

Edited November 18, 20169 yr by rbrtsmith