开源日报 每天推荐一个 GitHub 优质开源项目和一篇精选英文科技或编程文章原文,坚持阅读《开源日报》,保持每日学习的好习惯。
今日推荐开源项目:《看算法 Algorithm-visualizer》
今日推荐英文原文:《Why Is It So Hard to Get Hired as a Junior Developer?》

A 今日推荐开源项目:《看算法 Algorithm-visualizer》传送门:项目链接
推荐理由:该项目名为算法可视化工具,是一个交互式的在线平台,可以从编写的代码中将算法可视化,通过程序动态展示算法运算过程。也可以修改其中的代码,从而得到不同的二叉树、列表...
今日推荐英文原文:《Why Is It So Hard to Get Hired as a Junior Developer?》作者:Samuel Martins
原文链接:https://medium.com/better-programming/why-is-it-so-hard-to-get-hired-as-a-junior-developer-920b5372f503
推荐理由:就业难,升学苦,且迷且惘且努力。

Why Is It So Hard to Get Hired as a Junior Developer?

Getting your foot in the door

Ever wondered why it is difficult for junior developers to get hired? I mean, unless you are lucky enough to get hired immediately after graduating from college or once you finish that bootcamp project, getting hired as a newbie is quite the hustle.

I have seen and heard about developers out there getting a job within a month or two of sending out applications. So why is it that at the same time, you hear about developers who have been at it for years without employment? Is the industry saturated? Are jobs being outsourced to online platforms like Upwork and Fiverr? I decided to try to get down to the bottom of this because it seems like it is a demotivating factor for promising developers looking to dive into tech.

Here is the thing: The problem is that most junior devs do not have the skills necessary to get the job. Now I know that sounds a bit unclear. Let me explain. Most junior devs apply for jobs using simple projects as part of their portfolio. Yes, I am aware that you can make a website, a calculator, a weather app, a to-do app, etc. These are all valid reasons as to why you should get a chance at a tech company, but you still do not have the skills to get in. What do I mean by that? You have to be able to prove that you can hit the ground running on day one. Say you are applying to an e-commerce company with no knowledge of what e-commerce or things like Shopify and Woo-commerce are. There is a high chance that you are not going to land that job because you have no practical skills in that field.

A lot of the companies out there are looking to take a chance on an experienced developer. Going back to the example above, employers will be more willing to take you if you have built some sort of e-commerce web app or integrated different payment gateways within a site. Having the programming knowledge of how things work alone is not enough. You need to have the practical application under your belt as well. It does not have to be a big system. You need only show that you understand the ins and outs of the system in question and the practical experience to get everything up and running should you be given the chance.

Another problem is that a lot of junior devs apply to tech giants like Google and Facebook because, well, they are the giants in tech.

To be honest, if you are starting your career, your chances of getting into the big leagues are slim. The main goal as beginner developers is usually to get hired and get your feet wet as fast as possible. What you need to do is to get a job at any company that will provide a space for you to build the experience. From there, try applying to higher-rated companies as you climb the ladder. It is going to be easier for you to get a job that way. I am not saying to not shoot for the big companies right off the bat. If you think you have a shot, go ahead, but do not put all your eggs in one basket.

It is OK to take a first job where you might get $60,000 a year rather than turning it down and expecting a call from a company that will give you $150,000.

Are the jobs there? Yes, but you need to be more skilled. A lot of successful developers started from digital agencies, freelance, or just as poorly paid interns. Then after a couple of months or a year, they get to a bigger company and keep advancing until they make it in the developer world.

Let me make this crystal-clear: There is no company out there that will be willing to hire you when your portfolio is full of YouTube course simple projects. Change them, make them your own, combine different related projects into one. Anything that can make the employer see that you can be creative enough to create a problem and still be able to solve it. Go outside the box. If you want to create a chat app, go ahead. Make sure you polish it up, though. Make good use of best database practices, UI/UX elements, API calls, etc. to impress the employer to the point where not hiring you would be a loss to them.

Another thing junior developers seem to forget is that a lot of people can code these days. A lot of people out there can follow a tutorial and make an app or a website even without learning how to code. The big question is, how are you going to differentiate yourself from everybody? You need to have projects that make you stand out as a professional. A person that the company wants. A person who can bring value.

If you are applying for a front-end position, make the employer see that you know how to work it like a beast. Go to a site like Behance for design inspiration, then tweak some of it to give your project a little bit of uniqueness! Do not expect to get hired with shoddy work. The same applies to back-end and full-stack applicants. Companies need to make sure that they are going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on top-notch developers. No one wants to hire a developer, only to take them back to training for months — unless you applied for an internship position.

There has never been a perfect developer. There will never be one because of just how much tech is changing. You are not expected to know every technology. Stick with the stack you set out to learn. Become so good at it that no one will be able to doubt your skills.

There is something I learned from a developer named Victoria Sun in a YouTube video from a couple of years ago. She said, “Be true to yourself and let your work speak for you because ultimately, they cannot ignore you if you do amazing stuff.” That drives me to become better every day, and that is the advice I’d give my younger self and any other person looking to go into tech.


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