How to Get a Dev Job

Know your fundamentals

So, I am going to talk, more or less in the terms of a web design and development. But, this applies to any type of development really.

So, first of all, you need to know your fundamentals. You need to have a good solid understanding of that. If you have read my newsletter for any period of time, you know how important that is.

So, assuming you know your fundamentals. In the web stack, that is HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, understanding Client-Server model, request-response model, Server-side rendering versus Client-side rendering. If you are not sure of that, you can start with my course the 2 Hour Web Developer.

You don't necessarily have to be a full-stack coder developer but you should understand it. If you have a touch of full stack knowledge, that would just increase your chance of getting a job. Although it is not an absolute.

So, yeah. Know your fundamentals. If you don't know what the fundamentals are, you can check out my previous articles.

Knowing your fundamentals goes beyond understanding the languages. You have to be able to produce something. So, that leads me to my next point.

Build a portfolio website

You know, your showcase on the web. Make sure it looks good. Even if you sell yourself as a backend developer, still make sure your portfolio website looks good.

A portfolio website should be a properly hosted site. You can do it for free on GitHub and so on.

But, it should basically be an outline of the work you have done and have your resume as well.

Do two to three small freelance projects for local non-profits

So, one of the catch 22's in getting your first job is that, a lot of jobs out there is that, you need to have experience to get the job. How do you get experience if you can't get a job.

How can you get the experience? This is what you will hear all the time.

Well, the hack for that, the cheat code for that is to go out and do two to three small free launch projects. It could last a week. It could last two weeks. A local coffee shop, a local non-profit.

It doesn't really matter who you do the job for. And it doesn't really matter what you do when you do it. It could be updating their WordPress. Setting up their Shopify.

The key is to be able to show some real world work. One project that you do, even for free, is worth 100 to 200 tutorials you could do online.

So, getting those two to three projects serve two purposes.

1. It gives you confidence. This is because you are going to work with people outside the process of development.
2. You are going to add a much needed experience.
3. You are going to have some real world projects to show that you will put on your portfolio site.

When you go on to a job interview, you can actually show real world work that you have done for somebody. That is worth a lot.

So, that is a crucial third step in the process.

Then, once you have these projects, you put on your portfolio site. You are in a much better position at that point in time.

Rooting for you,

Karl ⛹️