Here is the thing: I graduated from a bootcamp where I learned C and C++, programmed microboards and made some computer vision projects. I learned basically nothing about web development.
One day the bootcamp held an event where a lot of different company attend, looked for junior developers. I have a nice conversation with one of them, they looked for frontend developers. I decided that I would like to join them since I have a strong affinity for frontend and this is the carrier path I looking for + it's a really cool company.
But still, I didn't have any real experience in web development.
In the last few weeks, I made a portfolio to showcase my works and started to get into HTML, CSS, Javascript, and Vue.js (they use this framework). In the meanwhile, I hoped they will contact the bootcamp's headhunter team (we are not allowed to get a job by ourselves, they manage the matchmaking between us and the companies). 30 minutes ago I finally got a message from the headhunter team:
Hey, they want to meet you next Wednesday!
I was so happy. There are about 60 graduates from this bootcamp and most of them are specified for frontend. But they want to see me, the C++ guy! This is a great start, but now comes the hard part: I have to impress them at the interview.
Which leads to my questions:
- What materials do you recommend?
- Is it a good idea to make a website using Vue dedicated for them?
- What would you do I you were in my place?
I don't want to fake anything, I just want to show them that I am eager and capable of learning and I am enthusiastic about frontend development.
Any advice is very appreciated, this will be my first interview as a "developer" so I am a bit nervous but I think I can do it. Thank you!
Top comments (11)
Hey there! Congrats!
So I was in a sort of similar position recently (was out of work and doing freelance for a year and a half) and recently was hired for a job using Vue JS, which I didn't have any experience with. This is a slightly different situation as I'm not junior anymore, but I can tell you what helped me land this.
Enthusiasm did help me, as well as my eagerness to learn and ability to pick up things quickly. I didn't have a Vue demo or anything, but I showed them websites I had worked on in the past and a React demo I had tossed together for a different interview (that ended up not happening). This was firmly to demonstrate that I have an interest in learning new things and the ability to apply them even without a ton of experience.
Since you're aiming for a junior role, you don't need to stress about have a Vue demo IMO, but talking about your success in the bootcamp I think is a good idea. You picked up new skills fast! As others have said, focus on HTML/CSS/Vanilla JS during this week, but I don't think it would hurt to explore Vue on a surface level. During my interview I mentioned that I had investigated the library to see what it could do, read over some of the documentation, etc.
Your portfolio looks really good! Don't be afraid to show off your work and your passion for learning!
Ask the headhunter if they want you to bring your laptop to the interview.
Best of luck!
Thank you Leila so much for the kind words and the useful advice!
Hi Horvath! Congrats!!!
I don't have any experience using Vue so I can't say how long that will take (as opposed to using the time to learn frontend concepts) and how far that will take you in impressing them, but I have two awesome resources for you:
1) A good thing to do is start from the end: anticipate their interview questions. Here is a great resource for simple front-end interview questions. It won't take too long but it's enough to get you an overview and provide you with more leading questions for you to answer.
github.com/yangshun/front-end-inte...
2) This is a little bit more advanced but if you want to know all about front-end in an organized and sequential order, this is your one-stop shop:
frontendmasters.com/books/front-en...
3) A great guide on creating a Vue project
taniarascia.com/getting-started-wi...
If you only have one week, keep a few quality resources so you can hyper-focus on what matters most. Also! If you have a good email rapport with them, ask them what they are looking to improve on the front-end. That might give you an idea on what you can prepare for and what questions they may ask. Good luck!!!
OMG, these resources are so helpful! Thank you very much, it really helped a lot :)
hey Donát,
as a fellow bootcamp graduate and now a front-end dev I feel I must help you out with at least a couple of sources :)
One week is really not much to dive deep into frontend development, so I think you should start with the basics. Learn about html, css, and vanilla javascript. You can learn about the popular frameworks later on in the job and as you have more knowledge.
It really depends on what kind of materials you like, eg. if written, dev.to is an excellent place to find sources about frontend, if you like videos, checkout these channels on youtube: traversy media, dev ed, web bos, leveluptuts
Anyways good luck with the interview!
If you have some questions feel free to contact me in private.
Hi, thank you very much for the kind advice, they are really helpful :)
Do basic research about how web development has evolved in the past few years. If you are really enthusiast about learning web development one would expect you to have at least basic information about it. like what is the difference between html4 and html5 hope you get my point.
It would be great if you can build something before the interview just to showcase something. it will show that you are an enthusiast and a quick learner so it can be a plus point for you.
All the best.
Thank you for your advice!
Hi Horváth, first of all congrats for the graduation and the interview!.
If I were on your position I wouldn't try to study any specific tool, but generics, I mean I wouldn't go deeper with VueJS but try to gather all the information and knowledge about the tools that made possible something like VueJS (CSS, HTML, JS).
This will show them that you know the basics behind these frameworks and show you as a person that is capable to get any new tool and master it, because you don't have to start from scratch.
In the past I needed too learn basics of frontend and I take the Free Code Camp, all the first part is about vanilla HTML, CSS and JS, they have an incredible online editor and everything is free.
I think that with your amazing backend skills you will learn a lot of things very quickly and impress them.
Good luck!
Hi! Thank you very much for the kind words! I will definitely start with the recommended basics :)