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Masum Kazi
Masum Kazi

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Junior software engineer skillset

After 1.6 years as a junior software engineer in a small company working with .NET, Angular, and SQL Server, here’s realistically where your skillset should be:

✅ Skills You Have Likely Earned

  1. .NET (C# / ASP.NET Core / MVC / Web API)
  • Building and maintaining backend APIs.
  • Understanding of controllers, services, dependency injection.
  • Working with Entity Framework / LINQ.
  • Authentication & authorization basics.
  • Debugging, logging, exception handling.
  1. Angular (Frontend)
  • Component-based development.
  • Reactive forms, template-driven forms, validation.
  • Routing, guards, and navigation.
  • Consuming REST APIs.
  • Basic RxJS operators (map, filter, subscribe, etc.).
  1. SQL Server (Database)
  • Writing and optimizing queries.
  • Understanding indexes, joins, stored procedures, functions.
  • Database normalization, relationships.
  • Using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).
  1. General Software Engineering Practices
  • Version control (Git, GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket).
  • Agile/Scrum exposure.
  • Writing readable, maintainable code.
  • Basic debugging & troubleshooting.

At this stage, you’re no longer "raw junior" — you’ve moved into a solid junior / early mid-level category.

🚀 If You Want to Change Jobs: What to Learn Next

To stand out in the market, you should expand your stack strategically:

1. Deepen Current Stack

  • .NET → Learn ASP.NET Core with Clean Architecture, Identity, JWT authentication, SignalR (for real-time).
  • Angular → Learn state management (NgRx), advanced RxJS, performance optimization.
  • SQL Server → Learn query optimization, transactions, stored procedure tuning.

2. Add Complementary Skills

  • Cloud: Learn Azure (preferred with .NET) or AWS (deploying apps, storage, CI/CD).
  • DevOps Basics: CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, Jenkins).
  • Testing: Unit testing with NUnit/xUnit for .NET, Jasmine/Karma for Angular.

3. Modern Industry Demands

  • API Integration → REST + GraphQL.
  • Containers → Learn Docker to package and deploy apps.
  • Design Patterns & SOLID Principles → Interviewers will test this.
  • System Design Basics → Understand scalability, caching, load balancing.

4. Optional but Strong Plus

  • Learn React or Vue alongside Angular → makes you flexible.
  • Explore .NET MAUI / Blazor → cross-platform development.
  • Learn NoSQL (MongoDB, Redis).

🎯 Roadmap (Next 6–12 Months)

  1. Short-term (1–3 months):
  • Clean Architecture in .NET, advanced Angular (NgRx).
  • Unit testing (backend & frontend).
  1. Mid-term (3–6 months):
  • Azure (deploy .NET + Angular app).
  • Docker basics + CI/CD.
  1. Long-term (6–12 months):
  • System design principles.
  • Explore a second frontend framework (React).
  • Prepare for technical interviews (DSA, problem solving).

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