You Can Help Junior Developers Succeed

#webdev #beginners #podcast

What is HTML All The Things?

HTML All The Things is a web development podcast and discord community which was started by Matt and Mike, developers based in Ontario, Canada.

The podcast speaks to web development topics as well as running a small business, self-employment and time management. You can join them for both their successes and their struggles as they try to manage expanding their Web Development business without stretching themselves too thin.

What's This One About?

With the current job market seemingly handing out nothing by layoffs, it may seem like landing a junior developer job is an impossible task. While we acknowledge that it is more difficult than it was a year or two ago to land a junior developer job, all hope is not lost. There are always people hiring, even during the worst economic downturns and those that keep at it have a higher chance at succeeding. In this episode, Matt and Mike discuss how to help a junior developer in your life succeed through mentorship, connections, peer code reviews, and more.

Show Notes

Defining Success

What is success for a junior developer?
Learning from and growing at each job/project
Current Job Market & Landscape
The tech market is currently plagued with:
- layoffs
- hiring freezes
- lower starting salaries
- internships on the rise
Competition is heating up between candidates "fighting" over a position

What you can do

These points are directed at people that are looking to help a junior developer in their life.
Mentorships
Code Reviews (peer reviews)
Portfolio reviews
Community participation
Urge the junior dev to create (ie blogs, videos, social media)
Refer junior developers for jobs
- find postings you'd recommend
- explain how to identify posts they might be interested in, especially if it doesn't say "junior dev" in the listing
Change hiring systems (this point is for hiring managers)
- junior developers can be a great investment to teach someone new exactly how you'd like to do things at your company
- junior developers do have less technical ability than a senior developer, but they are cheaper to hire and you can promote them as they get more experience
- create paid internship programs
- better onboarding procedures (no crazy interviews, no 7-part interviews with take home projects...only to ghost the candidates that aren't chosen)