I had this idea for a while, and I have decided to give it a shot with mentoring. Last week I asked a question about mentoring on dev.to and the community responded positively. This encouraged me to start my own mentoring program for UI developers.
Since I work remotely, I am talking about remote mentoring here. That means I would accept applications from all over the world.
Note that I am located in Croatia, and I speak only English and Croatian. 🇭🇷
Background
You could read more about me on my personal site, but here's the short version.
I am an experienced web engineer who has been working with web technologies since 2011. I have started my career as a PHP backend developer. I slowly progressed to becoming a frontend developer, and now I work as a UI developer. I have been working in a local company and later in a local startup until 2017 when I started working as a remote freelance developer. I am also part of the Toptal talent network.
Regarding my mentoring and teaching experience, I have organized coding school in a company where I used to work. I am writing a blog for years where I try to share some technical tips and techniques and my freelance experience. I did some online mentoring via Codementor before. Currently, I am mentoring my friend to become a UI developer.
You could find more about my online presence by visiting My links section on my site.
What is UI development
UI development, or User Interface development, is part of the frontend web development that is focused on the user interface. The necessary skills needed for this role are HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Many other skills fall under this category like templating, naming conventions, best practices, optimizations, testing, cross-browser compatibility, and more. UI development in 2020 is not clearly defined, and that is what makes it hard, but also fun.
Your main task as a UI developer is to present and deliver the content to every user on every device in the most accessible and most performant way. Sometimes you will slice PSD designs into templates, sometimes you will develop unique components, sometimes you will fix style bugs and errors. Developing user interfaces is always challenging, especially now in 2020, with so many different screens and devices to be targeted.
As a UI developer, you should be able to create modern, responsive and optimized websites. If you think about it, every website or web app need an interface. The user interface is the final layer presented to every user. It understands much more than HTML, CSS and JavaScript. It understands fonts, graphic assets, SVG, icons, animations, favicons, performance, painting, rendering, auditing, testing, and more.
UI skills are often overlooked, as I already wrote about last year, but it is, or at least it should be, a vital part of every project. These skills could be combined with other skills, and you could become a frontend or full-stack developer or even a UI designer–you are the one who decides.
The Programs
There are two kinds of mentoring programs: one that is career-based and one that is skill-based.
The career-based mentoring program would be focused on UI developer role, and you could expect advice on what this role is, what to expect, and how to overcome challenges. I would try to provide honest opinions based on your skillset and my experience.
The skill-based mentoring program is designed as a set of levels where you would gradually acquire or improve skills needed for this role.
There are four levels, as I see them:
- basic level,
- intermediate level,
- advanced level, and
- tools and soft skills.
If you finish the basic level, you should be able to create a styled HTML document with a little bit of JavaScript functionality.
If you finish the intermediate level, your pages should be responsive. You should understand and use some advanced paradigms like naming conventions and third-party libraries.
If you finish the advanced level, you should be able to build pages with at least one system like WordPress or static page generator. You should understand how browsers work and apply the latest best techniques.
As a bonus point, I would like to engage you to use standard tools in development, like project management, versioning control and communication tools. Also, if you need advice on some soft skills like verbal or writing communication, I am here to help you.
The full specification of the program stages could be found here.
The process
There is one important thing to note here: I am not a teacher, and I wouldn’t give lessons. I would, however, talk with you and answer your questions.
I would try to:
- make you think like a developer,
- make you speak like a developer,
- make you think about possible problems and how to avoid them,
- help you reach your career goals.
To be able to do this efficiently, we need to understand each other and respect each other. I appreciate my time; therefore, I would appreciate yours, and I would expect you to do the same for me. Having said that, I would share my calendar with you, and you would be able to arrange a session where we could talk in person. You could expect other forms of communication, like emails and Slack channels, too. Note that I might not be able to answer those in real-time.
Requirements
The only requirement for this program is your strong desire to become a UI developer. Your background or current skill level doesn't matter. But know that a developer's job requires constant learning.
There won't be “deadlines” because you should choose your own pace. We are all different. Maybe you decided to switch the profession, or you have other priorities. I don't mind as long as you have the determination to become a UI developer.
Apply now
I have yet to decide how to charge for this program. One thing is for sure: you wouldn't regret it, and it won't be expensive.
If you are interested, please fill out the form. Let's start this journey together. 🙌
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