How to get a Software Engineering job - Web Development Edition

General Steps To Start With

1. Apply to where you really want to work first, the big boys, the "If i could work anywhere id work at..." places.

• let them say no to you, don't hesitate to apply, worst case scenario is they say no, best case you get to work where you really want to, and if they say no or don't reply, apply again. But don't stop here.

2. relocation is not required, but it will help you find a job faster as it opens you up to opportunities nationwide. If you want to stay where you are (geographically) apply around you first, research local companies and familiarize yourself with what they do for a few minutes.

3. go to fortune.com (fortune 500 companies) and apply to every non technical company on their list, for any open entry level slot. doesn't matter what it is.

• anything 0-2 years of experience
• ignore degree requirements, most of the time you don't actually need one to get a job, although it will help immensely if you do, but for example if they require a bachelors and you have a certificate or an associates, or a bachelors in something other than computer science, go for it anyways.
• don't apply to senior positions if you can avoid it. your resume is going to get tossed out if you have less than 5 years of experience
• hospitals and healthcare providers are excellent sources of jobs.
• focus on company websites first, newer openings are going to be listed there, and the companies are more likely to pull applicants from people who apply to them directly.
• Don't completely ignore the tech companies, but don't target them exclusively. If they're a fortune 500 company, its very likely they have a software team.

4. After all of the above is done, go to the job boards.

• linked-in : search for software engineer, entry/associate level, you can get more specific if you want to. upload your resume to get better matches and set up job notifications for specific companies you'd like to target
• indeed: same principal.
• cover letters are great if you want to use one. Keep in mind that if you really want the job, take the time to write a specific cover letter, for everyone else make a generic one or a generic set of cover letters. Don't waste time writing unique cover letters if your applying to 100's of jobs to places your just applying to because you can.

Popular Frameworks And Languages

Theres no secret to how you can make yourself more attractive to prospective employers. The more you know, the more attractive you are. The following list of languages and frameworks is by no means complete or exhaustive, but it does provide a good starting point if your new to this field as well as a roadmap to those already on their learning journey and trying to figure out what to learn next.

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The Bare Minimum

• HTML
• CSS
• JavaScript
• Node.JS

If your just starting out, the absolute minimum you need to know for Web Development is HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript ES6. You don't need to know them so well that you can recite all 111 currently supported HTML element tags in your sleep, but you do need to be able to talk confidently about what they do, how they work, and be capable of utilizing all 3 languages intuitively. All Web Development frameworks are based off these 3 core languages.

If your starting out with zero experience and don't know what some of those languages are, this could take 6 months to a year of consistent effort and daily practice to reach a level of adequate understanding. These fundamental blocks are so foundational to web development that every minute spent deepening your knowledge of them with pay off 10 fold in the long run.

Now, of those 3, HTML you can learn the easiest, hands down, and its the most foundational. So start there, learn it like the back of your hand.

CSS You will need a more broad understanding of as opposed to becoming a master of it. You need to understand how it works and how to manipulate it more than you need to know every detail about how every selector and class attribute. If you plan to go Full Stack or Front End dive deeper into it, but keep in mind you will be learning frameworks that do most of the heavy lifting for you.

And that just leaves JavaScript. This is where you will want to go off the deep end, the more you know, the more valuable you will be. JavaScript is the language that makes modern websites work, from front to back it is what you will be working with the most.

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Stacks

A stack is a collection of of languages and frameworks used to build software. Full-Stacks will consist of a backend framework/language, a front end language/framework, and a server-side language/framework at a minimum

1. The MERN Stack

• MERN => MongoDB, ExpressJS, ReactJS, and NodeJS

2. The MEAN Stack

• MEAN => MongoDB, ExpressJS, AngularJS, and NodeJS

3. The Django Stack

• Python, Django, and Vue

4. The LAMP Stack

• LAMP => Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP

5. Ruby On Rails

• JavaScript, Ruby, SQLite, Rails

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Front-End

• Frameworks
  • React
  • Angular
  • Vue.js
  • Ember.js
  • Bootstrap
  • Bulma
  • jQuery
  • Redux
  • Svelte
  • Moment.js
• Languages
  • HTML
  • CSS
  • JavaScript/TypeScript
  • SASS

Back-End

• Frameworks

  • Express.js
  • Node.js

• Languages

  • JavaScript
  • Python
  • SQL
  • Java
  • PHP
  • Ruby
  • C#
  • PHP

  Extra Notes:

  • Make sure to keep track of where you applied to and when you applied. And don't stop applying because your waiting for a response. Apply every day if you have to, but don't stop looking and actively applying until you have a job. Some interview processes can take several weeks to complete and you never know if you'll made an offer or not.

  • Set up a specific inbox or email just for applying to jobs so potential interview requests don't get lost in your inbox.

  • If theres extra language requirements or technology requirements, don't sweat it. APPLY ANYWAYS. The worst they can do is say no or throw out your application, but you never know until you try.

  • It's entirely acceptable to apply to the same position multiple times if its something you really want and your application gets kicked out. If you want the job, keep applying, reach out to a recruiter if you can find one, request feedback on how to improve and how to make yourself a more attractive candidate for that specific role.

  • Don't forget to learn more technologies, if you see a pattern like 50% of all the places you apply to require experience with angular or typescript, build some projects with those frameworks and technologies to prove your able to learn them and can confidently say you know at least something about them.

• Expect to send out 500-1000 applications