So i have a few questions maybe you all can answer
What projects from FCC do you all consider to be the “important” ones so as to impress potential employers?
Aside from the projects listed here on FCC what other projects can I do to further increase my chances of getting a front end developer job? or do you think FCC is enough?
3.How do you all go about networking? i only have 2 connections on linked in lol … and i hear networking is really important.
4.Are the looks of the portfolio website all that important? or is it the projects that matter the most?
Thanks guys ! maybe these questions can also be of use to someone who’s wondering the same thing .
I am definitely not the most experienced person here, so you should not trust my advice too much ;D
I’m not sure about that one, as I’m not very far along.
2 & 3: I suggest some freelancing through websites like upwork.
If you’re a developer specializing in design, then the looks are quite important, I’d figure. If you don’t do design,
this shouldn’t be important, unless the person hiring is not ver familiar with coding, then they will judge by the looks. This might happen at a company where you’ll be the only coder.
They get more impressive as the progress, which is the only way I can think of to answer the question.
The question I remember hearing most often in interviews was along the lines of “Tell me about a project you’ve done that you’re really proud of” (or “that you really enjoyed” or something). Whether it’s an FCC project or not be ready to talk quite a bit about at least one project. There are a couple advantages to doing a personal “pet project” in addition to FCC. You’re likely to be more excited about it, which will help in the interview. It also shows that you are someone who sees a problem and builds a solution.
Personal contact. I’m not convinced that having a ton of LinkedIn connections matters all that much. Go to meetups, participate actively in this forum, on the chat, in programming subreddits, etc.
It depends on whether you want a job that includes any design work. You want it to at least look well-put-together, even if you’re planning to spend your entire career on back-end work.
This will depend a lot on what type of employer you’re applying to. Are they a design shop? Then the portfolio and what your projects look like will be really important. Are they a React shop? Then the React projects will be pretty important.
Agreed with @ArielLeslie on pet projects. Think of something you could build that you would find useful or interesting to build. You’ll learn different things by branching out and building something not explicitly requested of you. And, because it’s your own project, it can grow and change into anything you want it to be rather than needing to meet the FCC user stories for projects in the curriculum.
Cannot stress stongly enough: Meetups, your local FCC Campsite, conferences, etc. If you want to meet and network with other developers you have to go where they are. I’ve met people from huge tech companies at local meetups and we’re on first name basis with one another.
I’d argue that no matter what type of job you’re looking for the looks of your portfolio are important. Eventually the URL to your portfolio is going to be a line on your resume. Don’t you want that to look and function nicely when potential employers land there?
awesome thanks for all the info guys … when would i start posting my code on github though? and what challenges? only the advanced front end dev projects?
Hi Alex - FCC is great place to start networking, I also don’t have any dev friends, start attending fb camp sites and meet up to meet other minded and increase your network.
what projects are important? one of the biggest mistake people make is treat all companies equal, they not and they all looking for different from their perspective employer, so tailor your CV/Projects according to their NEEDS, It’s always in the JOB SPEC. The more projects the higher your confidence and the more hirable you become.
If you applying for designer/developer role, def how your portfolio looks is very very important, but you can use Bootstrap and find themes to stand out, requires less work. If you know enough HTML/CSS/JS, jQuery, Bootstrap and Less/SAAS you are HIRABLE. So you can start applying jobs and continue your learning, so you put into practice what you learning - That’s my aim.
I have used Colts Udemy Course to learn the basics well and now ready to re-start FCC, I find it much easier now as I can use chrome tools and find bugs much easier, I find instructions un-clear and If I reach a level I can contribute that will the first thing on my mind - to improve it. Eloquent JS and you don’t know JS are great books