My goal is to become a front-end web developer. I know HTML and CSS, but JavaScript is harder. Lately, I am feeling overwhelmed by the amount of things I need to learn.
JavaScript
Bootstrap
React
Redux
Sass
Vue
Angular
Command Line
Git
API
I’ve heard of people becoming job ready in six months. I feel like it’ll take me six years before I could even think about job hunting.
Not everything you listed is required to learn:
You don’t need to learn all those technologies. Some like Git and command line are essential, but you don’t have to learn SaaS or even Bootstrap.
All you need to do is persevere and learn JavaScript, then it’ll be easier to pick up a frontend framework/library.
As a frontend developer, you can do well with only one between React, Vue, and Angular.
BTW, those technologies are not hard to learn if you have the right resources in place. Bootstrap is just a bunch of utility classes like Tailwind. The command line is not scary as many people think. It’s just typing in some texts we all call commands.
And you don’t have to become job ready in months.
In reality, it takes more than a year to really become job-ready. I didn’t become job-ready until after a full year of learning to code. And I believe it varies from one person to the other. At the end of the day, everyone will become job-ready.
If you can learn JavaScript and pick up a framework, I believe you’re fully job-ready. Everything else you need to do after that is to keep learning and stay updated with new techs and the active ones.
Hi @KayeStar !
From the list you posted, you will need to learn JavaScript, Git, basics of the command line and how to fetch data from an API.
When it comes to frontend JS libraries, learn the one that is more in demand for the job market you are in. React is pretty popular and widely used so that is a safe choice. But if you are in a market where Angular jobs are more popular, then learn that. But at the end of the day, it still JavaScript under the hood. You will benefit the most by building a strong foundation in JavaScript. That will help you pick up new JS libraries and frameworks.
On the job, I learned Angular, Vue, as well as statement management tools like react-query. I was able to learn on the job by reading documentation, researching and asking questions.
As for CSS libraries, I wouldn’t stress to much about picking the “right” one. If you have a good foundation in vanilla CSS and can read documentation for new libraries, then you will be fine.
In my first year as a developer, I worked with the following CSS libraries and frameworks and it was my first time working with most of them. The only one I had worked with was tailwind and bootstrap.
Are there people who have landed a job in six months?
sure
Is it the norm?
No
A lot of new developers will make the mistake of thinking that these stories of landing a job quickly are the norm. What they don’t realize is that for most people (especially coming from a self taught background without prior experience) it will take a lot longer.
My advice would be to focusing on building a good starting foundation in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Build some projects outside of a class that have some substance to them that you can talk about in interviews, then try your hand at interviewing.
You will learn a lot about yourself in the job process and what areas you need to work on. From there, you can work on those areas and keep getting better.
Hope that helps!