How much should you learn before applying for an entry-level frontend developer job?

Career Advice
1

Hello,

I’m currently going through a career change and I would like to know what essential things I need to learn in order to get into this industry.

I’ve just completed the HTML challenge within a week. Mentally, I feel exhausted, but I’m very happy with how much I learned from that challenge. Should my next step be to go to CSS and Javascript? Also, do you need to know a lot of Javascript in order to apply for an entry-level frontend position?

2

Yes. You’re going to want to learn JavaScript first.

3

You need to big in JavaScripts, it`s probably the main thing for developers who intend to build the career. By the way, you can find many remote vacancies in this field here: Remotely Jobs

4

Do I need to complete all of the JavaScript challenge, or are there specific sections I should focus on?

5

I would consider everything in “Responsive Web Design”, “Javascript Algorithms and Data Structures”, and the projects in “Front End Libraries” to maybe be a minimum for some jobs.

6

Is that right?
Suppose I finish all my projects on the JS section and enhance my html/css projects with some JavaScript… And suppose I go the extra mile with the react libraries and create a nice looking web app.

Would that be enough for my portfolio to start applying for entry level jobs?

7

You can certainly apply whenever you feel ready.

8

Makes sense. And with the new curriculum of FCC on the way, I’ll feel more ready because those would be Herculean projects of different difficulty.

9

Every job is different and has different requirements, having said that, you will most likely need more than just HTML, CSS (Responsive design included) and JavaScript to get your first developer job. You will probably need to know as well:

Either React, Angular or Vue
Git
Restful API (you don’t need to know how to build an API, but you ought to know how to work with one)

I recommend building a portfolio. Build some projects that look as real as possible, if you have to build an API for some project then do it, just learn Node.js or whatever backend language is in high demand in your area.

2 Likes
10

I’ve been linking to my answer in this thread every time this question gets asked: How do you know when you are ready to apply to jobs?