"UX front-end developer" job

Recently got a message from an HR employee of a major retailer in the NYC area. The recruiter found me on LinkedIn and sent me a message after seeing some of the projects I posted. They seem pretty interested in me and I’m a little unsure if I fit the bill.

UX Developer role
Hi Nicholas,
Came across your profile, was impressed with your background. Wanted to reach out (hope that’s okay!) and see if you were in market for a UX Front End Dev role that I’m currently recruiting for here at omitted name of comany Union, NJ office.
Attached the job description, if interested, please email me directly (I have linkedin issues sometimes)

The job description itself:

As a member of omitted name of company you’ll develop great customer experiences across our digital channels — for both omitted name of company . Our UX Developers leverage both data and customer insights to help solve complex challenges. For this role, you’ll be part of a dedicated cross-functional agile team who’s goal is to rapidly design, test and learn (and repeat!).

The ideal candidate has 3+ years of responsive web development experience with 1+ year React development.

Responsible for front end development using web technologies (React, HTML, CSS, Javascript, JQuery etc.)
Primarily responsible for front end implementation of A/B testing stories
Keen eye for clean UI implementation and knowledge of web development best practices
Evaluate the customers pain points based on customer feedback and conceptualize new tests
Review business requirements and provide tech feasibility for the best customer experience
Work in a collaborative environment with other developers, designers, product managers, and site-op team members
Prioritize effectively and meet project deadlines

Requirements:

3+ years responsive web development experience
1+ year React development experience
Proficiency in React/HTML5/CSS3/JavaScript/jQuery
Proficiency in DOM Manipulation
Proficiency in code debugging skills using a development tool such as Chrome Developer Tools
Knowledge of AJAX using jQuery
Knowledge of JSON
Knowledge of Adobe Photoshop/Sketch for image optimization and slicing up comps
Knowledge of A/B testing
Knowledge of regular expressions
E-commerce experience

After reading the description the job sounds nice but I’m not confident I fit the bill. I’m 30, halfway through a CS degree (took a hiatus due to health issues), my only real work experience was in the military and non-tech related, and I don’t have the 3 years experience. I also have a couple year work gap due to my health and the Veterans Administration screwing me pretty badly. I guess what I’m saying is my background isn’t typical for a new developer and my confidence isn’t where it used to be. I’m in an awkward position in life at the moment and a dev job sounds awesome.

I’ve been programming as a hobbyist/FreeCodeCamper for 3+ years, know HTML/CSS and SASS very well, decent Javascript skills, did some C++ and software dev classes in college (albeit basic software dev classes), and I’ve been learning React for a few months. I’m decent with working in a Node.js/NPM dev environment with react-create-app, can implement a basic Redux store, can do API requests with Axios, and I’ve been publishing web dev tutorials on a social media site.

It seems like this would be in a sense skipping over the junior dev job and going directly into a 3+ years experience dev job. Can I realistically make this jump? I definitely meet the requirements for HTML/CSS/JSON/AJAX and most likely React. I lack the requirements for e-commerce, Photoshop/Sketch, and A/B testing.

Also, how much does “UX developer” differ from just a front-end developer? Am I correct in thinking UX developer is mostly just a hipper industry term for a front-end dev that also puts a lot of thought into market and whatnot?

What type of salary would this job realistically pay? I’ve seen some really high numbers online that seem a little unrealistic. But then again it’s the NYC metro area and salaries are higher than the national average.

i just wanted to comment on one aspect of your post, which is the self-doubt aspect. Sadly I totally get that one. So here’s what I would tell myself. It doesn’t matter that I probably don’t fit the bill. I need the experience of applying for and being rejected by employers. It will help me identify what I want to do and what my real interests are and, perhaps, may even build up my confidence so that when I’m actually ready, I don’t feel all the butterflies that I feel now. Plus, employers in my geographical area of the world are pretty savvy (even if the recruiters tend to feign interest with boiler plate emails to everyone they see online) so if they really want me, they must see something in me that I don’t see yet (and that is worth identifying). And there’s nothing preventing me from saying no if an offer is made or if I feel uncomfortable with anything I experience. So if only out of curiosity and as a way to challenge my own preconceived notions of my experience, I will try this.

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dude you have more than enough to consider this job. You really should.

Based on the job requirements, what they’re really looking for is a front end developer. UI/UX designers are typically just designers who create mock ups and visuals for what the front end will look like, but a pure designer doesn’t write production code. So they would not need to know js frameworks or things like ajax calls. They want a front end dev.

Good luck dude, i think you have plenty of exp. You should really sell your military experience. People love hiring from interesting backgrounds these days.

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i say go for it. You literally have nothing to lose and it sounds like you have a good amount of experience already. I think there is nothing more valuable then working with real developers everyday, learning from them and working on real world projects! I have an interview tomorrow at a company and their front end stack uses a framework I haven’t touched yet. They clearly know that if they looked on my resume and my projects, but even after the phone screen they asked me to come in. Am I nervous? Hell, to the yes. But it’s also exciting. I say go for it man! Could lead to something even greater!

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Thanks for the words of encouragement guys.

I emailed the HR person who initially contacted me and asked about the process and salary. They said the technical interview is “very casual” and the salary is around 95K.

I’m sending them my resume and hopefully I’ll be interviewing soon. Just kind of amazed that a job that pays close to 6 figures is interested in me despite no industry experience.

5 Likes

you got this, kill it! And let us know how it goes