When to apply for jobs?

Career Advice
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Hey everyone!
My name is michael and I started coding as a hobby a couple of years ago mainly with HTML and CSS and some JS. I recently started getting serious about finding a job and changing careers. I have moved onto React.js a couple of weeks ago. my question is when should I start applying for jobs? my js is okay but I seem to pick up on React a lot better and want to be React Developer. any advice?

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There are a lot of factors for knowing when you should apply. Overall, you should apply or at least look at the jobs in your area, earlier, rather than later. Even before the pandemic, applying for jobs is hard. Things have only gotten harder, but its not impossible!

The most relevant measures for applying for a job are:

  • what are jobs looking for near you
  • what your currently know
  • how much you need the job

Its possible the only jobs near you are for other technologies you haven’t touched on yet. This means you should re-focus to your job market. You want to cover “as many bases” as possible for what you see in your area. The less requirements you cover, the harder applying will be.

Alternatively what you currently know might not be enough. There are always stories of “entry level” job applications that require years and years of experience. These sorts of jobs can be applied to if you cover some of the requirements in terms of what you know, but with less “time” spent.
Finally, things change if your more “desperate” and need a job now. This means things are more “risky”, as you have less time to learn, build stuff, and apply. This also means every time you apply, you really need to “give it your all”, and really apply with high quality applications, network, and make connections.

Regardless of when you apply, just know it will take time, updates to your approach, and getting feedback. Seek out help, feedback to your application process (either with companies, or peers) and keep going. You want to “improve” with each of your applications in some way, as you keep going.

Good luck, keep learning, keep building!

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