Why would someone hire a junior developer?

Hello, thank you for the advice! I’ll give those a shot!

I see you are based in Argentina. Are you applying to jobs in your home country, or abroad?

I’m asking because juniors are considered a risky hire. As in, you’ll get hired for your potential more than what you’ve accomplished (because as a junior you haven’t really done much). And being remote increases their risk. Something to keep an eye on.

There are programs out there that will give you remote experience. I personally am an alum of outreachy and highly recommend applying to them if you qualify for that remote experience.

Also, your resume isn’t strong enough to pass the ATS. I’d at least have a skills section listing the tech you’re good at and willing to be questioned on.

Then I’d list the bullets for the experience and projects using the STAR method, and try to come up with some statistics. Like how many LOC did you remove during the redesign? Did you make it slimmer? More performant? Numbers are good, even if they’re estimates.

Ask yourself the same types of questions for your projects.

Then make sure to list relevant skill keywords in those descriptions.

That’s where I’d start. You can view my LinkedIn for some ideas. That resume has gotten me quite a few bites, while the previous non ATS optimized didn’t.

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HI @lucaspennice !

You have already received some great advice on this thread.
I just wanted to answer the question of why companies hire juniors based on my experience.

A year ago, I was contacted by a small tech company to join them and do some dev work.
At first, I thought it was a scam because I was a very green developer and wasn’t sure what on earth I could bring to the table.
But I took the meeting anyway and it went well.
At the end of the meeting, I ask him “Why hire me? I haven’t been doing this that long.”
He said that was ok and he figured I was up for the challenge and could learn well on the job.

He also said that I would be working on small features and fixing bugs while the more senior developers would focus on the bigger and more complex issues.

Plus, he liked the idea of someone that was flexible in terms of learning new tech and following best practices of his company. Since I was newer to the industry, I didn’t have any strong thoughts on software design and architecture. I just went with the flow of whatever they asked me to do because I was happy to be working.

You see, Juniors are valuable to a company :grinning:

The key is knowing how to sell yourself on a resume and portfolio.
If you present yourself as someone with potential to learn and someone up for the challenge of working on real world projects, then you will be given a shot.

Hope that helps!

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I would agree with what @kevinSmith said, but to a point. Whether people want to admit it or not, if something isn’t immediately visually appealing you have already lost their attention. To that point I think you have a good start. But what I do agree with what @kevinSmith said is that good looks can never trump user experience or, in design, what you would call “your message.” If something does not support your message in some way, it detracts from your message. This bears repeating. If a design decision does not have at least one very solid, direct connection to your message it is fluff and will confuse your reader. A good example already mentioned is the redacted text. It’s fun to see, but I’m left asking, “what is the point and what is it here for.” I couldn’t tell. Was it for a Bourne identity spin-off? Not sure. My experience was confusing . Another thing is that you start off with a very nice, well done button directing me that there is more content and to scroll down. I click on the button. It goes down. I see one item of content, but then the button goes away and I think, “wait, does he only have one project?” No. You really have three, but since the button went away I assume you’re trying to tell me I have reached the end. Go through again and re-examine your Portfolio with the question in mind, “what is my message?” and “how do my design decisions reflect this message?” My humble suggestion.

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Hi Lucas,

A practical thing you can do to enhance your cv, is to add real projects to it, such as improving a local restaurant or charity website, for example. More than likely, these will be pro bono work, but they give you experience, and demonstrate both application and willingness. Furthermore, it gives you a source for references, and provides a ‘work history’. However, be careful not to overcommit yourself to pro bono projects; it’s a life skill in project and people management!

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In my country , there are FaceBook groups related to Computer Science related jobs .
Jobs for web dev or android dev can be found on those fb groups . Say , if in your country , in universities , computer courses are labelled as : cse / it / s.e. then in fb search box you may search using those terms. Basically in linkedin or other job sites , companies hire mid to top level experienced coders. In my country fb is a good way to look for junior job for cse.
Such as : CSE/EEE JOBS in Bangladesh | Facebook

(1) CSE/EEE/IT Jobs in Bangladesh | Facebook

Also look out for review from people who’ve worked on those companies , some small companies sometimes don’t pay their junior devs (small bankrupted ones.)

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Hello, apologies for answering this late. Fortunately, I have been able to find remote work thanks to the advice of the awesome people in here. I never heard of outreachy, thanks for the recommendation! I thought the ATS might be part of why I wasn’t hearing back from recruiters, but it never occurred to me to reformat my CV that way or adding statistics to it. I really appreciate the advice and the knowledge! Thank you for taking the time to answer, hope you stay well!

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Hello! I’m happy to hear that you are working in (what seems like) such an understanding and supportive environment! As you’ve been working as a dev for a year, would you mind sharing what concepts/architecture/techs you find most useful in learning? Right now I’m reading “The pragmatic programmer” and I’m thinking in reading “Refactoring” by Martin Fowler next. But I’m not sure if I should focus on architecture or other concepts first. I hope you stay well!

Hello! That’s some great feedback about my portfolio, I’ll work on that! Thank you :+1:

Hello! I was working on a template website for charities for the same reasons that you mentioned, the intention was to make it like a “one size fits all” kind on site. But I’m not sure if the quality of the project is good enough to deploy. Here’s a live prototype if you are interested on checking it: https://npo-template.vercel.app/ I sure would appreciate some feedback from a more experienced dev! Hope you stay well

Hello! Thank you for the recommendation! I’ll check them out! Thanks for the warning as well, hope you stay well

good luck! You have a very solid start and should feel proud of how far you have come.

I have heard good reviews of both of those books.

I think what is really important is to continue to develop a deeper understanding of the core languages.

I just started a new job(in addition to writing articles for FCC :grinning:) and they have me working on a new project with technologies I have never worked with before.

Once I started digging around the documentation and understanding what was really happening underneath the hood, it allowed me to pickup that library much easier.

Continuing to deepen your understanding of the core languages will help you succeed as a developer.
At my job, we have access to an egghead.io account to help us learn these new technologies.
I also have a frontend masters subscription and have been taking their intermediate to advanced JS course to help me level up my skills.

Lastly, build good relationships are work and try to pair as often as you can.
You learn show much by working with other developers especially if they are more senior than you.

They will be able to show you new techniques and ways to clean up your code in the context of a real world application.

You portfolio looks fabulous! But I strongly agree with @kevinSmith . He is a great interviewer. I also follow his advices here although I am junior developer.

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