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Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. - Programming (10) - Nairaland

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Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by seunoni34(m): 9:34am On Apr 18, 2021
tensazangetsu20:
Tech is honestly the best industry to get into right now. The opportunities are numerous. Almost every job vacancy out there is tech this tech that, developer this and developer that. I stayed in school for 4 years studying for a useless engineering degree and I have never in my life seen a vacancy for the rubbish I studied but there are tech roles every day. But in spite of so many jobs in tech, a lot of new developers struggle to get opportunities. I started being active in the tech community recently and I am meeting developers who have been coding for 5 to 7 years but have never had an opportunity. Talking with them has led me to discover that it's actually not the tech industry but a few of the reasons I am listing below.

1. You follow the trends: A lot of us developers love to focus on the sexy trendy stuff. Newsflash, what is sexy and trendy isn't used and even when used is used by very few companies. So millions of people who have struggled to learn the sexy stuff are all going to fight for those few roles out there. Take for example the latest coolest CSS framework tailwind. It's really cool and hyped up and it's like the go-to framework right now but the thing is in the industry people are still using bootstrap. People are learning tailwind but they don't know the number one CSS framework out there. Just because something is cool and sexy doesn't mean that everyone is going to switch to it overnight.

If you give junior developers a chance between Angular, React, and Vue. A lot of people are going to pick Vue. They will say it's sexy and cool and has a ton of GitHub stars. There are jobs using Vue but they are so few compared to React and Angular that you would be pigeonholing yourself by learning that. Theres a whole of difference between coding for fun and coding to get a job.

2. You have unrealistic expectations: This is something I usually see on Reddit cscareerquestions but it seems to becoming a norm amongst everybody. People believe that if your salary isnt starting at 100k USD a year or you dont work for a tech company, you arent a developer. Its so elitist and unfortunately a lot of developers in Nigeria are beginning to have this mindset. They learn HTML, CSS, JS. They have built absolutely no projects but because someone said you need the knowledge of DSA to get a job they immediately start grinding leetcode day and night with the hope of getting into Google. You learnt to code from a Udemy course and you really want to compete at DSAs with people who went to MIT. People who have been doing competitive programming since 5 years old. People who get gold medals at the international olympaids of informatics like its nothing. grin grin grin. Funny enough, I also had this mindset when I was learning to code but corrected myself later on. The truth is that not every tech job out there tests with DSA or needs knowledge of DSA and not everybody must work for a big tech company. This reasoning is so flawed. It is like saying every lawyer must work for law firms like wale olanipekun and co or every engineer must work for exxonmobil. There are a ton of jobs that will pay you well as a junior developer like really well and you need not struggle to get them. They wont test you with DSA. They would only look at the complexities of your projects and go through them with you. By well paid I am talking of 500k and above. Ask yourself how many people asking you to do DSA in Nigeria have not yet worked at Google. There are even whatsapp groups dedicated to DSA and if you cant solve one you are kicked out. The person giving you DSA is not working at Google or Facebook hmm give yourself a brain o.


3. You do not know how to cut off the bullshit from social media: There's so much information out there today but if you don't know how to cut off the bullshit from what you need, you would waste your time. A lot of influencers and creators are putting information out there for themselves. They follow the algorithms and put out what is going to give them the most value in terms of money for their time. If I put out WordPress content, nobody will watch it but if I go out there and make MERN stack tutorials I would be getting millions of views but to be truthful you do not need the MERN stack as a junior. No one is using MongoDB in prod. Very few websites use Nodejs. You are just limiting yourself with that. If you want to be a full stack developer look at things like C# and Java springboot. Those pay really really well and there are even certifications you can acquire in those frameworks that can help get you opportunities at enterprise companies that use them especially if you don't have a computer science degree.

4 Your projects are not worth paying for: People put out calculators, todo lists, tictactoe games and a lot of bullshit on their portfolio and wonder why they aren't getting interviews. You have applied for 100 jobs and haven't been called back and you absolutely do not know the reason why. Nobody is going to hire you with a to-do list and a calculator on your portfolio. Even if you get an interview, is a calculator something you are going to show your interviewer. What happened to making a social media application, a chat application, a blog, an analytic tool, a dashboard. Something that people actually use in the real world every day. I remember one of the first interviews I have, one of my projects was a payment application I used paystacks API for. Everything was done with HTML, CSS and Javascript and once my interviewer saw the project and the button I used to connect the API, he made an offer to me immediately. Your projects matter especially as a beginner. One solid project is better than 100 garbage projects.

5 You don't research: Honestly, in this tech thing, I take what everyone is saying as bullshit. The senior developer I work with an Australian guy was telling me to learn web assembly if I really want to get a job with visa sponsorship which I so desperately need. I am tired of remote especially doing it from this shithole zoo of a country. I went to Linkedin Jobs and various countries indeed websites and I couldn't even see up to 500 jobs total in web assembly. Why would I waste time learning something that has no jobs because it might be relevant in ten years. Nodejs came out in 2009 and it is still not relevant in 2021. What is the probability that web assembly will be relevant in 2031. Research. When people tell you to learn a technology. Go to linkedinjobs and indeed and check how many jobs exist for that technology worldwide. People always advise you from their own point of view but the point of view of a senior developer in America, Europe or Australia is not the same for you a junior developer in the world's poverty capital.

Tech pays provided you do it right men.

How can you say mongodb is not used in production? This is a very ignorant and misleading statement. Java /c# is not even in the top 5 most used languages as at current. Javascript/nodejs still tops the list.. Alongsides python, php, golang, rust and ruby on rails.. The only companies that still use java/c# are older enterprise companies with legacy codebases. Even at that some are alr3sdy moving to kotlin or exploring other newer and better technologies. There's nothing java/c# can do now that golang doesn't do better. Go handles concurrency with ease (with Goroutines)
I don't know which linkedin/indeed that you're doing your job search o.

I work for a fintech and they use mongodb and nodejs extensively in production. My last company was a top ecommerce and they used node.js in nearly 70% of their microservices.

I'm surprised you're advising people to learn skills and you failed to mention cloud skills (aws, gcp), containerized architectures like docker and container services like ecs and kubernetes...

Also DSA are very necessary and important to get a job in this very day and time. Every company I've interviewed for (both home and abroad) required me to take coding tests on Codility/hackerrank in their early stages.

You really need to do a lot of research yourself.. Don't say what you don't know.

10 Likes

Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by africonn: 6:21pm On Apr 18, 2021
seunoni34:


How can you say mongodb is not used in production? This is a very ignorant and misleading statement. Java /c# is not even in the top 5 most used languages as at current. Javascript/nodejs still tops the list.. Alongsides python, php, golang, rust and ruby on rails.. The only companies that still use java/c# are older enterprise companies with legacy codebases. Even at that some are alr3sdy moving to kotlin or exploring other newer and better technologies. There's nothing java/c# can do now that golang doesn't do better. Go handles concurrency with ease (with Goroutines)
I don't know which linkedin/indeed that you're doing your job search o.

I work for a fintech and they use mongodb and nodejs extensively in production. My last company was a top ecommerce and they used node.js in nearly 70% of their microservices.

I'm surprised you're advising people to learn skills and you failed to mention cloud skills (aws, gcp), containerized architectures like docker and container services like ecs and kubernetes...

Also DSA are very necessary and important to get a job in this very day and time. Every company I've interviewed for (both home and abroad) required me to take coding tests on Codility/hackerrank in their early stages.

You really need to do a lot of research yourself.. Don't say what you don't know.

Nice one boss, what u wrote is d diff btw swe and a coder, I think he is just advocating for d fastest way a junior dev can start making money through development of simple scripts and customization or creation of platform codes

1 Like

Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by Albertone(m): 8:14pm On Apr 24, 2021
phew!
Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by Lordnewton1(m): 5:06pm On Apr 25, 2021
Omo!
Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by Johnmattee(m): 9:05pm On Apr 25, 2021
tensazangetsu20:

This works. If you are a developer, you might want to find specific platforms and learn them as they help in getting remote jobs much more easier than general web development.
do you use wix for developing website, I've seen people using it on fiverr but I feel it's no match for wordpress
Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by Uchenaija: 10:54am On Apr 26, 2021
joelliving:



Hi could u please add me to any WhatsApp group where ionic angular developers.
Ima new developer and I need to be in the company of people like u.
Or please let me have your WhatsApp number thanks.

Let's chat
Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by gboyle342: 10:39am On Dec 05, 2021
Impressive
Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by lecturer22: 11:49am On Dec 05, 2021
At what stage does one transit from a learner/beginner to Junior Developer? I've checked out some offers for junior developers and the requirements are very much overwhelming. Some require you to master lots of languages and and frameworks. Maybe there should be something called (Mid Developers) and this is what everybody is looking for.
Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by bet9ja(m): 6:57pm On Dec 05, 2021
RemiAbdulSamad:


Boss your posts are always informative and eye opening.

Am learning to be a front end developer. Here are what I've learnt so far:

1. HTML
2. CSS
3. Sass
4. Bootstrap
5. JavaScript.

Am still learning JavaScript.

Once am done with Vanilla JavaScript, I hope to pick Vue or React.

I will like to learn Figma for UI/UX design. I'll like to be a front end developer and UI designer to increase my chance of getting a job.

Have a look at my portfolio = https://abdulsamad.xyz

Thanks boss


You tried. Instead of Figma, you can pick React/Nextjs. React is a library while NextJs is a React Framework that is production ready.

1 Like

Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by RemiAbdulSamad(m): 8:20pm On Dec 05, 2021
bet9ja:



You tried. Instead of Figma, you can pick React/Nextjs. React is a library while NextJs is a React Framework that is production ready.
I'm learning and have been using it for a while. I'll be learning Next JS soon, thanks for chipping in
Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by LikeAking: 9:10pm On Dec 05, 2021
Every body be claiming I am working remote, blah,blah,blah.

I never see any of una do small give away before.

Phew!
Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by LikeAking: 9:41pm On Dec 05, 2021
OP is right. Some of u are misunderstanding him.

As a juinor as per Naija guy. Push the DSA till later. Learn something then get a job, then continue with DSA latter.

DSA, DSA. The main thing na to sabi code. Most of the thight men no to sabi DSA from my observation. I am just guessing this part.

People will learn and understand DSA better after they get a foot hold in the industry.

Remote guys make una press me small bah na.

1 Like

Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by airsaylongcome: 11:17pm On Dec 05, 2021
LikeAking:
Every body be claiming I am working remote, blah,blah,blah.

I never see any of una do small give away before.

Phew!

Is this some kind of trolling? You know the labour and sweat that goes into working remote? People dey work until 2am if you are working US PST. And a paying a lot for data, power and very good laptop. U want make dem give you giveaway? Wetin you give dem wey warrant this demand? Plus you know the "family problem" wey dem dey handle? If you want giveaways I'm sure they can give you learning materials. But to count cash give some random person on the Internet? Never gonna get that

3 Likes

Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by LikeAking: 11:24pm On Dec 05, 2021
airsaylongcome:


Is this some kind of trolling? You know the labour and sweat that goes into working remote? People dey work until 2am if you are working US PST. And a paying a lot for data, power and very good laptop. U want make dem give you giveaway? Wetin you give dem wey warrant this demand? Plus you know the "family problem" wey dem dey handle? If you want giveaways I'm sure they can give you learning materials. But to count cash give some random person on the Internet? Never gonna get that

Why?

@ remote guys, Make una dash me small money na.

Earning millions per month, show people love.

Afterall we are in the season of love.

You have a valid point as regards the hustle, but make una try free hand small.

Life na turn by turn.

For me I dont need any materials o.

I need free money from remoote guys or lapi.

@ all NL remote guy - Merry Xmas in advance.
Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by airsaylongcome: 11:26pm On Dec 05, 2021
LikeAking:


Why?

@ remote guys, Make una dash me small money na.

Earning millions per month, show people love.

Afterall we are in the season of love.

Nobody go give you (or anyone else) "give away" without providing that person some value. D dey work for you?
Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by LikeAking: 11:34pm On Dec 05, 2021
airsaylongcome:


Nobody go give you (or anyone else) "give away" without providing that person some value. D dey work for you?

Make dem give for the sake of God.
Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by airsaylongcome: 11:43pm On Dec 05, 2021
LikeAking:


Make dem give for the sake of God.


Okay. Dem don see your request. From tomorrow dem go dey transfer give you
Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by MirthOsas(m): 12:14am On Dec 06, 2021
grin grin grin Sir @airsaylongcome, greetings boss wink
@LikeAKing be calming down na grin, no be like this Dem dey ask for giveaway oo, and no be must say Dem go do giveaway, nobody dey owe anybody anything for this life grin grin
Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by mekuso89(m): 11:36pm On Dec 06, 2021
Hello boss I salute, please I want to start learning programming where do I start from. And also would love you to be my mentor.

Can I send you dm?
Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by Hybkay(m): 8:11pm On May 10, 2022
Who still dey here. I dey feel this OP
Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by Dawudski(m): 7:07am On May 11, 2022
Thank you for this beautiful thread @OP.
I believe many people just got your point wrong. It's not as if all these other stuffs are not important but we need to earn few bucks as Juniors while learning too. Rome wasn't built in a day.

As a beginner, it can be very demotivating when I hear people say that you need to keep learning for over two years before you can make some money. Some will say learn DSA for 6 months, learn dis and dat for another 1 year etc. Omo, SAPA dey this country ooh. What will a man use to hold body and soul during those moments? How will you even watch videos talk more of coding when you don't have the constant money for data?

This is what the OP is simply trying to state here I think. I also understand that seniors in the house would view his write-up differently Sha. This is very normal based on the fact that you're no longer in the shoes of junior developers that are just struggling to get something out there while maintaining body and soul. At that level, you will probably care much more about ethics and standard ways I think.

3 Likes

Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by aumeehn: 9:48am On May 11, 2022
tensazangetsu20:
Tech is honestly the best industry to get into right now. The opportunities are numerous. Almost every job vacancy out there is tech this tech that, developer this and developer that. I stayed in school for 4 years studying for a useless engineering degree and I have never in my life seen a vacancy for the rubbish I studied but there are tech roles every day. But in spite of so many jobs in tech, a lot of new developers struggle to get opportunities. I started being active in the tech community recently and I am meeting developers who have been coding for 5 to 7 years but have never had an opportunity. Talking with them has led me to discover that it's actually not the tech industry but a few of the reasons I am listing below.

1. You follow the trends: A lot of us developers love to focus on the sexy trendy stuff. Newsflash, what is sexy and trendy isn't used and even when used is used by very few companies. So millions of people who have struggled to learn the sexy stuff are all going to fight for those few roles out there. Take for example the latest coolest CSS framework tailwind. It's really cool and hyped up and it's like the go-to framework right now but the thing is in the industry people are still using bootstrap. People are learning tailwind but they don't know the number one CSS framework out there. Just because something is cool and sexy doesn't mean that everyone is going to switch to it overnight.

If you give junior developers a chance between Angular, React, and Vue. A lot of people are going to pick Vue. They will say it's sexy and cool and has a ton of GitHub stars. There are jobs using Vue but they are so few compared to React and Angular that you would be pigeonholing yourself by learning that. Theres a whole of difference between coding for fun and coding to get a job.

2. You have unrealistic expectations: This is something I usually see on Reddit cscareerquestions but it seems to becoming a norm amongst everybody. People believe that if your salary isnt starting at 100k USD a year or you dont work for a tech company, you arent a developer. Its so elitist and unfortunately a lot of developers in Nigeria are beginning to have this mindset. They learn HTML, CSS, JS. They have built absolutely no projects but because someone said you need the knowledge of DSA to get a job they immediately start grinding leetcode day and night with the hope of getting into Google. You learnt to code from a Udemy course and you really want to compete at DSAs with people who went to MIT. People who have been doing competitive programming since 5 years old. People who get gold medals at the international olympaids of informatics like its nothing. grin grin grin. Funny enough, I also had this mindset when I was learning to code but corrected myself later on. The truth is that not every tech job out there tests with DSA or needs knowledge of DSA and not everybody must work for a big tech company. This reasoning is so flawed. It is like saying every lawyer must work for law firms like wale olanipekun and co or every engineer must work for exxonmobil. There are a ton of jobs that will pay you well as a junior developer like really well and you need not struggle to get them. They wont test you with DSA. They would only look at the complexities of your projects and go through them with you. By well paid I am talking of 500k and above. Ask yourself how many people asking you to do DSA in Nigeria have not yet worked at Google. There are even whatsapp groups dedicated to DSA and if you cant solve one you are kicked out. The person giving you DSA is not working at Google or Facebook hmm give yourself a brain o.


3. You do not know how to cut off the bullshit from social media: There's so much information out there today but if you don't know how to cut off the bullshit from what you need, you would waste your time. A lot of influencers and creators are putting information out there for themselves. They follow the algorithms and put out what is going to give them the most value in terms of money for their time. If I put out WordPress content, nobody will watch it but if I go out there and make MERN stack tutorials I would be getting millions of views but to be truthful you do not need the MERN stack as a junior. No one is using MongoDB in prod. Very few websites use Nodejs. You are just limiting yourself with that. If you want to be a full stack developer look at things like C# and Java springboot. Those pay really really well and there are even certifications you can acquire in those frameworks that can help get you opportunities at enterprise companies that use them especially if you don't have a computer science degree.

4 Your projects are not worth paying for: People put out calculators, todo lists, tictactoe games and a lot of bullshit on their portfolio and wonder why they aren't getting interviews. You have applied for 100 jobs and haven't been called back and you absolutely do not know the reason why. Nobody is going to hire you with a to-do list and a calculator on your portfolio. Even if you get an interview, is a calculator something you are going to show your interviewer. What happened to making a social media application, a chat application, a blog, an analytic tool, a dashboard. Something that people actually use in the real world every day. I remember one of the first interviews I have, one of my projects was a payment application I used paystacks API for. Everything was done with HTML, CSS and Javascript and once my interviewer saw the project and the button I used to connect the API, he made an offer to me immediately. Your projects matter especially as a beginner. One solid project is better than 100 garbage projects.

5 You don't research: Honestly, in this tech thing, I take what everyone is saying as bullshit. The senior developer I work with an Australian guy was telling me to learn web assembly if I really want to get a job with visa sponsorship which I so desperately need. I am tired of remote especially doing it from this shithole zoo of a country. I went to Linkedin Jobs and various countries indeed websites and I couldn't even see up to 500 jobs total in web assembly. Why would I waste time learning something that has no jobs because it might be relevant in ten years. Nodejs came out in 2009 and it is still not relevant in 2021. What is the probability that web assembly will be relevant in 2031. Research. When people tell you to learn a technology. Go to linkedinjobs and indeed and check how many jobs exist for that technology worldwide. People always advise you from their own point of view but the point of view of a senior developer in America, Europe or Australia is not the same for you a junior developer in the world's poverty capital.

Tech pays provided you do it right men.
Hello Tensa, I am one of your ardent follower sir.
I started learning python early this year, but due to hustle and other distractions I stopped learning,

honestly at first i was learning python for data analytics but then I learnt that Excel and other stuffs related to data analytics are not my thing, what i am really passionate about is Backend web dev, and after following your posts here, I learnt that web dev either backend or frontend with Python is just unnecessary waste of time.

I decided to follow your advice and go for PHP, one of my Oga at work is also a PHP dev so learning PHP wont be an issue for me since I have a mentor who can guide me.
Now the issue is I prefer Backend than frontend, please i need guidance, especially on the right path to take and also the roadmap I should follow.
After getting comfortable with PHP which step am i going to take next?
Your input will be highly appreciated sir.
Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by tensazangetsu20(m): 9:28am On May 12, 2022
aumeehn:
Hello Tensa, I am one of your ardent follower sir.
I started learning python early this year, but due to hustle and other distractions I stopped learning,

honestly at first i was learning python for data analytics but then I learnt that Excel and other stuffs related to data analytics are not my thing, what i am really passionate about is Backend web dev, and after following your posts here, I learnt that web dev either backend or frontend with Python is just unnecessary waste of time.

I decided to follow your advice and go for PHP, one of my Oga at work is also a PHP dev so learning PHP wont be an issue for me since I have a mentor who can guide me.
Now the issue is I prefer Backend than frontend, please i need guidance, especially on the right path to take and also the roadmap I should follow.
After getting comfortable with PHP which step am i going to take next?
Your input will be highly appreciated sir.

I really do not know what to say. I write backend code but it's usually in the context of CMS so it's not really really backend.
Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by jamznato: 6:17pm On Jul 20, 2022
cixak95211:


Well said, I advised someone to learn C++, or was it C sometimes ago, I almost got crucified
Funny how someone who hasn't spent a year in the game and still find his path
would offer better advice against people that have spent at least 6- 10 and have tried and failed multiple times . . . if I count correctly.

I see how people argue here and they are not encourage atall. I once read that if you want to program for fun and make quick cash but not core programmer you do python, javascript and Go. They are like plug and play things if you are good. BUT. If you want to be a real programmer for business, career and make big cash in better company. They go for C++, Java and C#. The road is not easy but it pays well. Im just a starter that read so. Do you want quick job or you want the best?
Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by Saverin: 6:45am On Jan 03, 2023
tensazangetsu20:
Tech is honestly the best industry to get into right now. The opportunities are numerous. Almost every job vacancy out there is tech this tech that, developer this and developer that. I stayed in school for 4 years studying for a useless engineering degree and I have never in my life seen a vacancy for the rubbish I studied but there are tech roles every day. But in spite of so many jobs in tech, a lot of new developers struggle to get opportunities. I started being active in the tech community recently and I am meeting developers who have been coding for 5 to 7 years but have never had an opportunity. Talking with them has led me to discover that it's actually not the tech industry but a few of the reasons I am listing below.

1. You follow the trends: A lot of us developers love to focus on the sexy trendy stuff. Newsflash, what is sexy and trendy isn't used and even when used is used by very few companies. So millions of people who have struggled to learn the sexy stuff are all going to fight for those few roles out there. Take for example the latest coolest CSS framework tailwind. It's really cool and hyped up and it's like the go-to framework right now but the thing is in the industry people are still using bootstrap. People are learning tailwind but they don't know the number one CSS framework out there. Just because something is cool and sexy doesn't mean that everyone is going to switch to it overnight.

If you give junior developers a chance between Angular, React, and Vue. A lot of people are going to pick Vue. They will say it's sexy and cool and has a ton of GitHub stars. There are jobs using Vue but they are so few compared to React and Angular that you would be pigeonholing yourself by learning that. Theres a whole of difference between coding for fun and coding to get a job.

2. You have unrealistic expectations: This is something I usually see on Reddit cscareerquestions but it seems to becoming a norm amongst everybody. People believe that if your salary isnt starting at 100k USD a year or you dont work for a tech company, you arent a developer. Its so elitist and unfortunately a lot of developers in Nigeria are beginning to have this mindset. They learn HTML, CSS, JS. They have built absolutely no projects but because someone said you need the knowledge of DSA to get a job they immediately start grinding leetcode day and night with the hope of getting into Google. You learnt to code from a Udemy course and you really want to compete at DSAs with people who went to MIT. People who have been doing competitive programming since 5 years old. People who get gold medals at the international olympaids of informatics like its nothing. grin grin grin. Funny enough, I also had this mindset when I was learning to code but corrected myself later on. The truth is that not every tech job out there tests with DSA or needs knowledge of DSA and not everybody must work for a big tech company. This reasoning is so flawed. It is like saying every lawyer must work for law firms like wale olanipekun and co or every engineer must work for exxonmobil. There are a ton of jobs that will pay you well as a junior developer like really well and you need not struggle to get them. They wont test you with DSA. They would only look at the complexities of your projects and go through them with you. By well paid I am talking of 500k and above. Ask yourself how many people asking you to do DSA in Nigeria have not yet worked at Google. There are even whatsapp groups dedicated to DSA and if you cant solve one you are kicked out. The person giving you DSA is not working at Google or Facebook hmm give yourself a brain o.


3. You do not know how to cut off the bullshit from social media: There's so much information out there today but if you don't know how to cut off the bullshit from what you need, you would waste your time. A lot of influencers and creators are putting information out there for themselves. They follow the algorithms and put out what is going to give them the most value in terms of money for their time. If I put out WordPress content, nobody will watch it but if I go out there and make MERN stack tutorials I would be getting millions of views but to be truthful you do not need the MERN stack as a junior. No one is using MongoDB in prod. Very few websites use Nodejs. You are just limiting yourself with that. If you want to be a full stack developer look at things like C# and Java springboot. Those pay really really well and there are even certifications you can acquire in those frameworks that can help get you opportunities at enterprise companies that use them especially if you don't have a computer science degree.

4 Your projects are not worth paying for: People put out calculators, todo lists, tictactoe games and a lot of bullshit on their portfolio and wonder why they aren't getting interviews. You have applied for 100 jobs and haven't been called back and you absolutely do not know the reason why. Nobody is going to hire you with a to-do list and a calculator on your portfolio. Even if you get an interview, is a calculator something you are going to show your interviewer. What happened to making a social media application, a chat application, a blog, an analytic tool, a dashboard. Something that people actually use in the real world every day. I remember one of the first interviews I have, one of my projects was a payment application I used paystacks API for. Everything was done with HTML, CSS and Javascript and once my interviewer saw the project and the button I used to connect the API, he made an offer to me immediately. Your projects matter especially as a beginner. One solid project is better than 100 garbage projects.

5 You don't research: Honestly, in this tech thing, I take what everyone is saying as bullshit. The senior developer I work with an Australian guy was telling me to learn web assembly if I really want to get a job with visa sponsorship which I so desperately need. I am tired of remote especially doing it from this shithole zoo of a country. I went to Linkedin Jobs and various countries indeed websites and I couldn't even see up to 500 jobs total in web assembly. Why would I waste time learning something that has no jobs because it might be relevant in ten years. Nodejs came out in 2009 and it is still not relevant in 2021. What is the probability that web assembly will be relevant in 2031. Research. When people tell you to learn a technology. Go to linkedinjobs and indeed and check how many jobs exist for that technology worldwide. People always advise you from their own point of view but the point of view of a senior developer in America, Europe or Australia is not the same for you a junior developer in the world's poverty capital.

Tech pays provided you do it right men.
Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by Lampert505(m): 3:46pm On Jan 03, 2023
I’m hoping to learn React soon also and I’ll build my portfolio and large project with it…

These are some Side Projects I built recently, some are challenges from frontendmentor:

◆ e-commerce challenge(html,tailwindCss, vanilla Js): https://opeyemilsneakers.netlify.app
◆ digital rosary for Muslim (html, tailwindCss, vanilla Js): https://tesbihpro.netlify.app
◆ Todo web app (html,tailwindCss,Vanilla js) still building : https://opeyemiltodo.netlify.app
◆ Launchdown-countdown(html, tailwindCss, vanilla Js):
https://opeyemil2023.netlify.app
◆ Prettyglitz website(functionality yet to be fully added):
https://prettyglitzz.netlify.app


what more do you feel I should work on before jumping into React boss! ❤️


tensazangetsu20:

Your portfolio is amazing immediately you have known a JavaScript Framework you can start applying to frontend jobs.
Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by fastanddubious(m): 5:20pm On Jan 03, 2023
.
Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by fastanddubious(m): 5:22pm On Jan 03, 2023
RemiAbdulSamad:
Thanks boss
Your portfolio is great �
Sent u a dm
Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by Charjo: 11:37pm On Jan 14, 2023
Boss pls can I have your WhatsApp number
Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by Najdorf: 12:28pm On Jan 15, 2023
cixak95211:


Lets see your LinkedIn sir . . I promise not to taunt you. grin grin grin grin grin
Programmers and dick measuring contests, nawa oh
Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by Baso7272: 9:19am On Jan 17, 2023
tensazangetsu20:
Tech is honestly the best industry to get into right now. The opportunities are numerous. Almost every job vacancy out there is tech this tech that, developer this and developer that. I stayed in school for 4 years studying for a useless engineering degree and I have never in my life seen a vacancy for the rubbish I studied but there are tech roles every day. But in spite of so many jobs in tech, a lot of new developers struggle to get opportunities. I started being active in the tech community recently and I am meeting developers who have been coding for 5 to 7 years but have never had an opportunity. Talking with them has led me to discover that it's actually not the tech industry but a few of the reasons I am listing below.

1. You follow the trends: A lot of us developers love to focus on the sexy trendy stuff. Newsflash, what is sexy and trendy isn't used and even when used is used by very few companies. So millions of people who have struggled to learn the sexy stuff are all going to fight for those few roles out there. Take for example the latest coolest CSS framework tailwind. It's really cool and hyped up and it's like the go-to framework right now but the thing is in the industry people are still using bootstrap. People are learning tailwind but they don't know the number one CSS framework out there. Just because something is cool and sexy doesn't mean that everyone is going to switch to it overnight.

If you give junior developers a chance between Angular, React, and Vue. A lot of people are going to pick Vue. They will say it's sexy and cool and has a ton of GitHub stars. There are jobs using Vue but they are so few compared to React and Angular that you would be pigeonholing yourself by learning that. Theres a whole of difference between coding for fun and coding to get a job.

2. You have unrealistic expectations: This is something I usually see on Reddit cscareerquestions but it seems to becoming a norm amongst everybody. People believe that if your salary isnt starting at 100k USD a year or you dont work for a tech company, you arent a developer. Its so elitist and unfortunately a lot of developers in Nigeria are beginning to have this mindset. They learn HTML, CSS, JS. They have built absolutely no projects but because someone said you need the knowledge of DSA to get a job they immediately start grinding leetcode day and night with the hope of getting into Google. You learnt to code from a Udemy course and you really want to compete at DSAs with people who went to MIT. People who have been doing competitive programming since 5 years old. People who get gold medals at the international olympaids of informatics like its nothing. grin grin grin. Funny enough, I also had this mindset when I was learning to code but corrected myself later on. The truth is that not every tech job out there tests with DSA or needs knowledge of DSA and not everybody must work for a big tech company. This reasoning is so flawed. It is like saying every lawyer must work for law firms like wale olanipekun and co or every engineer must work for exxonmobil. There are a ton of jobs that will pay you well as a junior developer like really well and you need not struggle to get them. They wont test you with DSA. They would only look at the complexities of your projects and go through them with you. By well paid I am talking of 500k and above. Ask yourself how many people asking you to do DSA in Nigeria have not yet worked at Google. There are even whatsapp groups dedicated to DSA and if you cant solve one you are kicked out. The person giving you DSA is not working at Google or Facebook hmm give yourself a brain o.


3. You do not know how to cut off the bullshit from social media: There's so much information out there today but if you don't know how to cut off the bullshit from what you need, you would waste your time. A lot of influencers and creators are putting information out there for themselves. They follow the algorithms and put out what is going to give them the most value in terms of money for their time. If I put out WordPress content, nobody will watch it but if I go out there and make MERN stack tutorials I would be getting millions of views but to be truthful you do not need the MERN stack as a junior. No one is using MongoDB in prod. Very few websites use Nodejs. You are just limiting yourself with that. If you want to be a full stack developer look at things like C# and Java springboot. Those pay really really well and there are even certifications you can acquire in those frameworks that can help get you opportunities at enterprise companies that use them especially if you don't have a computer science degree.

4 Your projects are not worth paying for: People put out calculators, todo lists, tictactoe games and a lot of bullshit on their portfolio and wonder why they aren't getting interviews. You have applied for 100 jobs and haven't been called back and you absolutely do not know the reason why. Nobody is going to hire you with a to-do list and a calculator on your portfolio. Even if you get an interview, is a calculator something you are going to show your interviewer. What happened to making a social media application, a chat application, a blog, an analytic tool, a dashboard. Something that people actually use in the real world every day. I remember one of the first interviews I have, one of my projects was a payment application I used paystacks API for. Everything was done with HTML, CSS and Javascript and once my interviewer saw the project and the button I used to connect the API, he made an offer to me immediately. Your projects matter especially as a beginner. One solid project is better than 100 garbage projects.

5 You don't research: Honestly, in this tech thing, I take what everyone is saying as bullshit. The senior developer I work with an Australian guy was telling me to learn web assembly if I really want to get a job with visa sponsorship which I so desperately need. I am tired of remote especially doing it from this shithole zoo of a country. I went to Linkedin Jobs and various countries indeed websites and I couldn't even see up to 500 jobs total in web assembly. Why would I waste time learning something that has no jobs because it might be relevant in ten years. Nodejs came out in 2009 and it is still not relevant in 2021. What is the probability that web assembly will be relevant in 2031. Research. When people tell you to learn a technology. Go to linkedinjobs and indeed and check how many jobs exist for that technology worldwide. People always advise you from their own point of view but the point of view of a senior developer in America, Europe or Australia is not the same for you a junior developer in the world's poverty capital.

Tech pays provided you do it right men.


How far bro.. Please i want to know more about jamstack. How can i contact you please?

Btw, i have sent you an email
Re: Why So Many Junior Developers Struggle To Get An Opportunity. by ekehopp2: 12:37pm On Apr 12
Very interesting thread. 3 years. I hope the dozens of people that claimed they were starting out learning Tech eventually made something out of it 3 years later. Peace and regards to all!

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