LANDING A
JUNIOR
DEVELOPER JOB
The Beginner's Guide to
LANDING
A JUNIOR
DEVELOPER
JOB
The Beginner's Guide to Landing a Junior Developer Job 1
LANDING A
JUNIOR
DEVELOPER JOB
INTRODUCTION
Everywhere you look these days, you see articles, blog
posts, infographics, and tweets about how in-demand
developers are—and how much money they make. . .
and about how fascinating their jobs are. . . and about
all the innovative products they create.
And you probably want in on the action—who could
blame you?
But, when you stop and think about it, what EXACTLY
does a developer even do? And how would you go
about landing a job as a developer? What skills would
you need?
If you’re looking to get started in the tech industry,
this checklist will set you straight on how to get
started as a junior developer, with insider information
and practical tips for landing your first job as a
developer.
IN THIS GUIDE, YOU’RE GOING TO LEARN:
The responsibilities of a junior developer
The role of a junior developer on a tech team
The titles of junior developer jobs you can look for
The skills you need to become a junior developer
What you can create with junior developer skills
The real-life jobs you can get as a junior developer
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LANDING A
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WHAT IS A junior DEVELOPER?
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LANDING A
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THE BASICS
Let's start by defining web developer: They use
programming languages like HTML, CSS, JavaScript,
Ruby, and others to tell a computer or device to display
the site or app they have in mind. Every single website,
app, and piece of software you use daily was created
by a developer, from Snapchat and Instagram to
Buzzfeed and [Link].
Often (and in this guide), “junior” is used
interchangeably with “entry-level.” It means that
you are starting with fresh skills that you’ve honed
independently and on smaller projects, but you
probably don’t have much experience working on a
development team...yet!
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LANDING A
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THE ROLE OF A junior DEVELOPER
Constantly grow your knowledge and skills
Proactively learn about tools, processes, and
products
Diligently follow coding standards
Always look for ways to help the team
Happily take on any tasks that need to be done
Openly communicate with all team members and
departments
Willingly accept feedback and improve as needed
Consistently meet goals and deadlines
Actively contribute suggestions and ideas
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LANDING A
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RESPONSIBILITIES OF
A junior DEVELOPER
Write and mark up code
Debug and refactor code
Create and run tests
Implement new features and improve current
features
Participate in and support deployments
Write and maintain documentation
Take part in planning and development
meetings and projects
Collaborate with other teams and departments
on issues, requests, and support
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LANDING A
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DEVELOPER JOB
NAMES & TITLES
As a junior developer, you could have a variety of
different titles depending on the size of the company
you work for, the specific role you’re playing there,
and the actual level of work you’ll be doing. For
example, a Code Tester or QA Tester still needs junior
development skills—even though that’s not apparent
in the job title.
To get the low-down on all the positions you could
take as a junior web developer, check out this list and
remember these titles when it comes time for the job
hunt.
Junior/Entry-Level Developer Rails developer
Junior/Entry-Level Programmer WordPress / PHP Developer
Junior/Entry-Level Coder Software Developer
Developer Mobile Developer
Developer Trainee Application / App developer
Web Developer QA Tester
Front-End Developer QA Engineer
JavaScript developer Code Tester
Ruby developer Tech Support Engineer
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THE SKILLS YOU NEED TO
BECOME A junior DEVELOPER
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LANDING A
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THESE ARE THE EXACT SKILLS YOU
NEED TO KNOW TO GET A
JUNIOR DEVELOPER JOB:
HTML
CSS
GIT/GITHUB
JAVASCRIPT/JQUERY
PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS
js
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HTML & CSS
HTML, or HyperText Markup Language, is the
language used to create structure and content
like text and links. CSS, or Cascading Style Sheets,
is the language used to format and style HTML.
WHAT CAN YOU BUILD WITH IT
Web pages
Websites
Apps
Games
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LANDING A
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GIT AND GITHUB
Git is a version control system for keeping track
of changes to code and documentation (Think:
Track Changes in Microsoft Word), and GitHub is
a web-based tool for using Git.
Both Git and GitHub are crucial skills for working
on a tech team.
WHAT CAN YOU BUILD WITH IT
Store code and documentation
Copy and contribute code and documentation
Track changes to code and documentation
Collaborate with other developers
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LANDING A
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JAVASCRIPT AND
JQUERY
JavaScript is a programming language used to make
web pages interactive, and jQuery is a popular JavaScript
library that makes it possible to achieve JavaScript effects
using less code.
And these days, JS frameworks—systems for building
websites that make use of JavaScript and jQuery—are in
high demand.
WHAT CAN YOU BUILD WITH IT
Forms
Menus
Dialogues
Interactive elements on a webpage
Dynamic web pages
Web / mobile / desktop apps
Games
UI effects
Widgets
Interactions
Responsive layouts
Custom plugins
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PROJECT MANAGEMENT
TOOLS
Project management tools are software or
applications used by teams to coordinate tasks
and schedules. Popular systems include Asana,
JIRA, and Basecamp.
WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH IT
Keep track of issues to be handled
Assign tasks and monitor progress
Plan and monitor schedules
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SPECIAL SKILLS
Once you have the basics down, you
can start getting more specialized skills
for specific jobs.
SASS/LESS
MOBILE DEVELOPMENT
FRONTEND & JAVASCRIPT FRAMEWORKS
WORDPRESS/PHP
RUBY ON RAILS
PYTHON/DJANGO
DATABASE MANAGEMENT (USING SQL AND NOSQL)
AUTOMATED TESTING (TDD,BDD)
AGILE WORKFLOW (SCRUM)
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LANDING A
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DEVELOPER JOB
CSS PREPROCESSORS
WHAT IT IS
CSS Preprocessors like Sass and LESS are
extensions of the CSS language that make CSS
cleaner and easier to maintain.
WHAT CAN YOU BUILD WITH IT
More organized, logical, and efficient
stylesheets
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LANDING A
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MOBILE DEVELOPMENT
Mobile development draws on CSS and JavaScript
to build websites that are optimized for a variety
of devices, like smartphones, tablets, and laptops.
You'll also need to learn best practices for these
optimizations, not just the coding languages.
WHAT CAN YOU BUILD WITH IT
Websites and applications that transition seamlessly
from device to device.
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FRONT-END & JAVASCRIPT
FRAMEWORKS
A framework is a collection of code libraries
that make developing websites and applications
faster and easier and code more consistent and
compatible. Bootstrap is a popular front-end
framework, and popular JavaScript frameworks
include AngularJS, [Link], and [Link].
WHAT CAN YOU BUILD WITH IT
With these frameworks, you can quickly create design
templates and responsive layouts or single-page
applications.
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DEVELOPER JOB
WORDPRESS/PHP
WordPress is a Content Management System
(CMS), and PHP, is the scripting language used
for WordPress.
Wordpress powers around 50 percent of the
web (so if you want to add some freelance work
to your junior dev job, knowing how to program
Wordpress sites is key.
WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH IT
Create, customize, and manage content-based
websites.
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LANDING A
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DEVELOPER JOB
RUBY ON RAILS
WHAT IT IS
Ruby on Rails, or Rails, is a web application
framework designed to work with the Ruby
programming language.
WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH IT
Build mobile and web applications
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LANDING A
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DEVELOPER JOB
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The Beginner's Guide to Landing a Junior Developer Job 20
LANDING A
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DEVELOPER JOB
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DEVELOPER JOB
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