Are you thinking of entering the wildlife of web development? Congratulations! It’s a great time to start and even if you do not come with computer science experience. After I interviewed several web developers, I realized that I was listening to the same things from each of them. Some of my statements confirmed my suspicions about what the industry is and what it is about, and some have surprised me. That’s why I give you this list of 5 hidden secrets about work in the field of web development.
Title is not important
Every web designer with whom I spoke told me the same thing – no one has an official title. Titles are not important in their departments or companies.
This means that when looking for a job you do not have to look for a title that you like. Hold on to simple things like “web developer”, and you will be exactly where you need to be.
This also means that the structures of many teams with engineers and web developers are relatively equated in the hierarchy. Just to remind you, as Micah Jaffe, CTO of FairLoan Financial, says in an interview, a balanced structure does not mean that you should stop behaving courteously and respectfully towards your associates.
Diplomas are not important
Of course, if you have graduated from an information department and have acquired knowledge and skills, it’s great. But your determination and perseverance in learning to program are much more important than any degree.
Mike Feineman, a developer at the Social Media Agency Room 214, says, “Self-taught programmers have bigger ambitions and more dear students. In other words, they are exactly the kind of people I like to have in my team. “Come on, start learning programming!
You do not have to spend much time on the motivation letter because you probably will not see anyone
Yes, it is fair to say that many of the traditional wisdom of looking for work (spending a lot of time to compose a perfect motivation letter, blah, blah …) do not apply to developers. People who are looking at applications sent by programmers rarely know how to fly through the motivation letter, but most often do not do it.
Well, what’s important then when you apply for a job in web development? Your job! Get ready to show your projects (so always engage in very good projects). Give a link to your GitHub archive, your personal web site or other active examples from your work. This is much more important than anything you can describe in a few paragraphs.
When you’re in the beginning, follow Jennifer Gilbert’s advice to find an organization (say non-profit, whose mission is important to you) and offer free help. This way you will get experience and something you can put in your resume, and they will get an excellent web site. Double gain! To read more than Jennifer (who is a self-taught programmer who shifted from editorial development to software development) read an interview with her here.
You must want to create things and accept the fact that they can be decomposed
Part of the fun when you are a programmer is what you create. But, a very important part of the creative process is to learn how to create things more effectively, which means that sometimes you make mistakes and your creations will decompose. And that’s happening, so you have to adjust to that fact, and accept it.
Sam Nichols, a mobile developer from SmugMug, said this: “Create a massage, build a computer, make a gun on the water, do something for a week, and then do something just 40 minutes before the fun. Creating things is the basis of this profession, so having the experience in creating things, especially in cooperation with others, will help you with perspective and customization. “You can practice building anything and even websites, just do not let the fear of failure to keep you.
If you are a woman, it may be difficult. But do not give up!
In the text of LinkedIn “Women in IT face many challenges – But there is hope,” Vivek Wadwha explores why women are not represented enough in the industry. Also look at the text “Let’s talk about women in technology: The Silicon Valley is still having sex problems” to find out how some of the women working in Silicon Valley are. Yes, some of them had bad experiences with macho culture and were not sufficiently respected by their co-workers, but they are all passionate in their work and are ready to make changes. Why should not you be part of that change?
Homework! Identify five to ten organizations whose web sites you think should be a little changed. Send an email message to see if they will allow you to do something nice for them.
