Five Things Every New Front-End Dev Should Know.

Leslie A Borst
Sep 5, 2018 · 4 min read
Artwork by Myself

Hello Internet!! I am back with another blog post. This list is the the things I learned mostly from mentor and from experiences I have had thus far in my web dev journey. These are things I had no idea about until my friends in the industry told me or my experiences at the boot-camp I currently attend. So, I figured I would share for those who also may not know and are starting their pursuit of becoming a front-end developer too. Without further delay, here is Five Things Every New Web Developer Should Know!

1. Get A Mentor or Two.

This is number one because if you have a mentor they can teach you so much about how the industry really works and help you when you run into any problems. I don’t know what I would do without my mentor. I always ask him about everything I am not sure of and a good mentor will always answer your questions no matter how simple you may think it will be. Like my band teacher use to say, “The only stupid question is one that isn’t asked.”

2. Get involved in the community and start a blog.

Getting involved in the community is easier than you may think. There is a huge IT and Web Dev community on Twitter. My experience has been that the community there is very friendly and always willing to help other developers with coding problems. You can also find fun sessions to attend and network with other developers on Meetup.com. From local speaking events to code help meet ups. Last part of this, start a blog! Get yourself out there and let other developers know who are and share your coding experiences/knowledge with the world.

3. Practice and add repositories to GitHub.

GitHub.com

My mentor’s favorite phrase is, “Commit early and often.” This means even if something is a work in progress commit it to GitHub. You can always update it later and it will reflect the history of edits. This shows employers you have skills and shows them your improvement over time. And maybe another developer on GitHub will feel they would like to add something or can help you if you get stuck on a problem. It’s a great community and a great tool that every new developer needs to know about.

4. Universities can sometimes be behind.

It isn’t the college’s fault though. It takes a lot for a university or a college to update their curriculum. This very reason is why I chose to supplement my web programming degree with a boot-camp style learning experience. I am not trying to say that you shouldn’t get a degree. YOU ABSOLUTELY SHOULD. Just be aware that the materials they use may be outdated a couple years. It is always a good idea to ask your mentor for good book referrals, so you can learn things like JavaScript frameworks or recent JavaScript in general and CSS Grid or Flexbox and so on and so forth. So, if a boot-camp style learning isn’t accessible to you or just isn’t your thing, I highly recommend learning some things on your own. I also recommend learning some back-end languages. This is because some employers will want someone who knows at least one back-end language and so you have an understanding of how the back-end works.

5. Portfolio, Website and Business Cards.

1. Portfolio, Website and Business Cards. Market yourself! Build yourself a website to showcase your skills and show the community and employers who you are. Your website should have:

· Your Resume

· A short bio about yourself

· A nice photo of yourself

· A list of projects you have done(portfolio)

o Side projects outside of your 9–5

o Projects from college or boot-camp you are proud of

· Links to your GitHub, blog and professional social media accounts

It is also a good idea to make some personal business cards. If your job allows you to do side projects or do conference speaking, it’s a good idea to have your own business card with all your contact info and a nice photo of yourself. You want people to remember you for future endeavors. So make it stand out and be as awesome as the code you write.

Conclusion.

It may not be the best advice but these were things I had no idea about before I met my mentor. I had no idea how much was involved if you want to be successful in the tech industry. The best thing I have found is the community will welcome anyone with open arms and I am so proud and honored to be a part of it.

Happy coding ya’ll!

~Enjoy ❤

Leslie A Borst

Written by

Web developer padawan and artist.

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