Trying to get a Remote Front-End Software Engineering Role in 2024 — Part 3: The Plan

A bowerbird builds a display of pretty things to attract a mate. AMNH.org

Overview

To achieve my goal of securing a remote front-end software engineering role, I need to increase my chances of overcoming the various obstacles involved.

In my previous post, I worked on demystifying my goals and capabilities. The next step is to build a plan for myself — a map for getting from where I am now to where I want to be.

While building this plan, I need to prioritize and focus on what I think will have the greatest impact. At a high level, everything in this plan must be moving me towards one of the following goals:

• getting my applications in front of real people
• persuading those people to follow up with me based on the documents I send
• preparing for screenings, initial interviews, and technical interviews

I expect this process may take some time. It is important that I establish a steady pace — to be persistent but not stressed out. I have a full-time job and a family. I have the fortune of not needing to rush, but I also don’t have much free time, so I need to set realistic goals for myself.

The Plan

As a front-end engineer, the viewable parts of the internet are my craft and my primary showcase. I need to leverage it as much as I can if I am going to be applying to any remote job I find and like.

Like a bird of paradise, I need to build a display of pretty things to attract attention, and when I do, I need to mesmerize my audience.

A vogelkop’s mating dance. Nat GEO WILD

The key elements of this song and dance will be the following:

Update and Refine My Resume

I need to investigate ways to improve the chances of getting my resume and cover letter in front of humans. At a glance, I think I need to:

• Review the language I use and key words. For example, I’ve been involved in a lot of CI/CD work over the last few years, but it isn’t anywhere on my current resume. I also need to make sure the job titles and key words I use are aligned with the roles I apply to. For example, front-end software engineer and front-end engineer are both possible job titles that are functionally the same — but an automated system doesn’t know that and may disqualify resumes that don’t have an exact title match.
• Do more to showcase my latest work. The main product I’ve been a part of launching and maintaining is starting to show up in online stores, and it would be good to somehow show this.

Checkout page of Bass Pro Shops

Build a Better Online Presence

I need to make myself stand out a bit more online. My personal website and LinkedIn profile show up first when I search my name, which is a good start, but I need to do a bit more.

• I need to review my LinkedIn profile and link this blog. I should also be more active on the site to help with networking. Engaging with posts, joining relevant groups, and sharing industry insights can help.
• My GitHub account needs more activity. I plan to build out some small projects and push at least one commit five days each week to address this. I’ll also need to showcase projects that highlight my skills in front-end development, particularly in React.

Behold, my lack of GitHub activity from this last year

• My website is basic and needs updating. I see a lot of room for improvement, even if the site remains simple and static. I’ll add a portfolio section to highlight my best work and include a blog for sharing technical insights.

maxwellbenton.com at the start of this journey.

• Blogging will help a lot to increase my online presence, though I will need to be strategic about how much I write to make sure I make time for my other goals. Future posts will likely be more technical and focused — I need to use this blog to showcase my writing skills.

Build Projects

The products I’ve been working on for the last few years are in use out on the internet, but they are embedded in retail websites, and my involvement in them isn’t obvious.

• Having a couple of recent projects on GitHub that are entirely my own would be helpful for building my online presence — if I can stick to good git practices and work a little towards a project almost every day, I’ll be able to revive my GitHub profile a bit while crafting an example of my skills.
• Since I’ve been working mainly in Vue the last couple of years, I need to practice with React and be comfortable taking on React related questions and code challenges. Building a project with some of React’s newest features should be a good place to start.
• I can use projects to showcase skills that are hard to convey in a resume. For example, I’ve been involved in various things related to continuous integration and deployment — written integration tests, set up Jenkins pipelines, modified the Groovy files, coordinated with E2E teams on troubleshooting pipeline failures — working with pipelines is a useful skill, but it is a hard one to showcase. My hope is that I can try to show a bit more of my experience by spinning up my own mini-pipeline using GitHub actions and webhooks.

I’ve got a few ideas I can get to work on, but my aim is to keep these projects small and targeted to make sure I am getting my work out into the world.

Network

Maintaining connections is definitely an area of growth for me and striking up conversations now when I am looking for possible job leads feels insincere.

I think I have to just sit uncomfortably with that idea and remind myself to work harder in the future to maintain connections. I also try to remind myself of the following:

• I’ve had the fortune of working with some really talented people and I am genuinely interested to know how they are doing.
• Networking is expected in this industry. I got the role that I am in thanks to people I used to work with.
• When people have reached out to me in similar situations, I’ve enjoyed talking with and trying to help them.
• People are free to not respond and I cannot control their reactions.

I need to just do it — reach out to people I know and see what is out there. I’ll try to stick to connecting with two people in my network per week. After I post this, I’ll make a general post on LinkedIn as well.

Start Applying to Jobs

I need to get into the habit of regularly sending resumes and adjusting cover letters. I aim to send out a minimum of two applications per week. I’ll research each company and tailor my applications to match their needs.

Prepare for Interviews

I need to practice JavaScript technical challenges and React code challenges regularly. I’ll use platforms like Codewars and LeetCode to sharpen my skills and try to complete at least 2 code challenges a week. There are also many lists online of common technical interview questions and copious mock interview videos on YouTube that I can draw from for practice. Beyond that, I’ll also look for any opportunities to do real mock interviews to get some additional practice talking in front of someone.

Once I am invited to interviews, I’ll focus on company-specific preparation and practice answering general or cultural interview questions. A day or two before an interview, I also try to simulate interviewing conditions and practice speaking my answers aloud.

The Plan, Visualized

These goals, set down on a roadmap would look roughly like this:

My new job roadmap, made in Excalidraw

Like all plans, I’ll adjust this as needed once I get going. Once I have more projects online, for example, I can devote more time to applications and interview prep. I like having the quotas be pretty small to start, though. I’ve already begun to try to meet these goals over the past two weeks and it feels encouraging and productive to hit milestones quickly.

Final Thoughts

A key value in writing all this down is that it transfers ideas floating around in my head into actionable tasks. It both lifts a mental burden and provides a path to follow. With a plan in place, a lot of the time, I can just focus on the tasks in front of me.

Okay. Plan written.

Time to execute it.