How to fill in your work preferences on Frontend Mentor
As we get closer to launching our Hiring Platform, we have added the option to set your work preferences for when we launch.
Setting yourself as available for work will make you eligible to appear in search results on the Hiring Platform and for recruiters to contact you. You have complete control over whether or not you’re available for work and can change this setting any time you like. If you haven’t found it already, you can find the work preferences form by clicking the briefcase icon in the header.
The goal of this article is to help give additional context for each question to help you fill in the information to the best of your ability. In turn, this will hopefully help you stand out on the Hiring Platform and lead to companies contacting you regarding potential work opportunities.
Your work preferences
What type of contract are you looking for?
We’d recommend only selecting the contract types you particularly want to be offered. Choosing all options can be tempting, but if you’re looking for a full-time position and are open to internships, we recommend just selecting those options. Being selective will show recruiters you know precisely what you want.
Where is your preferred workplace?
Companies often offer a range of workplace options these days. Remote work has become more common, but some companies may have staff on-site. A hybrid approach where employees come into the office some days and work remotely on others is also increasingly common. Select all options that you’re comfortable with.
What are your minimum salary expectations?
Adding your minimum salary expectations does not mean that that’s the salary you’re going to get. It will simply help you show up in relevant search results when a recruiter has added a salary budget to their search. If you get through to the later stages of an interview, the company will offer you a package they feel is suitable for the position and your experience. You’ll then be able to either accept, reject or negotiate their offer as you see fit. It’s important to note that we never disclose your minimum salary expectations on the Hiring Platform.
You can research salaries in your area using tools like Glassdoor salary search. Think about your living expenses and the experience you might bring from previous roles. Choose a number you’d be happy to accept, and don’t feel pressured to put a low number.
Your background
Where are you located?
The location you choose will affect which location-based searches you show up in. If you live near a large city, we recommend selecting that city as your location. This would mean you’re more likely to appear in searches for that area.
Whichever location you choose, please ensure you have a valid work visa or are eligible to work in that country.
What languages are you fluent in?
Companies from all over the world will use our hiring platform to discover talent. Companies will expect you to have fluent written and spoken skills for every language you add to this field.
What interests do you have beyond work?
Your hiring profile isn’t only about your expectations and experience. Companies will often want to learn more about you as an individual. This field is where you can add more context about yourself and talk about your passions beyond web development. Add any information you feel a potential employer might like to hear about you. Try to keep it concise, as recruiters are likely to skim read a lot of text.
Your experience
How many years of professional web development experience do you have?
It is crucial that you only choose the number of years you have worked professionally as a web developer in this field. It can be tempting to inflate the number. Still, it could be a red flag to recruiters if you put in 1+ years when you have no prior professional web development experience. You’ll be expected to demonstrate your expertise during the interview process, so it’s often easy to tell when someone has inflated their experience.
Not all companies on the platform will require professional experience for their roles, so it’s best to be transparent and let the right companies find you.
What is your work experience?
Whether you have prior professional web development experience or not, this is where you can add any work experience you might have. If you have worked or are working in a different industry, add any work experience you feel is relevant.
Experience in other roles and industries can offer incredible benefits to your role as a web developer. The “Role and responsibilities” field is where you can expand on what you did. Have you got any experience dealing with clients? How about presenting or selling? Add anything you feel would translate well to being a web developer and offer additional layers to bring to a team.
Questions you may have
Why can’t I add my skills?
The solutions you complete and the tools you use will determine what skill-based searches you show up in. When you submit a solution, be sure to tag it with all relevant tools you used. For example, if you used React and Redux in a project, add the “react” and “redux” tags to your solution. Doing this will mean that you’ll be eligible to appear in search results were a recruiter looking for experience with React and/or Redux.
It is crucial that you only use tags relevant to the tools you used on a project. If you have tagged a solution with “react”, but it’s a pure HTML & CSS project where you didn’t use React, it will be a big red flag to recruiters and could negatively affect the chances of them contacting you.
Why are there no fields to add my educational background?
We believe the projects you submit and the comments you give to others on the platform should be the primary indicators of your skills and knowledge. We aim to focus on what you can do instead of what school you’ve been to.
Companies may still ask for your educational background during the interview process, but we want the focus to be on your projects and comments first of all.
Why are the salary expectations in US Dollars?
We’ve done this for simplicity for the early versions of the Hiring Platform. Using a single currency makes it easier to match jobs to developers globally. In the future, we may look to add other currencies.
To convert a salary from your currency into US Dollars, we recommend using a currency exchange rate site like xe.com.
Please note that you might get paid in a currency other than US Dollars based on your location.
Why can’t I choose Freelance, Contract, or Part-Time as a contract type?
Our primary goal is to help developers in our community find full-time positions and internships/apprenticeships. In the early days of the Hiring Platform, we want to become known as the place where companies can come to discover incredible junior front-end talent. Therefore, we’ve chosen to stay focused on positions more suitable to junior developers for now.
Am I guaranteed to be hired?
We can’t offer any guarantees, unfortunately. The existence of the Hiring Platform opens up an additional avenue whereby you can potentially be discovered by companies and be hired. By completing challenges and providing helpful feedback to others, you’re more likely to appear higher in search results and catch recruiters’ attention.
In addition to setting yourself as available for work on Frontend Mentor, we recommend applying directly for roles you find on job boards and across the web. You can still use your Frontend Mentor profile as a portfolio of projects and code reviews when applying for roles to showcase your coding skills and knowledge.
If you have any questions, feedback, or difficulties filling in the form, please email hi@frontendmentor.io, and we’ll help you out however we can.
Best of luck in your job hunt! 🙂
