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Ekaterina Sava2015-01-13 23:20:22
Web development
Ekaterina Sava, 2015-01-13 23:20:22

How to quickly improve your level as a web developer to meet the requirements of employers?

Hello!

This is my professional history. A little more than 2 years ago I got a job as a layout designer, without having a single gram of experience (I studied the theory on html / css, made up a couple of free layouts). There, of course, they taught me the basics of layout and taught me how to work in accordance with the goals of the company (there were only 2 layout designers: my sensei and me). But since it was not a web studio, but an office with specific tasks, for example, we did not use any cms (fashionable then) or, for example, preprocessors (fashionable now ... well, or not very much anymore). A year later, I remained the only layout designer, I did a good job with the duties assigned to me and single-handedly typeset everything for our system (we made a cloud OS), along the way I was also a system support for users, but this has nothing to do with the case. I did not use any new features: yes,

The crux of the matter is this. I haven't been working there for a month and I've been in a stupor for the same month. I, of course, try to find a job, I review vacancies every day (a thousand from the casket, the same from the face) and what they want from people when naming a vacancy "html layout designer" is simply amazing. Give everyone a framework-nerd, js-guru, front-end master, and for mobile, and for retina, and for watches (probably, it will also soon become a requirement), while it is also desirable to design design and usability usability. I'm exaggerating, but the bottom line is that during my work I haven't made a single website (well, okay, a couple of landing pages), I don't know how to use jQuery, I've never used less/sass/stylus and boostrap, I haven't made it with BEM , I don’t know anything about all these fancy JS frameworks, and even more so, I don’t write in pure JS ... I’m afraid to respond to any vacancies, because I satisfy a maximum of 2-3 items from the lists, the length of the monitor screen. I sit and frantically re-read articles, lessons, for some reason I took all the courses at the HTML Academy (although it was more like solving problems on knowing the multiplication table), in general, I’m doing what the hell, mostly self-abasement.

Yes, I understand that all these things are not so complicated and I am absolutely sure that I will learn everything over time, but at the moment I have no experience in using all this awesome variety.
What should I do? Sitting to learn it at home, training on the knee? Knowing myself, I'm unlikely to master something well, doing it "in the air." I really like to read theory, write notes - I already have a thick diary, I can publish a book :) But this is more like procasting, it doesn’t add real experience in development, as well as the ability to attribute something to the resume.
Go at random just to take at least where? But I really do not want to get into a situation - there are still a couple of years of "naked" layout (html and css only), and for "not only layout" I, obviously, am still "weak".
Start freelancing? Yes, this way I will definitely gain experience, but the fact of interacting with a bunch of different people annoys me, I got into all this only in order to minimize communication with incomprehensible people.

And yes, sorry for the long post. accumulated here.

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23 answer(s)
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Vladislav, 2015-01-14
@EkaterinaSava

Let's turn to this publication to understand the approximate trends, because the most profitable option is still a front-end.
In short, a full-fledged client-side developer should know:
- html5 / css3 + bootstrap
- one or two preprocessors (less / stylus)
- pure js and a couple of client libraries or frameworks (knockout / backbone / angular / react)
- a little node.js, to be able to use a package manager (npm) and a build manager (gulp/grunt)
This list covers most client tasks in an average studio or startup.
In reality, only one thing is required from the developer - to be able to quickly pin some feature to the release, which was supposed to be yesterday. Actually, if you carefully look at the list that I have given, you will notice that all these things are aimed at the fastest possible development - here is a crutch, there is a crutch - and into production. No matter how they try to catch up with pathos in an interview, it will be that way in battle.
Another question is what to do with all this.
I usually suggest trying to start your own little project. Some simple personal site, a game on js (the same flappy bird or 1048 - a lot of mind is not needed here). More difficult - your theme or library. This will be a good practical experience, which is not ashamed to describe in a resume.
A mandatory skill is to quickly read the documentation (preferably in English) and understand what is happening in the code that you see for the first time in your life. I advise you to practice on various open source projects.
If we talk about personal experience, then I pulled up js quite well with the help of codewars - tasks start from the simplest (string conversion, array iteration) to obviously difficult ones (own interpreters and image data conversion).
But an attempt to shove a UI / UX layout designer is already savings on the part of individual offices that, for some reason, do not want to hire a separate designer / designer on a full-time basis or under a contract. Here, unfortunately, you have to put up and watch articles on the topic - the same GoodUI .

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lastnast, 2015-01-14
@lastnast

In general, yes, there are a lot of technologies in the front-end, and they appear almost every month. You can't keep up with everyone, many die quickly. At first I was lost myself, thinking how to know all this and manage to study it.
Generally standard:
HTML5/CSS3;
JavaScript / jQuery
Responsive, cross-browser layout;
git
Master all this at a professional level, and you will always have a job. And then study technologies as they become popular and in demand. Go to hantim.ru, choose: front end, html, layout designer, etc. See what is most requested, and then study, well, as you have free time, study what makes it easier to work like node.js, less / sass, etc.
Create an Evernote, make a notepad for work, and add new knowledge there, what you learned, interesting articles, in general, as mentioned above - structure your knowledge base, it will be very useful. Another tip: for example, when you start reading a book, save important things, notes, techniques to your Evernote, take notes. Then you won't need to go back to the book, because you will have all the most important in a compressed form. This technique also develops a quick way of reading, soon you will automatically run past useless water, and absorb only the important.

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spamerbo, 2015-01-16
@spamerbo

Greetings!
I was in your situation about a year ago.
Learn javascript, clean, at a good level. Everything else is decay - they are studied in a few days with real work and jQuery, and bootstrap, git, etc.
Don't listen to advice to start with jQuery - it's a path to bullshit without a good knowledge of js. There is also freelancing, there will be no reason to develop.
Learn javascript, work with the DOM, accept test tasks from employers. Further, the difficult goal is to get your first job, do not waste time on a web studio, now in the SPA trend is to learn backbone, angularJS is much easier on a real project. After six months of such experience, you will be a sought-after specialist with a good salary. Good luck!

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Denis Kainazarov, 2015-01-15
@iit

Now the main developer on a huge portal.
He came there as he was invited by a classmate (now he is a team leader). I knew php at the level of a non-obydlocoder. js - a bit of Jquery. Html/css more or less.
The previous developers were dumped on more "delicious vacancies" - one now has his own studio and the second is now the deputy director of a large automotive portal.
The two of us ended up with a UmiCMS version "modified" by these evil geniuses that was outdated a century ago. Task with a deadline yesterday on several sheets of a4. And fire in the eyes. At first it was hell. Crutches on crutches, version control or backups? no you didn't hear it! Hacker attacks and 3 shells. Constant attempts to raise a server that suddenly fell at night and hundreds of thousands of other joyful and terrible situations.
Now we are already 5.
Reading Habr, doing work and constantly developing, I grew into a good backend developer. Learned cool things like git with push autodeploy, laravel, nodejs, composer, npm, bower, gulp, scss, haml. Learned jQuery and created 3 plugins for the project, Angularjs, Backbone, Html5 bootstrap.
A classmate grew into a team leader and learned UX and advanced as a manager, created a project that increased the company's profits.
After 2 designers and one frontend ninja came to us, everything was just great.
Bottom line - you need to find a company where they will agree to take a June. Now many companies grow their specialists. Even if there is no mentor, do not despair. Experience will come with work. The main thing is to work hard and use the brain to reduce the amount of work, to study technology. Create mini-projects for fun.
The only negative - the first time zp will be critically small. But this can be compensated by freelancing.

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asd111, 2015-01-14
@asd111

Take a list of web studios and send them your resume and examples of work with the note:
"I ONLY DEVELOP any JS, etc., I work remotely, the cost of layout per page is such and such"
In addition to layout, they will not give you anything.
On the other hand, they will overwhelm with typesetting so that it won't seem enough)))
Typesetters who only typeset are also very needed.
As for the adaptive layout - there is nothing complicated, write the screen size through the media query and layout as usual.
The link below has a book on adaptive layout (150 pages approximately read in 2 days)
It's called "Responsive Web Design"
rutracker.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4273362

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urmanta, 2015-01-14
@urmanta

Oh, as I understand you, I myself got out of this situation not so long ago. My advice is to go for any penny junior to an office where there is a normal developer. In combat, everything learns much faster. I myself read and re-read the book "jQuery for beginners", and there was zero sense. On real work projects, with the tips of a senior, things started right away. And I figured it out with sass in one day, because they gave me a project that they had already started on sass, if you want it or not, you can write it down. I can’t say that I haven’t had a chance to work with BAM, Angular, or Backbone yet, but I’m already looking for vacancies with a decent salary and opportunities for further growth.

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andreyqin, 2015-01-14
@andreyqin

In fact, all you need to do is structure your learning. Highlight those skills that are most often found in vacancies, most likely in your case it is basic JavaScript and jQuery, preprocessors (learn in 1-2 days) and adaptive layout (without bootstrap). Make a list of resources and literature for learning: choose the very best, you don’t need to read heaps of articles - there will be mess in your head.
About freelancing: no need. You will spend a lot of time just looking for the first order, it is better to devote this time to more useful things for you now.

J
Jeiwan, 2015-01-15
@Jeiwan

You can try to follow the same path that you followed the first time - find a company that uses all this JS diversity, get a job there and train in combat. It is likely that they can take a layout designer to grow to a front-ender, especially if a person is striving.
I would not advise freelancing: the same problem will remain - how to move to the next level. You will take orders according to your current skills, and it will be scary to take something new, because you don’t want to spoil your reputation and let people down. In addition, customers require previous experience, without which work is not given.
In a company, it is easier and faster to move to that very next level. You will be in the circle of specialists, you will learn from them and absorb like a sponge (otherwise you will be fired :)). It will be easier for you to take on difficult tasks, as there are people who will help, prompt and insure. It will also be easier for the company to understand the whole variety of tools and libraries, since the development process will already be established in the team, and you will not have to rush between angular and backbone, sass and less, haml and slim, etc. d.
Good luck!

S
Stanislav, 2015-01-13
@mzcoding

Something recently on the toaster has become fashionable to tell your own stories of the difficult path of web development))
And on the topic:
1) The layout designer should know at a normal level JS or at least JQuery (start learning them)
2) Go to any freelance stock exchange / take simple orders - typeset.
3) Can't work with people yourself? Find a programmer and / or designer - offer cooperation (these can be found in Google for "blog-php programmer" or "blog-designer", etc.).

V
Vyacheslav, 2015-01-15
@uncurrent

I am not a coder or front-end developer, but I do web development (web design, interfaces, project manager). I have this advice for you:
Now, when you understand that your qualifications are not enough to feel like a confident player in the IT market, you, more than ever before, can't get a job "lie somewhere". I recommend starting a leisurely search for your dream office and combining it with freelancing.
1) Look for an employer where the level of projects matches or aspires to the area in which you would like to work. Take as a mandatory criterion for choosing an employer the presence of strong mentors in the company. Nowadays, working for 1 year in the wrong company, albeit for good money, is a big risk of rolling back your skills, which you will then have to catch up for quite a long time.
2) There is nothing wrong with freelancing. Try to look for subcontract work: focus on studios and agencies. In the case of working with 5-10 regular customers, you are almost full-time employees of these companies. You will be directed to the right place, and they will force you to work according to BEM, and in general this is not the kind of freelance where you spend half of your time on attracting clients. And also, which is no less important, this is not the kind of freelance where you trade in a narrow range of services. But as in any freelancing in the beginning, you can forget about rest, vacations and free time (which will be spent on advanced training).

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Marcel Markhabulin, 2015-01-16
@milar

What a pity that you are from Moscow. We have been looking for a layout designer just like you for half a year - who knows the basic basics (able to start doing it on his own), whom he will later teach his best practices and welcome the study of anything new in this area. It would seem that this is an ideal place for a typical junior? But alas, the experience of many interviews has shown that sometimes such novice employees either have inflated self-esteem (either they just don’t want to work with them, or they want to, but they ask for a salary higher than that of a lead programmer), or they have their own “baggage” from angular , bam, bootstrap, using them with irrepressible fanaticism (and sometimes there are even guys who can only make up on bootstrap and can’t just open a notebook and implement something).
As for the essence of the matter. When I myself was a junior programmer, the criteria for moving forward were always websites with vacancies. There I searched for suitable ones, sorted them by salary level and looked at the requirements. Those requirements that were mentioned most often and had "weight" - those I studied, applied, felt and gave a final assessment (add to my arsenal, if you like, or limit yourself to simple knowledge of this technology). In this way, I twice reached the level of overskill at work, when the company physically did not need the level that was achieved at that time (it was not needed - that is, I was not ready to pay in proportion to the level of work. It was just that the company did not need it). So in the end, this knowledge was automatically pushed forward by the scruff of the neck in the development of living standards, specialization, and everything else. That's the advice -).

D
Dzhemchik, 2015-01-15
@dzhem911

It seems to me that for starters, you can deal with JQ in a week, and sass etc. Then go to interviews. and learn JS at the same time. If you quickly learn educational literature, then I advise David Flanagan - "Javascript detailed guide". If I'm not mistaken, now the 6th edition is the last one. The book is not the smallest, but there is clearly something to teach.

D
Dmitry Shooters, 2015-01-23
@sni10

Cool tips. Just like in a glossy magazine.
Girl, answer your own question first. I will help. Look.
"to minimize communication with incomprehensible people" - well done, you tried very hard. Wrote a whole "sheet" ;) how much work for communication! Are we talking? Online.
And are we all understandable people here?
Question: Are you afraid? Even if it was worth it.
Think. You are capable. Believe me. Trust yourself.
The key of the problem - "I'm afraid" to respond to any vacancies, because - you begin to make excuses. Stop it.
Don't be afraid to respond. Get used to rejection. (Read the parable of how Ovid asked for alms.) Knock on everyone. Someone will take the job for sure. Moreover, the work experience is already open.
Most likely it will be some sort of small-basement emergency, but you can get a rate and surf for training. Raise your Dan.
Go search, try, try, choose! The main thing is not to be afraid.

V
Vitaly Sorokin, 2015-01-14
@VitalySorokin

I really want to become a full-fledged JS developer, not a front-end stub.

The aspiration is excellent, only we all somehow started as front-end stubs, and each chose for himself the path of development that is closer to him. So, it’s better not to “spray” and understand what exactly you want to do, thus pumping yourself in this area.
There is nothing shameful in the fact that you make up 80% of the time and write js 20% of the time, there are just as few cool layout designers as there are cool js programmers. It's rather annoying that now the market is becoming more and more mediocre specialists who have picked up everything from the "top", and give the impression of quite professional developers, which in reality is not always the case.
Experience will come with time, the main thing is to follow the trends and keep practicing writing new things. And yes, real tasks help to develop much more than chats and tudushki)

S
SerzN1, 2015-01-22
@SerzN1

I categorically do not share the swine joy of some here, how everything is simple and fast for which it turns out. (knowledge -> skill -> ability)
1) to use any elementary chip - you need to know how to correctly apply it and where.
2) tired of writing - there are patterns that need to be used (be it css js or backend).
3) experience experience and experience again (practice rules).
4) from the basics to the complex - you don’t need to learn how to operate with modules and angulars if you don’t know how elementary closure works in js
for those who disagree - an elementary question is how many technologies can be productively and competently operated.
and don’t talk nonsense like from rags to riches in a year ... the only possible option is to sit and program with a mentor by the hand, who will immediately explain everything in practice - but I don’t think there are such fools.

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Artem Zinkin, 2015-01-23
@zinkinru

I will write my answer.
Compiled vacancy is the "wish" that the company wants. But as you know, "desired" and "actual" diverge, and quite often.
The first is the realization that you want to work in the job offered.
The second thing that should be in order to get a job is a resume. Everyone will ask, maybe they will read it, but it should be.
Third, your response to the vacancy. You will not know what is really going on in the company, what they want and what they offer for you, until you start talking to them.
The interview is two waycommunication. They choose not only you, but you. Why don't you suggest at the interview that you start working for less money and show results while learning technology along the way. Already after a while, and having shown the result, there is a place to talk about the increase.

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NewTypes, 2015-01-29
@NewTypes

Strange situation, isn't it? The reality is that life changes. And it is surprising to hear that a person almost did not think about dismissal (as an antipode to a professionally growing careerist).
To put it bluntly, it will be hard. If there is no money, it is better to return to a similar job with a sign "jack of all trades." In the meantime, redraw the schedule and allocate from 2 hours a day for training: intensive practice of language and technology. First, the language and css3 with html5, then the tools (grunt, etc.), then the frameworks (jquery first, all sorts of MVCs later). Well, in the end, freelancing is not so scary - there will be practice on cats. Then you pull yourself together and with a fight storm the companies to the front-end position, even to the initial positions.
The main thing to understand is that there is no need to be shy and modest. Getting fired or going freelance shouldn't create gloomy images in your head.
Beat the pear at your leisure.

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Max Payne, 2015-01-14
@YardalGedal

As already suggested, I think it's worth getting to grips with the bootstrap first, as it's probably the easiest of the whole list. It will take a day, two at the most.
Then, most likely, you should start learning Jquery and less. There is some information about less on lesscss.ru, in order to understand what is what it will be quite enough. At the same time, while studying Jquery and less, you can send resumes to different companies, even if you do not fully meet the requirements, but you can already indicate that you are in the process of learning.
And yes, I would not start learning JS without having the slightest experience with JQ.

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Daminion, 2015-01-22
@Daminion

We are just looking for a beginner Front-End Ninja with knowledge of JS/CSS3 and responsive layout to write a web face for our Daminion Server, a client-server media file cataloger. All technologies like jQuery/bootstrap/node.js/angular/backbone can be learned on the go.

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tennalian, 2015-01-14
@tennalian

In terms of bells and whistles for layout - test the bootstrap if you so desire, one layout is enough to figure it out. Pick some preprocessor. A week - and you still have a couple of points in your resume, if it bothers you so much))
jquery is enough for most small web studios. The problem is that it is quite difficult to switch from it to native js later.
And do not worry about work, if a good studio, then they will teach you everything. If garbage - no one holds.

O
OlegTar, 2015-01-15
@OlegTar

Create a website with your work, or at least throw them on a flash drive. Roughly speaking, create a portfolio. To have something to show at interviews.
That's what I did when I went to interviews. Tasks for the portfolio were invented by myself.

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mgkitman, 2015-10-08
@mgkitman

There is no need to master a bunch of frameworks, knowing the basics you can very quickly cope with any of them, first of all 1) html 5 / Css and then js jquery because you need to know css, understand the principles of how pages work and their GET POST methods, etc. plus look in the direction of json xml, it’s useful for single-page web applications, and then it all depends on the chosen technology, you can’t write an application for one js, there’s something to your taste php, asp.net, java, etc.

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Ana911, 2017-08-07
@Ana911

Hello! I will add to everything that has been said: it is good when there is a base. If you know and can work with CSS/HTML + JavaScript, that's great. Next, it is worth delving into the study of JS frameworks. How to study? - Start your career and complete additional tasks at your leisure. Now there are a lot of articles on the Internet on the topic of how to do ... how to implement with a step-by-step guide. You can start your own knowledge base and train on these examples - this is one of the quick learning methods.
If you need all these articles and additionally useful materials in one place, go to the light:
https://t.me/frontend_WEB4PRO
And yes, do not be afraid to apply for vacancies - write honestly what you know how to do, what you lack, tell us what you want to study. I am sure you will find your employers who will help you quickly raise the level to the required level. Especially if you work in a team with a curator.

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