If you're a frontend developer, How did you get your first job?

This is literally what I did to get my first job:

• I opened Google Maps
• Searched for Web Development
• Checked all the result near my home or acceptable places (public transport directly from my house)
• Made a list of web dev agencies/software factories with their websites
• Checked if they have a jobs section
• Removed bad websites (personal opinion on what is a bad websites here)
• Pick one and sent my CV
• Got the job a week after that

I'm sure I had a lot of lucky to get my first job on the first try but I think the idea of searching near places still works in major cities (I lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina back then which is the capital).

For me here is the answer:

I started learning web development until I felt ready for a position.

• I went to indeed.com and applied for a lot of positions in my city.
• Did a few interviews and until I found a good match.

It took me a about three months of studying and three more of interviews.

Just remember that:

• You are enough.
• You don't need a college degree.
• The beginning is the hardest part.
• You should always keep learning.

Back in the day, there was no such thing as a front-end developer. You were a webdesigner. Or webmaster. Or webdeveloper. But it was mostly the same job. Not a lot of backend and db stuff where I started too btw.

And now it seems like they sliced up the job in so many specific particles, but yet, remain asking a boatload of skills and tooling knowledge (front-end dev great with latest webstandards developments, MVC patterns in JS, with an eye for design and good skills with a popular CMS) you might as well just be hiring webdesigners again.

But that's ranting.
Build a portfolio, focus on what you want to do, look for jobs on various job boards. Make sure you get a decent salary but don't expect too much either. Ask specific questions on the day-to-day routines, tools the company works with, methodology etc. So YOU get a good grasp if there's a fit for you, and THEY see you know your stuff.

I was working as a Website Admin (basic data entry) and the company needed a new website. We commissioned a digital agency to do the build who, for myriad reasons, basically let us down. With a hard deadline looming, I said "I know a bit of HTML, I'll give it a go!" and I built an e-commerce site. It was horrendous and stressful but two good things came out of it; I learned that I loved web development and I met my girlfriend - she was the PM for the agency that let us down! 😂

I started as intern, back when I was studying communication-design.
Since there wasn't much to do design-wise, and I had a good HTML/CSS-Course in Uni, I got to work on websites. Doing HTML/CSS only at first, later came JS and all the other frontend-goodness.
That was 7 years ago, and that's where I still am, currently 😊, working as (senior-)frontend-developer.

I spent months teaching myself how to code, and then when I was ready I applied for several junior front-end jobs. I managed to get a 1 year paid internship which allowed me to learn on the job.

After that year was up, I then got my first job at a digital agency and that's where I really had to step up, and learn very fast. I had a great mentor and getting that job allowed me to become a much better developer. I was there for 2 years before moving to a different digital agency. I still work here and have been here for nearly 3 years now.

The main piece of advice I guess is to ask questions, be curious. Don't worry about bothering people (to an extent). And try to always understand what your code is doing. If you don't understand it, even if it works, ask someone to help explain it. It will make things easier if any bugs come back!

As someone who had transitioned into tech from sales, I found myself wanting to learn the lay of the land as far as tech in my city was concerned. I did my best to network as much as I could into the scenes I found interested for my career and the overall state of tech in Philadelphia.

I went to meetups, joined the different slack groups, and did what I could to remain active in different communities. Along the way my understanding of how important the vocabulary of the trade was. If you are able to speak to different technologies and such with confidence while being honest about what you don't, you'll find yourself in the right conversations.

Push comes to shove, a slack posting goes up. It was for a Senior React Dev (which I DEFINITELY was not lol). I shot him a personal message, letting him know my situation and that I'd love to contribute to the company in some way. A few days later a meeting was set and I was given my first dev job with a gaming-focused startup (a big goal of mine from the start)

It was a LONG road to now, but I wouldn't trade a single thing about my experience up to now. (Almost) Every single opportunity, especially ones you create, can be useful in the long run.

I ran into my old boss while commuting, he saw me programming on my phone and offered me a job. My next job was someone from the same company who knew what kind of work to expect. Mostly just lucked out there.

The college I attended as an undergrad sent out job postings time to time. I rarely got responses through these job ads, but I did get one response from a company that was looking for a front-end web developer intern (I was a junior in college). After a long and tough technical interview, my interviewer stated "I did not have great technical skills, but I was teachable." loll. He emphasized that there are so many smart devs but not ones that are willing to learn and collaborate with others.

Also showing some live websites I made freelancing (outside of school projects and etc) helped. The internship led to a full-time offer when I graduated.

Community and relations helped alot.
One of my friends and he is my mentor also in problem solving offered me an opportunity for a freelance task and we did it together.
He then needed a frontend developer for his startup, I was on his list.. I may did well in 3 months-internship then I was pushed to full-time job.
He has great merit on my career right now and I still can’t pay back his efforts with me.