Many start-ups fail to build a strong online presence for various reasons. The tech industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world, making it vital now, more than ever to be a part of it. One of the most popular roles for tech newbies and enthusiasts alike to get into is, you guessed it – WEB DEVELOPMENT!
6 Things you must do in 2021
Getting the Basics
Understanding what technical skills, you need to acquire is the first step to becoming a web developer. Looking at job descriptions and company requirements will help you assess what you have and what you need to work on.
Here is a list of some of the essentials when it comes to web dev (10/10 times they will probably be asking for these):
- JavaScript
- HTML & CSS
- CSS Pre–processors (Less & Sass)
- Responsive Design
- AngularJS
- Design Patterns
- Git
- NodeJS
- Task Runners
There are tons of resources online (some free, and some at a cost) which can teach you these skills and get you ready for the outside world.
Build A Portfolio Site Full of Relevant Work and/or Put Your Code on GitHub:
Your portfolio site and GitHub account are your ‘virtual cv’. It not only shows your potential employers your previous work, but software like GitHub allows them to see what you are currently working on. It gives insight into how you organise your projects and the readability of your code, showing how well you could fit into their team.
Do Projects in Your Spare Time
If your coding career has just been mock projects or solo work so far, try collaborating with other web developers on an open-source project. An open-source project contains code that can be edited by anyone and there are many available on ‘Explore GitHub’. These can help you network with other web developers and increase your experience. Don’t be scared! There is a lot of things you can do to help, from reporting bugs to working on the actual website, even just completing documentation.
Network with Other Web Developers
As mentioned above, one way to network is collaborating with other developers on open-source projects, however there are many ways to meet other web developers and potential colleagues. There are various tech meetup groups and coding societies. Try looking for relevant slack channels to join, find trends and use hashtags. All of these are great options for growing your network.
Never Stop Learning New Skills
Once you’ve learnt the basics, don’t stop there! You can always find room to improve and build upon what you already know. Use news applications or websites to find current popular tools and new technology to stay up to date. Examples of some requested by some companies already are CSS pre-processors like Less or Sass and frameworks like Angular.JS or Node.js etc.
Follow Industry News
Make it a priority every day to read about something new in the world of tech. It is vital for you now as a Web Developer to keep up–to–date with new technologies, as it can become a point of discussion with those who are in the tech field and even your interviewers. You do not have to know everything, just what is popular and current.
Find a good a webhost (optional)
As a freelance web developer, you need to make sure the client has fast and secure web hosting for their domain. There are a lot hosting companies out there who provide ‘relatively fast’ hosting, but are they really as good as they say they are? Here at G7 we use LiteSpeed Web Hosting unlike our competitors who are still using legacy servers known as Apache web servers, while still being able to offer competitive prices.