Quick background about me, I started working as a front end developer for a startup incubator at my university (UIUC) summer of Junior year. I eventually got promoted to Senior Front End Developer the following Fall semester and stayed with the company until I graduated.
During that time span, I’ve received many questions about how to stand out as a candidate or what employers look for regarding this position. After being to multiple career fairs and working with multiple teams in my cohort, here are 3 tips that most people have found useful within our conversations.
1. Effective Communication:
- Being able to communicate with your team/manager/project lead is so important. This is a soft skill that is often overlooked in the CS field, and I personally use to struggle a lot with. Through personal experiences, I realize that even if I had the same technical skills as a different candidate I am competing with, the candidate who can communicate well is usually picked. This is because front end developers usually have to work with the back end or a client. Conflicts arises easily when working in teams, and to be able to resolve these conflicts, you need good communication skills.
- Another skill set under communication is what I mentioned earlier about being able to explain a difficult technical concept in Layman’s terms. Through my experiences, I have had to explain why there are certain designs I can’t implement to Graphic Designers, Project Managers, Clients, etc. Being able to do that can set you apart from many other competitors!
2. Pro activeness:
- Be proactive with your projects. If you have made smaller projects already, maybe you can scope out other web projects that might interest you and pick up a new language. Another option is to expand on your current projects by enhancing it with new functionalities or polishing up the user interface. Since web development is changing so fast, it’s sometimes hard to keep up. Being proactive can show recruiters that you are self-motivated and will be able to take on new challenges that arise.
3. Attention to Detail:
- This point pretty much explains itself. Being able to notice small mistakes can help you out in the long run. For me, I currently review all the websites that are made in order to check for any inconsistencies with the design or font size, etc. This is beneficial to our work because it builds our credibility. If you passed on a website where one of the pages has a different font than the rest of the site, then your credibility as well as the company may be ruined.
I’ve passed this on to many prospective front end interns, and some have landed internships, others have found motivation to work harder to brush up their skill sets.
If you found this post useful, consider sharing it with a student or two to help them out. An easy way to do that would be by clicking the heart-shaped ‘recommend’ button under the post.
