How to Get Your First Web Developer Job As a Student

By Zoey Peregrine 5 years ago in Web and Trends 0

With over 1.8 billion websites existing today and over 4.3 billion users searching the web, we can state that our life is quickly transforming into digital. Thus appears the demand in web developers who create these websites, the so-called Internet architects. A web developer can work in healthcare developing software to control the patients` health state, in education creating educational portals and tracking systems and even in government delivering valuable technical solutions for processes automatization. In addition, every business can have a web developer create a custom website representing the brand and key advantages of the company and drawing to its new customers. The demand for such specialists and their high salaries make this profession very attractive and many college students aim to get your first web developer job while they are still studying in college.

Why? First, even junior web developers earn good money and such a part-time job in college is a big plus. Secondly, they will start getting experience and after graduation can count on more prestigious jobs in reputable companies. But these are not all the reasons that make this profession so popular today.

 The Art of Creating Websites

If you consider an opportunity to get your first web developer job, your options are frontend (the cover of the website) and backend (the hidden side that controls all the processes behind the scenes). Depending on what you like more, pick one of them. Of course, you can do both and become the full-stack developer, but to start with it would be good to manage at least one. After you are done with specialization choice, it`s time to think about how you can receive the necessary skills. Yes, we are talking about a junior position but to get one, you still have to get basic coding skills and at least a few simple projects in your portfolio to be considered.

Aiming to get your first web developer job still being a college student, be ready for the following:

1. The necessity to find time to attend online courses to study the basics of web development and also get some projects to have practice;
2. The ability to manage these online courses with your current studying process and this may be hard. To get some help you may use accounting homework helper and other online tools or maybe even ask your group mates Who can do my coursework for me? (depending on your priorities);
3. Before you get a high salary or just start earning money, you might need to invest some in your education and practice (although, the return on your investment will be coming soon).

Is an online course certificate enough or do you need to get a diploma in Computer Science? Yes, it is enough. Nowadays employers pay more attention to your knowledge and skills than to your degree, so the better you know your job, the higher possibility to be hired is. Right now in the world, over 70% of all developers are self-taught. Although the diploma is clearly not essential if you have an option to get it for free or at an affordable price, consider this option.

How to Get Your First Web Developer Job

Once you have passed online courses and completed a few projects as a freelancer on such websites as Upwork or Freelancer, now you can aim at getting the job in the IT company to finally enter this sphere and get the necessary experience for the future. Recruiters basically pay attention to soft and hard skills

• Soft skills are the ability to cooperate and work in a team, collaboration, communication, management, and creative skills;/li>
• Hard skills are your expertise which is the knowledge of one or several programming languages, cloud, servers’ architecture, certifications in database technologies, etc.

Writing a CV

Then comes your CV, probably the most significant part that should consist of a few essential elements:

1. Education. If you are not specializing in Computer Sciences, try to move this section to the bottom of your CV. Don`t forget to mention online courses you learned and certificates you received that prove your experience;
2. Skills. In this part indicate your soft and hard skills as detailed as possible;
3. Experience. Describe your relevant jobs. If you have none, just write that you are a freelancer working with a few customers and put the link to the website;
4. Portfolio. Here you need to pick at least 3-5 of the recent projects you performed as a freelancer. Write a short notice to each of them mentioning what exactly you did, what problems were solved, languages used and solutions provided. Giving a link to GitHub personal account will give the employer a chance to review your code and see how good you are from the technical viewpoint;
5. References. Get your customers` feedback or give contacts of someone who can speak about your work and competencies. Of course, in case you have no experience, recruiters will not expect to see references, but it would be a great advantage if you do have it.

Getting Ready to the Interview

The last but not least part is an interview. If after your resume your potential colleagues want to have a personal meeting with you, this is a half of success. Check whether you understand what to expect from this meeting and how to behave properly

• Read about the company you have a meeting with. Prepare questions you are interested to check before you get there.
• What technology stack do they specialize in? How could they potentially benefit from hiring you?
• Be ready to answer questions about your projects and give detailed descriptions of the realization of your technical solutions.
• Be transparent and don`t hide that you have little experience. Instead, show your readiness and desire to learn and improve your expertise all the time.

Get Your First Web Developer Job As a Student – Final Points

Trying to get your first web developer job with no experience may be hard, but it`s possible. Send a minimum of 3-10 applications a day, wait, and repeat. No magic here. It is going to take time and the more you apply, the more chances you have to get a job. Of course, such positions as a Web developer with 5+ years experience can make you feel frustrated. However, don`t give up and apply for everything you remotely qualify for.

All companies look for junior developers to make them grow into strong professionals, you just need to find the position you fit in. Don`t expect much at once – your main goal is to get this experience and then move up the career ladder.