Landing first job as a web developer

Hey everyone, I’ve been in a job hunt since 2016, so it’s been nearly three years that I am “passively” looking. I feel like that I am in the verge of giving up, simply because there been so many rejection for the past few years.

Anyways, my story begins that I started web developing back in 2015, and programming about 2012… People have been insisting me that I should go to university and get a Comp. Science degree, in order to improve my quality.

In my personal opinion, I feel like my Resume and Soft Skills, should be trained; but unfortunately I just don’t have the time, since the majority time I spend working, which takes a lot of my free time away.

Also, here are some of my technical skills that I have achieved over the years:

  • HTML, CSS, Javascript (arrow functions, async, Promise, XMLHttpRequest and other modern functions…)
  • Javascript framework / libraries: Mongoose (ORM), Express, Angularjs, React, jQuery
  • Frontend: Bootstrap, Sass, Blade / Jinja2 (templating engine)
  • Backend: PHP (Laravel), Python (Flask), NodeJs
  • Databases: MongoDB, PosgreSQL and MariaDB
  • Miscellaneous: NGINX (Proxy load balance), Apache (server), Cloud Services (DigitalOcean), Restful API, SPA, Ubuntu, Git

Yet, I am still trying to improve my skills, as I am currently thinking to myself if I should learn WordPress (cms) and Docker in order to value myself. I do know, adding new technologies will not make a more valuable person. But what are your recommendations? It seems that my local area seems to have a lot of Digital Agencies, looking for Laravel / WordPress developers, so not sure if I should invest some time in WordPress in creating dynamic templates and plugins, and start job hunting again.

My main goal is honestly, is land a first job as a junior developer, and my simple website: aff.dev

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Hi, and welcome!

Getting your first web dev job will be the hardest, because you have to get someone to take a ‘risk’ on you, especially since you don’t have the formal training.

But it is possible with the right skills (technical and soft), the right approach to the job search, and plenty of luck.

You say you’ve been searching ‘passively’ for three years - what does you current job hunting look like? There are lots of ways people find success, and it’s not the same for everybody, but if you give us a sense of what hasn’t been working so far, we can better help you with some methods you may not have considered yet.

Chin up! You’ll get there eventually!

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In my (extremely limited and individual) experience, “passive” job hunting is not distinguishable from not job hunting at all in effect. Getting a job is really really hard work. It’s stressful and exhausting and bullshit. And all that is magnified for a first job in the industry.

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