As I wrote in a previous post, I want to start my career in software development this year – ASAP! Therefore, this past week I applied to several jobs localized in my area. The jobs were were more focused on front end development, but there was one particular one that what focused on the fullstack – ie frontend and backend. I don’t have much professional experience – in software or otherwise – but that didn’t deter me in applying to all the jobs I was either remotely interested in or just seemed to be within the wheelhouse of my current skills.

The job that I would have loved to get had a very focused qualifications checklist that I could easily check against my own. These are some of their requirements:

We are looking for a passionate developer who can tick the following boxes.

Experience 1 year+:

  • ReactJS
  • Redux
  • Webpack
  • SCSS
  • JavaScript (ES6, ES7)
  • Yarn/NPM
  • Flow
  • Babel
  • Jest
  • RESTful APIs

Bonus points (but not needed):

  • Electron (same platform as Slack)
  • NodeJS
  • Java
  • Spring
  • Google Cloud
  • Docker
  • Kubernetes

Personality:

  • Comfortable with talking to customers
  • Energetic and passionate about coding/solutions
  • Open to travel from time to time
  • Willing to learn in a fast-paced environment

I immediately wrote up a cover-letter, updated my resumé, and sent my application. The following day, a Friday I believe, I received an email inquiring about a telephone screen test, which I setup for Monday afternoon. I had no idea what I had agreed to being this was my first response, but it didn’t scare, instead I searched and researched extensively online to determine what such a screen test entailed.

Come Monday, I was prepared (maybe even over-prepared) for a casual interview style. We discussed my skills, education, passions, and what the work environment would be like. I was given an opportunity to ask any questions related to the company itself and how I as a very green developer would be inculcated into the team, if there was mentorship provided, and what my trajectory in the company would look like. All my worries were assuaged and put to rest. We then said our goodbyes after being informed I would receive a call later on as to the status of my application.

A week and a day has passed and I have yet to receive a call or email, so I’m kind of disappointed. I understand a job that appears to be this perfect would also be enticing to more viable candidates with more experience and/or education, but I was hoping that I would be in contention as well. However, I will take the fact that I had a screen test as a win and the first of many at that! As this application was a learning opportunity I will also send an email and humbly inquire what my shortcomings were and ways to improve for future jobs.

I know that getting a job, especially one that you have very limited experience in can be long and arduous, especially coupled with the fact that many more equally experienced are all vying for the same job. Nevertheless, I have a set goal to get a software development related job within the next 3 months. See that I don’t!

I regret that I haven’t been more regular in my postings, but as of recently I have been trying to fill in the gaps in knowledge that I have either overlooked or deemed simple enough to procrastinate on. In that timespan I have come to fully understand redux as well as the flux architecture it was based on, GraphQL which appears to be the successor to REST Apis as well as Apollo, the client which connects it to the frontend. Also of note is my dedication to my simple npm package, xkcli, which I am continually updating with bug fixes or new features.

That’s it for now. Expect a simple REST and GraphQL example and possibly a standalone or even redux implementation with a React frontend.