Issue 8

Today’s Issue: Why you need to learn React.js, how to find a Junior Developer position and I’m in vacation mode.

Welcome to #8.

First Up - Why You Need to Learn React.js

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard of React.js. If you haven’t, well it’s one of the most popular JavaScript libraries for building user interfaces, and for good reason. Whether you’re a new developer or looking to upskill, mastering React is a game-changer for your career.

1. High Demand in the Job Market: Many companies use React. From startups to big tech companies like Meta and Netflix, they rely on React.js to power their UIs. If you're looking for a job, learn the skills that are hiring.

2. Component-Based Architecture: Reat promotes reusability with its component-based structure, making your code more modular and maintainable. This is critical for large applications where repeated code can quickly become spaghetti code.

3. Large Ecosystem and Community: React has a huge ecosystem of libraries, tools, and frameworks built on top of it. Also, the community around React is very big and this will help ensure you never run into a problem someone else has probably already solved.

4. Great for Front-End Development: If you’re serious about front-end, React is a must-learn. It integrates well with other tools, supports mobile development with React Native, and keeps evolving with new features being added every year.

With all of that said the most important reason to learn React is because of number 1. Go where the jobs are, it’s as simple as that.

Second Topic - Tips for Finding Junior Developer Positions

It’s no secret that landing your first developer position is challenging and takes considerable effort. With that being said, knowing the right approach can help increase your chances of success. Follow these tips and you’ll be on your way to landing that job and getting your foot in the door.

1. Build a Strong Portfolio: Employers want to see what you can do so get out there and build projects, contribute to open-source, and showcase your work on platforms like GitHub and your personal website. Even if they’re simple, make sure to show your ability

2. Tailor Your Resume for Each Application: Although this sounds like a pain in the a**, customizing your resume a bit for each job will help you get past the algorithms and hopefully get your resume in the hands of the employer.

3. Leverage Your Network: Networking truly is the best way to land a job. With competition being so high and more employees than employers, having a vast network to tap into will help ensure you find yourself in an interview instead of the receiving end of the "We decided to go with a different candidate…” email.

4. Prepare for Technical Interviews: Getting an interview is great, but you must be prepared for it. You never know if it’s going to be technical or how challenging it may be, so make sure to stay prepared and practice algorithms, data structures, and problem-solving on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank. Mock interviews can also help you gain confidence so you can ace the real thing.

5. Don’t Go After Remote: I get it, you want to work from home or that tropical beach somewhere. Well so does everyone else and since you’re a junior developer, you most likely won’t be trusted enough to do so. Also, the competition will be much higher for remote positions since anyone in the world is applying for it as opposed to a job in your local city. Once you’ve established yourself as a developer, then you can go after a remote position, but for your first job, I’d recommend going local or relocating.

Interesting Plugs

• Deno 2 just dropped and it’s ready to kill Node.js, Prettier, and ESLint

• A good post about Durable Functions in JavaScript

• My favorite (so far) open-source database infra on PostgreSQL…Supabase

Job Board

• React Developer with Sensor Tower

  • Salary: $115K - $145k per year

  • Experience: Doesn’t say but probably at least 2 years based on salary and description

  • Tech Stack: React and TypeScript with bonus points for using testing frameworks like Jest or Cypress

• React Developer with LHH

  • Salary: $90K - $110K per year

  • Experience: 5+ years

  • Tech Stack: React, TypeScript, Next.js, Storybook, and Emotion

• React Developer with Mondo

  • Salary: $120K - $145K per year

  • Experience: Mid to senior level so probably around 3+ years

  • Tech Stack: React and TypeScript

• Staff React Developer with Procurement Sciences

  • Salary: $180K - $200K per year

  • Experience: This is a staff position so probably about 8+ years

  • Tech Stack: React/Next.js

I decided to just post React.js positions for this week’s newsletter to help prove my point that learning and mastering React is a great option for developers. All of these jobs have been posted in the past 24 hours from my time of writing and there are thousands more similar.

Learn React → Master React → Be Employed

Till Next Time

I’ll be going on a fishing trip next week so I won’t be working. I’m planning on taking this time to unwind and disconnect so you won’t be hearing from me on other platforms. As for next week’s newsletter, I’ll be writing that ahead of time so you still have something to look forward to next Friday, although it might be shorter than usual.

I’ll let ya’ll know if I catch anything, wish me luck!

Have a great weekend and as always, happy coding!