The Talent500 Blog
How to get ahead as a frontend developer 1

How to get ahead as a frontend developer

As a frontend developer, you have to face exhausting interviews that can be tough to crack, especially if you are a beginner or haven’t had an interview for a while. But, this must not stop you from projecting confidence at the interviewers. Interviews for frontend developers are technical as well as behavioral, and with the right preparation, you can land a job in no time.

It starts by mastering the web fundamentals and concludes with how well you sell yourself through communication and presentation skills. Every company has its own strategy to interview and hire candidates, but there are some safe bets to focus on so that you can ace your interview.

In the recent Elevate MasterClass session by Talent500, Manisankar Das, Engineering Leader at Delta Air Lines joined us to share his insights on upskilling and tech trends that frontend developers must focus on.

Let’s take a look at the key learnings and takeaways from the session.

Understand the job description 

As a frontend developer, you will be building interfaces to meet business requirements. You must have the patience and vision to understand the project requirement. This will help you achieve the result by writing minimal and quality code without compromising on security. Technical skills are mandatory to write frontend code that’s scalable and maintainable. As technologies are rapidly evolving, you will be required to have browser-independent code that delivers an immersive user experience irrespective of the device or browser being used.

Developers in general, and not just frontend developers, should continuously reincarnate themselves by staying afloat with the changing demands of the industry. But the key is to avoid mentioning too much stuff on your CV, especially the topics you are not aware of.

“I go through hundreds of CVs where candidates have put so many things…if shortlisted, we continuously scan through the CV when we are interviewing. All of a sudden, we ask the candidate about a topic that they have no idea about. And they are done, they have managed to mess up the opportunity even when there are things they are good at.”Manisankar Das, Engineering Leader at Delta Air Lines

This is why it is important to create a well-thought-out resume, in particular, Application Tracking Software (ATS) compliant resumes. Vivek Sharma, Vice President, Product and Engineering at Talent500 tells us how companies are increasingly using ATS to shortlist resumes. According to him, 98% of the Forbes500 companies are using ATS when hiring new employees which results in the disqualification of 70% of the candidates.
Why?
Because the resumes fail to successfully parse through the ATS.

It’s quite easy actually. An ATS is nothing but a resume filtering bot that collects, scans, and ranks all the applications received for a particular job. To boost your chances of getting picked by an ATS, you must include keywords relevant to the job description and avoid generalized texts.

Building a strong foundation 

Das further discusses how frontend developers can keep upskilling themselves for the job. He emphasizes is on the “back to basics” approach. Building a strong foundation is important for any frontend developer. While mastery of HTML and CSS is required, you need to have absolute knowledge of JavaScript. It is the core of modern web development. He recommends focusing on:

  • How JavaScript is read by the browser
  • How memory allocation happens
  • Basic String/Array Manipulations or Operators
  • Data Structures

Once you master core JavaScript you can move on to frameworks like React, Angular, Vue, Ember, and JQuery.

We already have a detailed guide on Top Interview Questions for Frontend Developers that you can refer to understand the tricky interview questions.

Key takeaways 

In conclusion, Das explains that frontend developers should also understand design patterns along with mastering HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. He explains how some of the best programmers fail to truly bring things together in their design as they lack the understanding of design patterns.

Finally, when you are preparing for the interview, focus on the industries and companies you look forward to working with. Understand the tech and tools they use and how you can add value to it. And if you are interested, work towards being a full stack developer. Companies usually prefer candidates who have full stack knowledge, even intermediate level, over someone who is purely into frontend development, when given a choice. You can take a cue from our ultimate guide for frontend developers to become full stack developers. It will provide you with a roadmap toward full stack development.

All in all, here’s what recruiters look for in a candidate when filling a frontend dev position:

  • Strong technical base
  • Problem-solving skills
  • Hands-on coding skills
  • Innovative mindset
  • Ability to learn and grow
  • Team player
  • Communication
  • Attitude  

Bonus tip: Do check our guide on how to land a high-paying remote job as a frontend developer.

Talent500 is the platform that software engineering professionals rely on for getting the best remote tech jobs. We provide you ample opportunities to upskill efficiently and position yourself for success amongst the top Fortune 500 companies. Join our elite group of developers today!

0
Sharanya Rao

Sharanya Rao

Content Marketing Strategist at Talent500. Innately curious about things in general. A strategic planner who loves to make lives easier. An optimist holding on dearly to a glass half-full.

Add comment