How to secure a role in web development
As you’ve seen, web development can be quite competitive! This means that getting your first role can be challenging, especially if you are relatively new to development.
Some good things to do to boost your employability are:
Know your local area
If you’re looking for a job in your local area, you should always make sure you know what local companies are looking for. This will help you to plan out the skills you need and the technologies which you should be learning, which can be very important in having the edge over your competition.
You should also see if there is a local community of web developers. Check whether there is a WordPress community which has a local meeting or convention, and look on Meetup.com for groups. These will help you to both grow your understanding of the local web development scene, and help you to network and potentially meet future employers!
Learn the tools
Along with things like WordPress, you should look at learning how to use a version control tool. The most popular and universal one is Git, and you will find many courses online which can guide you through this. Being able to use GitHub is an absolutely core skill for developers, so it is useful to have some experience of using it before you start working and this is a good way to show that you understand what tools programmers use. It also gives you access to the huge open source community on GitHub which can be a good way of learning more development.
Make some sites
Whether it’s a basic static website with your CV on it, or a fancy dynamic web app with a game on it, practice making some sites. You can find free or very cheap hosting online through services such as PythonAnywhere and GitHub Pages, so have a go at making something and putting it online. This shows that you can not only make the site, but understand how to get it online and running too.
Keep on going!
In competitive industries, you will need to be able to take rejection. Sometimes you will not be the best fit for a job, and that can be crushing, but over time, you will find your place in web development. If you are not picked for a job, ask for feedback and use the feedback for your next interview.
In the next step, you will have the opportunity to explore some of the development tools you’ve learned about during this course.
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