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So, You're Going to Become a Web Developer Too?
Since every other person is becoming a web developer, wouldn't it be sensible to be something else?
You've decided your career path: You're going to become a web developer! Everything's fine until you see every other person dipping their toes into it, and it makes you question your decision: Am I doing the right thing?
In recent years, web development has gotten immensely easy to get into and doesn't even necessarily require a professional degree. A lot of people think of it as their ticket into the industry. And, since a lot of people think like this, a little crowding is expected.
that brings us to the question:
Is it really oversaturated?
To sum it up in two words: absolutely not. You might ask, how is that possible? Are there really enough jobs out there?
See, web development is a broad term. You need to find your niche before you can start looking for employment. And no, you can't master everything, that'll need a whole IT department. Here are some segments you can sink your boots into as you're starting out:
User Experience/User Interface Designer
Front-end development
Dev Ops
Back-end development
Framework-specific development (React, Angular, Django, Laravel)
Platform-specific development (WordPress, Shopify)
QA & Testing
Web development may not exactly be how it is presumed to be. But it surely is one thing: competitive.
Okay, so how competitive is it?
Since it is absolutely in demand, it is natural to have so many people take a shot at it. Oversaturation does not have a foreseeable future here, but there are just too many candidates for entry/junior-level developer positions.
The clear inference from this is that if you want to land your dream job, you'll need to be as well prepared as others. YouTube and FreeCodeCamp alone aren't going to cut it. What you need is a lot of functional projects (and I'm really stressing out on this one) and real-world experience.
Try to build projects using your skills and gather as much proof of work as you can. Having a GitHub profile can be great help, and is the perfect place to publically showcase your work.
Since it's so in demand, the pay must be good right?
There are a lot of opportunities out there. Scourge the internet and you'll run into thousands of websites looking as old as the internet itself, which points to plenty of work you can do. The average salary for junior web developers starting in India is well laid out below:
For starters, it might look lacklustre, but there's decent room for improvement and the average salary for seniors is as high as 10LPA. And that's the average, which leaves room for earning a lot more, provided you keep honing your skills and try to stand out from the crowd.
Once you get there your value as a developer increases with each passing year. You just have to keep alive within you the fire to continue learning and developing industry-relevant skills.
After you get past the initial hurdles and get a few years of industry experience, the substantial jump in pay from junior to senior position is worth the effort.
How do I get ahead of the crowd?
Standing shoulder-to-shoulder is not enough if you aim for higher ground. Here's a list of 4 simple things that can make you stand out:
Devote time to learning the fundamentals
By acquiring a solid understanding of the basics, you equip yourself with the ability to adapt and comprehend any new concept or skill that comes your way, and with the way popular tech stacks keep evolving, you'll save yourself hours of head-scratching if something new comes around.
This means one thing: do not jump straight into frameworks without learning substantially the base technology.
Strengthen your network
Getting a job referral from a familiar person is widely acknowledged to greatly enhance your likelihood of achieving success.
It's important to maintain connections with your classmates and inquire about any available job opportunities.
However, if you took the self-taught path, you may not have an extensive network of individuals already employed as professional developers.
In such a situation, what do you do?
You reach out to experienced developers for guidance!
People are willing to help out newbies in tech. Twitter or LinkedIn can be a really good place to look for advice, just don't be too nosy and you'll be fine.
Polish your resume
A good resume is your key to grabbing the recruiter's attention, and can greatly improve the chance of landing yourself an interview opportunity. You should include and highlight relevant skills.
Also, don't shy away from flaunting your achievements. Companies love passionate and talented people, and if you've done something noteworthy you should bring it to their attention.
Polish yourself
Yep, you got the right. You need to polish yourself all round. If going for an interview in person, make sure you dress to impress and groom beforehand. Appearance can significantly put you ahead of the game.
With that, it is also important to focus on your soft skills. In your position, a little humility and a pleasant nature can pay off real nice. Being a good communicator, taking responsibility and showing enthusiasm for work are some things you need to keep in check to be easy and effective to communicate with.
Wrapping up
Web development is brimming with new technologies and opportunities, and will continue to do so long enough to safely say that there's going to be a job on the other side after you find yourself decently skilled. After all, it's one of the fastest-growing job markets and is set to expand by 22% by the year 2029!
So, if you're looking to start in tech as a web developer, there's no better time to start than now!