Higher education and courses to become a web developer

I got a job many times, moved between cities and even CIS countries. For all the time about the diploma of higher education I was asked only twice. Therefore, I would not say that this gives any advantage over other applicants. Technical knowledge is tested at interviews. If there are none, no diploma will save you.

The courses are usually attended by people who want to get a job in their specialty after them. Therefore, the knowledge there is usually given specialized, necessary for work. This is their difference from universities, where there is nowhere to apply some of what they have studied. At Geekbrains, where I studied the profession of a web developer and now teach, they study only the technologies necessary for work. When we were just creating the course, we conducted a survey of the school’s web developers, learned from them what is relevant and what is not, which technologies are important to include in the program, and which can be dispensed with.

To study the courses effectively, you need to watch webinars, to perform practical tasks and (at least) read the first link in Google for the topic of the lesson: it helps to broaden understanding of the traversed.

It is not necessary to read textbooks before starting training: they become obsolete very quickly. From the moment of writing the book to its arrival on the shelves, more than one month passes. It needs to be edited, made up, printed, put on the market. It is better to read the official documentation of the chosen language or technology before studying (or simultaneously with it). For example, here is a site that collects the maximum information to start in JavaScript.

Our courses have tasks for teamwork with several developers. We try to make the program as adaptive as possible. Everyone who has completed the course can write about him and his teacher a response. What graduates send is not moderated and is always reviewed by the quality department. If his specialists see problems in some subject, they send an application for the course to be updated.

There are many training options — you can study for June, or you can immediately study for middle. You can be a frontender, a backender, or master both technologies by becoming a full-tech specialist. The difference is in the mastered technologies:

  • Junior-frontend must know html + css + js + react.
  • Junior-fullstack: html + css + js + php + databases.
  • Middle frontend developer: html + css + js + react + vue + node.js + team development.
  • Middle-fullstack: html + css + js + react + php + laravel + databases + team development.

Web development training in our courses lasts from 5 months. During this time, you can get a junior frontend database. It will take a year to learn the technologies needed for the middle frontend. Mastering the skills of the middle for both the frontend and the backend requires 1.5 years. And then you need to go into battle and gain experience to confirm this status in real work.

I teach frontend development. The peculiarity of the course is the constant demonstration of the practical component, in each lesson I show how to apply what I have learned. We give applied knowledge, and all homework is related to each other. From 1st to 8th lesson, students gradually develop a ready-made project, and as a result they manage to make a five-page project of an online store. For example, like this:

How to get a job and what to expect from it

To work, you need general knowledge of web development. Even if you have studied frontend, you will have to show at the interview that you also own a backend. For example, they ask about PHP, and if you don’t know it, they ask if you are ready to learn it.

The holistic knowledge gained during the courses makes it possible to quickly learn new things. If you already know how to do something in one language, then you will do it in another. It’s like learning to drive: it doesn’t matter which car you started driving — changing to another one, you will still adapt quickly and go.

Jun can count on 40-60 thousand at his first job, middle earns from 100-150 thousand. In fact, the salary may be 200-250 thousand, but in order for the knowledge to be enough for the salary of the middle, you need to study diligently for at least six months or a year.

With general knowledge and understanding of the basic technologies, it will not be difficult to find your first job — you need perseverance, work and self-confidence. The market is hungry, but do not rush to choose. Go through a dozen interviews: so you will understand what is on the market, and stop at what suits you.

The most common mistake in interviews is to say too much. In development, you will not leave on chatter: you need to answer confidently and in fact. If you are not sure or do not know somewhere, you should show the logic of actions in such a situation, but do not invent anything and do not talk to the interviewer. Web development is teamwork. Therefore, it is important to show that you know how to work with others and have relevant experience. Our courses have tasks for teamwork with several developers.

At interviews, you will most likely be asked questions about the JavaScript database, consoles. They will definitely give test tasks — for example, a page with which something needs to be done. They will ask a bunch of several technologies to see if you have a holistic understanding.

It’s not scary if the interview suddenly fails — look for answers to questions at home, solve problems, Google typical tasks in your specialty and go to the next meeting.

It must be remembered that at work (often) no one will teach anyone anything. The developer is given a specific task and asked to do it. I think that if there is a desire to develop quickly in the profession, it is better to choose a place where there are many employees and there is a senior mentor. Working alone is very difficult to develop.

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