r/learnjavascript • u/Cabeto_IR_83 • Jan 18 '21
After 8 months learning HTML, CSS, javaScript and react I landed my first interview for junior dev. UK really nervous!
Hi all, I just landed my first ever interview for a junior dev (javascript, react) in UK! I'm really nervous about what to expect, specially because some of the technologies are unknown to me (typeScript). Having said this, I'm really excited!
From your experience, is there any advice you can give me when it comes to justifying if you don't know a technology. Also, what type of questions do you normally get. This interview is with the recruiter, first one.
Thank you!
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u/ozusteapot Jan 19 '21
Hey that's fantastic, congratulations!
I'm in the process of learning front end aswell (JS&React alongside HTML/CSS too ofc), and I find there's so many online resources I sometimes don't know on which to focus (currently going through Eloquent Javascript and Maximillian Schwarzmueller's React series, been thinking on checking DevEd's React series too).
What learning materials did you use/would recommend?
Congrats again and best of luck!
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u/Cabeto_IR_83 Jan 19 '21
Max! I used all his material for learning and supported it with other things
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u/Wizard_Knife_Fight Jan 19 '21
Watch Ben Awad for Typescript. You can learn a TON in half an hour.
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u/hooniebesr Jan 19 '21
First of all Congratulations ! I personally have a question for you I've been studying HTML CSS JS for a few months but still don't know what I'm doing. How did you make your portfolio how did you practice and study? Did you go to bootcamp?
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u/Cabeto_IR_83 Jan 19 '21
Initially I organised my time so I focused purely in academics. So I bought a bunch of recommended courses and took it one step at the time. here are the courses, Max's javascript and react complete guide and another HTML, CSS course from a guy who does loads of tutorials in freecodeacademy.
Then I started building small things and try to refer to my courses when I got stack or go to StackOverFlow for questions. I pushed myself here, because so many times I felt completely clueless!
I think that building projects is key for understanding how everything works together. Good luck and thank you!
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u/adricent Jan 20 '21
So how it went?
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u/Cabeto_IR_83 Jan 20 '21
It went well. It was with the internal recruiter and she asked me about my experience, reasons why I moved to front end dev, projects I have done, etc. She just wanted to see my interest in the company, which I have, and my drive for programming, which I have. She is happy to pass me to the next stage which is with the technical lead. Seems they are looking for graduates and things like that. We will see! but happy that I didnt get shut down in the first interview. I was expecting worse
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u/Cabeto_IR_83 Jan 22 '21
It went well with the internal recruiter, she was excited to pass me to the next stage, then she sent me an email with a lot of questions about front end dev and now waiting to see what happens next.
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u/jadon_n Jan 18 '21
First, good luck with your interview!
Definitely be honest about what you know or don't know. It is fairly easy and quick to determine someone does not actually know what they are talking about.
I also would not feel too anxious about not knowing a particular technology. There are so many technologies in the JavaScript ecosystem, and it would be impossible to be stay proficient or a master in any individual one. I think many teams understand that many candidates will have to learn the technology in use. It is more important that candidates can learn quickly and have core problem solving and critical thinking skills.
It may be helpful to learn about the problem popular technologies aim to solve. Typescript, for example, gives JavaScript static typing and some other features to help make development easier and more error-free.
For my part, though, the conversation with a recruiter focused more on my background, projects I'm working on now, work I've done in the past, what I'm looking for in relocation/compensation/start time. The recruiter worked to make sure my background and skills line up with the role. The more in-depth technical questions came later.
I do recommend making a note of what the recruiter asks you about specifically for technology in case you do get a call back for another interview so you can do a little studying.
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u/taln2crana6rot Jan 18 '21
Congrats on landing your first interview! I’ve been a dev for 2 years now and have just started my second job, so have just been through the process. I found the same things popping up:
Fundamentals:
closure
var v let v const
arrow functions v function keyword
higher order functions.
More react focused:
state management
virtual Dom
component lifecycle
pure components
higher order components
And some broader questions like:
if you noticed your site/app was slow, what steps would you take to figure out why, and how would to you try to improve it
why is accessibility important and what can you do to make sure your site/app is accessible
Don’t worry about being asked something you don’t know, no one can possibly know everything! I went the approach of “I don’t know about that, but I’d be very interested to learn!”
They know your experience level going in, so they’re not going to expect you to be a master. Don’t think about what you don’t know, use it as an opportunity to show them what you do know!
You said this is a first round interview with a recruiter, so it likely won’t be very technical, it could be more about you as a person; your background, how you got into programming, why you like it etc.
You got this! Best of luck with it!
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u/dahvideloca Jan 19 '21
What are the answers to your last two questions, I’m still new to this
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u/_Invictuz Jan 19 '21
Just Google list of frontend interview questions for entire lists and repos of answers.
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u/9oat5w33d Jan 19 '21
Well done.
Self-taught junior dev here and was in similar position about 6 months ago. Just do your best and be honest. I didn't BS and my boss was impressed because he tried to trip me up with some BS questions to see how I handled it. Apparently a lot of the other candidates tried BS'ing (badly) where as I was straight up. Said if I didn't get something but I would have an educated guess. Then told him what I would google/stack exchange to see if it was possible.
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u/Cabeto_IR_83 Jan 19 '21
Yes, seems like honestly is a common thing across all suggestions. I will keep this in mind if they ask me stuff I don't know :)
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u/beforesemicolon Jan 19 '21
Congrats!! I would like to recommend you a read which can help u on this new phase
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Jan 19 '21
Don’t know if this is common in the UK, but it helps in the US to ask your potential employer some questions about the company. Show that you’ve done some research into their product/services. Maybe ask them what their favorite part of the company is and what their goals are for growth this year. If they’re gonna invest in you, it’s important to show you’re also willing to invest in them
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u/Onedweezy Jan 18 '21
Google JavaScript interview questions...there's lots of stuff you can use to brush on JS. Helped me ace my interview
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u/TheEncryptedPsychic Jan 19 '21
Wait if you can get a job after 8 months of learning why do I think my learning of 5 years would be insufficient am I missing something here!?
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u/Cabeto_IR_83 Jan 19 '21
I haven't got the job yet haha! but I was happy with being invited for an interview. Have you got a portfolio and have you applied for jobs?
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u/nicolas-van Jan 19 '21 edited Jan 19 '21
Don't get too stressed if you don't know all the technologies they ask for. If they received a proper CV from you it should be clear from the beginning that you don't already know everything they ask for. If they still want the interview that means they are willing to invest in someone with your profile (a junior profile in this case) and they know they will have to train you.
A good thing in these cases is to read a few tutorials the day before the interview to have some high level of understanding of how those technologies work. But keep in mind it's just to show your motivation! It wouldn't be realistic to spend three weeks each time to learn everything each company wants for each interview. 2-3 hours of work the day before shows your motivation. 3 weeks would show you're a dupe that's pushing too much ^^
Well, to be speak a little bit about what *could* go wrong, it *may* happen sometimes that the HR didn't do its job and still programmed an interview while the technical lead doesn't want to hire someone that doesn't check all the cases (or any similar misunderstanding). Unfortunately that's how humans work: they make mistakes and, when they do, they don't always admit it. Keep in mind in these cases it's *their* fault, not yours, and they're making you lose your time. So, should this happen to you someday don't start depreciating yourself, that clearly doesn't mean you can't be hired somewhere else.
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u/smoonme21 Jan 19 '21
Well done mate! I took the exact same self taught path as you! Typescript is daunting at first but it’s just a superset of JavaScript so if you got strong fundamentals and show you’re eager to learn it will hold well. Attitude will triumph your experience. Good luck
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u/AdPositive8945 Jan 19 '21
Congrats buddy for the motivation you gave me :) I was a little sad this morning why i couldnt implement a recursive function but i always love to see that i can do it just like others did ;) Best of luck for your interview from a 2 months old noob 🧡
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Jan 18 '21
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u/Cabeto_IR_83 Jan 19 '21
Maximilian Schwarzmüller courses (react and javascript) are really thorough and amazing when it comes to projects. HTML and CSS, there are tones of tutorials
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u/gristoi Jan 19 '21
Good look. Long time uk dev here. Been interviewed more times than I care to remember, and have interviewed for new devs also. Remember that honesty is key. Don't lie about a tech you haven't used. It's very easy to smell bullshit in an interview. Just answer the question as you haven't used it ' yet' but are looking forward to learning it. Secondly you are going for a junior role, so the dev tram are not expecting you to know everything, or hit the ground running on a tech stack you don't know. It's the job to the senior team members to help mould you and give you the knowledge you need. When interviewing for juniors I never look if they have a degree or not, they are pretty meaningless. What I do look for is the willingness to learn, the ability to talk through problems you faced in your own projects, and overall communication.
Good luck with it 👍👍👍