How To Land Your First Backend Developer Job

🎉 Join Discord - / discord
🐦 Follow On Twitter - / thedonofcode
🤝 Get Help From Me - calendly.com/donthedeveloper
❤️ Become A Member - kzbin.info...
-
Apply to my official frontend mentorship program:
forms.gle/Y9zuGxzVZe154uSz8
Disclaimer: The following may contain product affiliate links. I may receive a commission if you make a purchase after clicking on one of these links. Also, I will only provide affiliate links for apps that I've used and highly recommend.
My #1 recommended FRONTEND course:
scrimba.com/?ref=donthedeveloper
My #1 recommended BACKEND course:
boot.dev?via=donthedeveloper
Want to come onto my podcast and ask me a few questions? Just fill out this form: forms.gle/esQMbaRjQt9SkD1XA
My favorite todo app (Todoist): get.todoist.io/lbibntzmg4yg-H
---------------------------------------------------
Do you like backend web development more than frontend? Have you been lied to about how entry-level backend developer jobs don't exist? I brought on Lane, a backend developer with a ton of experience in the industry, to break down why you're most likely not landing your first backend developer job. If you really are striving to land a backend position, this episode is for you.
Lane Wagner (guest):
Backend course - boot.dev
Podcast - www.backendbanter.fm
KZbin - @bootdotdev
Twitter - / wagslane

[@jake.jake123]

I am a backend developer in Java and Go. Throughout my youth I loved to mess with games, changing configs that were exposed or doing maps for WC3 with some scripting involved. Later in university (not doing CS) I joined a motor sport team and messed with CMS like Joomla to host a webpage for the team. Even did some scripting in VBA to help analyzing some testdata. I didn't know better, but it worked. Then I discarded my study and went to small company with little to none experience but I was hyped about creating stuff. Thus, diving into backend and learning very low level stuff got me even more hyped because I finally understood how things work under the hood. Today I still mess around with games, do side projects in lua, Java and C++. My takeaway is keep yourself engaged with stuff you enjoy in personal projects, because the daily job will eventually fail to keep that spark going.

[@maxfrischdev]

Great honest advice, thank you! 🤘🏻

[@anoh2689]

Hey Jake I am learning c and reached pointers and I learned how to use them to pass a function's argument/parameter by reference for example a function that increments an integer variable But other than passage by reference I don't know what else I can do With them except the dynamic allocation which I also started learning recently Is there any exercises/mini projects I can do to really explore and understand the Importance for pointers and dynamic allocation?? For pointers at least I can see their importance for passage by reference but with dynamic allocation I am having big trouble to grasp the concept please give me advice and share with me some free resources to learn (especially something practical like exercises/mini projects) 🙏

[@zepedaalex25]

Do you still find time to work on game part-time? How'd you juggle the work?

[@baxterdevin]

In one of Don's earliest videos he made the point that it is way easier to learn a new skill if you enjoy what it's used for. I started with C and then learned Python because I wanted to do Back-End and Data Science work. I was thinking of switching to Javascript to fit the "trend" back in 2021, but Don reminded me to do what I love so I have doubled down on Python, SQL and Pandas. Thanks @DonThe Developer!

[@ignacioampwfh]

How did it go? Did you end up finding a job straight up as a backend dev? I'm asking because I'm in a similar situation

[@maxfrischdev]

Thanks Don and Lane! Great Round2! 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@staystealth]

great episode don. i was one of those people who thought it's not possible to get an entry level job as a backend dev. and i asked you in one of your streams once if that is really the case. and you said no it's perfectly doable. that gave me a huge confidence boost to start learning more technologies related to the backend. the message of this podcast should be quite encouraging to more people like me :)

[@dragoneyefoundation]

I always get curious when I see blank console or terminal, though wasn't sure what to do, and finally decided to 'do something' and started to learn to code.:D This conversation was so much in time! Thanks a lot!

[@johnburkhead5505]

This was awesome and full of great info! I’m 40 years old and trying to jump into development, more interested in the backend. Currently working through an online course but loved this interview and now looking through other videos and sources by both of you!

[@raba650]

The good thing about this interview is that if you get comfortable learning to code and realize you can learn whatever, then learning a harder language makes it somewhat easier to digest and grasp, imho.

[@bbhoxe]

Thank you guys for this great and interesting episode!!

[@murtadha96]

Great conversation!

[@JarrodSchilling]

Great interview. So often I hear that you must start as a front-end developer. As someone with a background in finance and a passion for playing around with data, back-end is where I've found my personal calling. Looking at a blank canvas and trying to design a website front-end from scratch is just not the way my brain works. Thanks for putting this up Don.

[@alexram14]

Interesting career change. How has BD been vs. finance... more creative, complex, broad?

[@JarrodSchilling]

hey alex, so I currently still invest/trade my own capital and am building backend apps with Python/Flask to help systematize my process. Haven't fully transitioned into an official BE role. For now I'm just following what I'm passionate about doing and will see if that turns into a job some day or I keep using apps to help my own investing process. I do find programming and app building in general to be a lot more creative and similarly as complex as the financial world.@@alexram14

[@AnkitKumar-dg5uz]

I start my carrier in tech as backend developer later somtime I have start work on the frontend using html and css, I love backend also the frontend. I know the node js , But curretnly, working on frontend side.

[@ImmigrantB1]

For me, the biggest issue is being able to choose which language to focus on, and have the confidence that I can learn it well enough to get a well-paying job. Right now, I'm in between Python, Front-end (html, css, JS), Java, and C++.

[@meetgor]

Awesome, I am a Fresher having interest in backend development. I have learnt python and golang. Currently loving to contributing to open source and sneaking in for a job😅

[@nimmneun]

Oh so you're one of our new juniors and just finished a fullstack bootcamp. Great, we need you in the team that connects a new series of cash registers and cc terminals to payment gateways and IBM AS400 machines. Alternatively you could join the ETL team to write new adapters for some new fixed width data formats that need to be fed into our BI cloud 🎉 But to be fair, you'll learn most of the stuff on the job usually ... but at least you should be able to read and understand documentation😅

[@gadgetboyplaysmc]

Is this boot dev? awesome!

[@bobanmilisavljevic7857]

I really love python and can't wait to keep learning more programming

[@CreatorsExpress]

I started coding with cs50. I had to pause it to do an ibm course I was selected for. But cs50 intro is very fast and one week was taking me a month to complete with work and family. It opened me up to a lot but isn’t right for me right now. The ibm intro is more for me, then I’ll go back to cs50. Love all the info in this talk man. Honest and humble guys here! God bless

[@Mikebigmike94]

Don’t feel too bad about cs50. I found it really shallow and and not engaging enough. For me there’s much better courses on Udemy that are engaging and very in-depth

[@br0ken_107]

@@Mikebigmike94 well cs50 is a college course unlike a all in one udemy course, college courses require you to do research yourself and go through documentation etc. It's not shallow people take it as a zero to hero course which is what it is not meant for, look at the best free web dev resources, odin project and fullstack open --> both require extensive research on your own in addition to the material provided. That is why cs50 even despite being ~20-25 hours long shows it requires nearly 100+ hours of study (in many reviews and analysis). Comparing a uni course to udemy course is not right, especially when the uni course is updated every year whereas udemy courses (even the best ones --> angela yu, cold steel, etc) are very outdated.

[@ipodtouch470]

@@Mikebigmike94cs50 is the exact opposite of shallow it goes pretty in depth for an introduction course. The one thing about Harvard courses are not everything is taught in lectures but it will be asked of you in the homework. So while doing the homework you will fill in the gaps.

[@Mikebigmike94]

@@ipodtouch470 well we will have to agree to disagree. I suppose it’s a good course to get started. Maybe it’s because programming isn’t a passion of mine. I’m into networks and cyber security 👍

[@user-el3lk1jj4j]

thx

[@musashi4856]

@24:49 It is not a "get-rich-quick" scheme. It's main attribute is 'accessibility' for anyone willing to learn. Hence, there are no gate-keepers to this industry.

[@icetmzz9074]

how do you do only backend in the beginning

[@codelinx]

Love these. But honestly there's a dichotomy between the job requirements of a junior engineer and what they are looking for at junior level job requirements and pay.

[@indiangigachad777]

Lane is a beast....been learning back-end on Lane's platform and it doesn't get better than what he's put out

[@DonTheDeveloper]

Just curious, why do you like his course so much?

[@indiangigachad777]

@@DonTheDeveloper its like a gamified learning progression on his platform. The medival themes kind of reminded me of Runescape alot so id spend a bunch of time mainly trying to rack up exp rather than complete modules. He breaks down concepts for recursion, algos and data structures. I can now solve medium level questions. I'd spend hours on beginner level questions before that. He's also got an AI helper which I use as a last resort to piece together concepts that I am close to grasping. Theres also project challenges and the community has been really helpful with helping me through sticky points recently built a Chrome Extension from scratch to track web usage. Its not a speed run type of course...ive spent about 6 months using it...even though I am not the fastest I am growing steadily and definitely better than where I was.

[@_Lumiere_]

I'm not from the US, but I just got my first part-time job as a backend dev while still in uni, just by knowing a bit of python and without even having a portfolio. It's possible, especially if you constantly keep an eye on the job market. Though, I was kinda lucky.

[@callous21]

Where?

[@_Lumiere_]

@@callous21 Europe, but I have to mention that being enrolled at computer science in uni is really valuable where I'm from, especially my uni, since it's considered good.

[@pixelatedlava]

@@_Lumiere_ you are sooo lucky my friend, well done

[@HHJoshHH]

This makes me wanna learn white hat. Currently JS, HTML, CSS, Python, SQLite, Node.js, CLI. I want to learn RxJS and C#. But there’s just something so fun about hacking, being where I don’t belong. lol. I want it! 😂 Good show by the way.

[@Gaer56]

I gave up, i couldnt land a job. Found myself as System Admin. Gave me a good kickstart to use Vim and manage bigger projects. Still liking programming, but i feel like those jobs are out of my reach.

[@rverm1000]

What's your website?

[@caminari1522]

I have master's in chemical engineering. I have to change my specialty in to software engineer due to fact that my specialty is dying. I do like the creative process in both fields and they both stress me out equally.

[@ggg-ox3hr]

Can you please explain why you think that’s the case? I want to finish my bachelors in chemical engineering to focus on semiconductors. The Semiconductor industry seems like a no brained to me due to the current political climate. Why not pivot to semiconductors? It seems like a mix of chemistry and a splash of CS.

[@caminari1522]

@@ggg-ox3hr Depends where you live. I'm from Lithuania and specialise in fertilizer production and everything agrochemistry. Due to Ukranian war we had to cut gas from Russia which created sortage and made fertilizer production difficult forcing companies to shut down. I also made a mistake of focusing on my scientific research which created gap in my resume. We have only research of semiconductors here. One day we might get company which produces them but who knows.

[@ignacioampwfh]

ChemE isn't dying although the types of jobs you can get are very location dependent according to which types of industries your country of origins has. Just wanted to clear that and as you said you have it harder with the ongoing war and crisis surrounding Lithuania. I'm a ChemE looking to change careers too, but I'm from South America

[@ggg-ox3hr]

@@caminari1522 good luck to you my friend. We will always need smart people like you, you won’t be without a job. Side note: I’ll never forget the day I found out that my team mate got an internship by lying on his resume. That day, I learned that I was competing against others that were not being honest. So… you need to level the playing field and lie about the gap.

[@strongestdirector6137]

I was playing starcraft 2 while I was listening to this podcast. I a industry transfer to the tech industry with no degree and no relevant work experience. I'm going to have to apply to 5000 companies to probably get hired. Hopefully one company will be desperate enough to hire me

[@francisfrimpong964]

That's great am on the journey of becoming a back end developer and its not easy😂😂😂

[@pharaoh9483]

Same

[@francisfrimpong964]

@@pharaoh9483 what back end language and framework are you currently learning?

[@brunomanso9428]

Most people want to build a skyscraper without a solid and deep base. Forget about programming languages and tech stacks. Be a fan or adept at *solving real-world problems using data structure and algorithms.*

[@darksidedani]

50$/month is a bit wild tbh.

[@T25de]

Lotto winners exist too

[@ibrahimzende6968]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@Zynkah]

First

[@TheBlackmanIsGod]

How to land your first backend dev job: Option 1: be a savant Option 2: Adderall life!!!!

[@andyserrato]

the falsestack programmer 😅

[@mrlectus]

People need to stop spreading the lie that Go is Easy

[@ipodtouch470]

Go is simple and an easy programming language. The things you build with it may be complicated though