How I landed my first Javascript Development Job and got 6 figures for it

How I landed my first JavaScript development job and got 6 figures for it, without having to apply to a single job. Yes, the jobs came to me. At some weeks I was doing 3-4 interviews over the phone; I ended up getting a couple of offers both offering 6-figures per year in compensation. Here is how I did it:

Developing Early Hatred of Programming

My parents made a HUGE mistake when I was 15 years old.

They got me my first computer (This was not a mistake), but then they put me in a beginners course to learning computers. Turns out, it was a programming course. Yup, it was a bad idea for a kid like me, who didn't know how to use a computer yet.

Well, they didn't know any better. They trusted the lady who recommended the course.

I went through the agony "Trying" to learning programming when I actually didn't even know the basics of operating a computer. It was brutal

• The instructions went over my head,
• I could not understand the assignments,
• My code was buggy, I could hardly code,
• It was a hit or miss to make even the simplest things to work
• I would stare at the screen for hours and would be glad when the session was over.

Thank God, the tests were multiple-choice questions! With some guessing and sneaking over other students answers, I barely passed the class.

From that point on, I hated programming and thought I would never do it in my life.

Subconsciously, I developed this belief "Coding is not for me".

Exactly 10 years later, I found myself wanting to learn to code. How did this happen? more on this later.

Remember, I didn't have to learn to code. No one asked me to, somehow I badly wanted to learn to code. I chose to become a coder.

Self-fulfilling prophecy "Coding is not for me"

In early 2011, I was building a tech company. As a single-founder of the company and on a shoe-string budget. I hired and fired a few developers trying to maximize my return on investment. Funds were running out, and I didn't have a stable developer working for the company.

I knew HTML and CSS (Due to my Photoshop and Web Design Background), but programming is different, very different.

I was in a vulnerable state! I was running a tech startup and I didn't understand its tech. pretty bad. I didn't have a co-founder to compliment my skills, a technical co-founder would have been nice. This meant that I was totally not in control of how the technology ran.

My different developers could...

1. Lie to me on how long a certain assignment took
2. Take down the website and hold me, hostage,
3. Be unavailable due to an emergency
4. Simply produce a low-quality buggy application and justify how hard that bug is to fix (hiding their poor skill-set)

With that, I had a low budget to sustain even a single developer on a full-time basis. This forced me to learn Ruby on Rails. The framework we used for our startup at that time. Yes, at that time I was forced to learn.

I bought a Rails course from Udemy, I read the Rails Tutorials on the official site, I read a popular book on rails twice and followed its instructions at least 6 times - No exaggerations. This helped me at least understand what was going on. 3-4 months into this and I still could not develop event the smallest enhancements to my web app. I didn't have the confidence, resourcefulness or the understanding to code. I was at the mercy of my developers.

I could definitely conduct a conversation about coding, that would have sounded very intelligent on the surface, but honestly, I didn't have anything to show for it.

I gave up on Rails in late 2013.

My self-imposed belief "Coding is not for me" became a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Discovering JavaScript

There is a beautiful stopwatch app, I installed from the Chrome App Store. I really like it since it helps me stay productive. This app was missing a feature. What if I could record my tasks while I time myself. The task feature was missing from this stopwatch app.

I thought to myself, what if I created my own app with this feature that I want. On second thought I said, "forget it, Aziz! you can design websites, but coding an app is not for you." Self-imposed belief talked me out of it once again.

Around the same time, I stumbled upon a course on jQuery - a popular JavaScript library which is very easy to use. I don't know what had me take that course, but I took it. Immediately, for the first time in my life, the instructions made sense to me. I could internalize the concepts. If my code broke, I could easily troubleshoot and fix the problem. It clicked for me.

Part of the reason is that JavaScript is a very flexible language, and when used correctly, it can make you a very powerful developer.

Due to my fear of coding, I had avoided JavaScript as well. Besides, historically JavaScript had a bad rep in the developer community. But since the launch of Douglas Crockford's book "JavaScript: The Good Parts" in 2008, the JavaScript community was getting the attention it deserved.

Not just that, Node.js was getting popular in the community. Node.js enabled JavaScript to be run outside the browser, like any other programming language. This meant that now JavaScript could be used to replace tasks done with Ruby, Python, Java, C#, Php, Go, Perl or any other programming language.

Listen: This is not a small thing, its a breakthrough.

Typically you need to know HTML, CSS, JavaScript plus another server-side language (ruby, python, C#, PHP, etc.) to build a full-fledged application.

Now you don't have to learn anything more than HTML CSS and JavaScript.

Plus, if you use this stack, you can build Kiosk App (Like I built for United Airlines Airport terminal), TV App, Mobile App, Desktop Apps, Web Application. You name it. HTML, CSS, and JavaScript combination is the most powerful and versatile tech stack.

The tables turned, I wanted to Learn to Code now

Now I wanted to learn to code, I wanted to build that StopWatch Task app, I wanted to be fully express my ideas because now I saw I could be that person who can actually realize my ideas into reality without relying on other people and without going through the agony of hiring.

I was the master of my journey and destiny again.

But there was a problem. There was not a single resource on the internet that could teach me JavaScript in a structured way - In a way that the learning gets internalized. Just like that jQuery course! I searched for months, read many blogs, tutorials and exercise, but I could not get confidence. That is when I subconsciously began to distinguish patterns on what makes a great developer, vs what makes a developer wannabe.

I began to learn and implement my code in a structured manner, and soon got the confidence to update my resume, and start interviewing.

At that point, I also came up with the Idea of iLoveCoding. A website that would teach in a way that got me to love coding, in a way that speeds up learning, in a way that makes a great developer.

Jumping into the water, and then learn to swim

I had a ton of experience designing websites, but designing and developing are two totally different skill. In fact, you will notice that most developers are not designers and most designers are not developers. I decided to jump into the job market and test the waters. I updated my resume and there were a few key things I got right.

Focus on your website design and development experience

I had done, E-Marketing, Project Management, Web Designing and had run multiple startups as well. In all of my experiences, I had touched the web. I updated my resume and focused my experience to highlight all the ways I had worked on websites.

• Using a Content Management System, like Drupal, Wordpress, Joomla, Adobe Experience Manager (Formerly Adobe CQ).
• Designing websites in Photoshop and coded them with HTML, and CSS
• Some jQuery copy pasting I did to make some web features work
• Strategizing website design and user interface
• Managing Agencies in Web Development and Website Migration Projects.
• Managing Teams to build Web Applications and enhancing their features.
• Search Engine Optimization

Now the above is good, because, it highlights I am in the Web Business, but It doesn't highlight my development skills.

List your Development Skills in the Skills section

A typical resume has at least these two section - EDUCATION and EXPERIENCE. I added another section called SKILLS at the bottom of my resume. I put the names of all the JavaScript Frameworks I was learning, and the ones I was getting familiar with even the slightest bit. Of course, I didn't have any meaningful projects built with these technologies, but I had to tell what I knew.

I later realized, separating the skills section from the experience, while making the experience section focus on the web projects, gave the impression to the robotic recruiters that I knew these technologies and have been implementing it for many years. Most of these recruiters don't even know that a lot of the JavaScript frameworks are not even a couple of years old.

I updated my resume ethically, didn't exaggerate, nor lied. If I didn't know Ember.js, it was not in my resume. If I started learning it, it made its way into my resume. There is absolutely no point in lying, Truth always comes to the surface without exception. If I was asked in detail about my experience with that particular technology, I would tell them.

Attracting recruiter calls with my secret weapon

My secret weapon is Dice.com. Forget Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com. I applied to dozens of jobs via the latter to no avail. But with Dice.com, I didn't apply to jobs, the jobs came to me. I completed my profile on Dice, uploaded my resume and I was done. Dice has become a very popular job search site in the technology space. Big corporations want talent faster then the HR department can hire. So they hire these recruiting companies to do the work for them. 60% of these recruiters are robotic. They don't know technology and its jargon. They don't know the difference between Java and JavaScript. They don't know what the heck is Angular.js, Node.js, jQuery, or names of other technologies.

Important: This article is based on my early days of finding a job in 2012. Although this advice is still relevant, recruiters now (2019) have caught up to the names of technologies.

These recruiters are given a job description from the big companies, and they scan for keywords within the job description. Next, they go to Dice and find any and all resume's they can find which has the keywords in them. Yes, they are humans, so they try their best with their limited knowledge to find a good match. Next, they start making the calls to potential job candidates (like me).

Since there is more demand for a Skilled JavaScript Developer then there is supply, a JavaScript Developer gets a ton of calls from recruiters desperate to place you at a job. They are literally working for you. It's in their interest that you get placed, so they can earn their commission.

Although there are many robotic recruiters, the successful ones are aware about the technology and market they are recruiting for. They are not professional technologists, but they know enough to intelligently screen people.

Since there is more demand for a Skilled JavaScript Developer then there is supply, a JavaScript Developer gets a ton of calls from recruiters desperate to place you at a job.

Giving 3-4 interview per week

The market was in my favor. Some days I would get 10-15 calls and emails. In the slow days, I would get 5. About 30% of these inquiries were a total mismatch for my skills. Even then, I was so much in demand, that I would screen based on money and location. It was natural that I would pass the initial screening because I was passionately learning about JavaScript and its framework. Next, I would be scheduled for an interview with the companies who were hiring. Passing those interviews was more effort.

I failed most of the interviews I did in the beginning. They asked me technical questions and gave me code tests. With every subsequent interview, I would get better. Listen, highly paid professionals were spending an hour at a time with me and that cost me nothing. They were helping me get better and practice interviews for free. The interviews I failed, I categorize them as practice interviews.

With time, I got better with coding and my interviews started to get a little better. Now I was passing more interviews and I was going to the offer stage. Finally, I got 2 offers at the same time, both offering me 6-figure compensation per year, and I had the liberty to choose. I accepted one of the offers, and I was officially a Sr. Developer for a Fortune 1000 company.

I did approximately 12 interviews, and in my busiest week, I did 4 interviews. The market wanted a person with my skill-set so badly that I never had to apply to a single job.

The plethora of jobs in the market allowed me the luxury that I could do an interview, fail at it and still not be worried about missing an opportunity. I knew the next opportunity was going to come to me the next day.

Important: Fortunately the market is as hot today as it was back then. With Dice, you can still get a dozen inquiries a day.

Commanding 6-figures

Here is how being a fresh Developer, with little to no experience, I still managed to command a 6-figure income.

1. The market for a JavaScript Developer is booming, It's very difficult to find a good JavaScript developer. Companies have to pay more to attract quality talent.
2. I negotiated my income with the recruiting agency before my resume was submitted to the employer. Recruiting agencies are given a budget by the employer. So they are really upfront about the numbers from the first conversation. If they don't bring it up, I brought it up early before I gave any interviews.
3. I gauged the market by letting the recruiting agency give me their number first. I kept my mouth shut when I was asked for my expected income. When they told me their number, I was happy to learn it was already high. There were many lower-income jobs as well. I screened them out from my initial conversation. I knew from so many calls, what the market rate was.
4. I was open to permanent placement roles, as well as contract positions, which typically pay more. Yes, contact jobs do not offer employee benefits, but the pay-rate of a contractor is high enough to justify the benefits not being included. (I did my math, let me know if you'd like to learn about that more.)

Contact positions have a finite term. You could have a 3 month, 6 months or 1-year contract. In my experience, these contracts ALWAYS renew, because they need people, and the work is there. I felt no difference working as a contractor vs a full-time employee in the 3 companies I contracted for.

Your path could be faster. The technical skills you need to become a Front-End and Full-Stack developer is all in iLoveCoding Curriculum. Join iLoveCoding today, and accelerate your path to becoming a competent, job-ready, and interview ready software developer.