| Here is the path to attain employment provided you are willing to work within a given salary range and are willing to throw away any consideration of job satisfaction. 1) Toy around in JavaScript. You need to be strong in the syntax, but that's it so get comfortable typing the code and minimizing errors, but you don't need to be good at any of this. 2) Get solid on React. Spend most of your time here. 3) Learn all the popular tools that your peers cannot live without. These will include build tools, static analysis, test automation, bundlers, UI packages, and everything else. Keep in mind you will rely on NPM packages for everything because you can type in some syntax but dont really have any idea what you are doing. 4) Build out a portfolio and make it eye candy. It can work like garbage but it needs to be pretty. Window dressing is the name of the game. You can clean this stuff up and make it competent in the future once you learn the job a little bit. 5) Apply for jobs as a junior developer. These pay less and have higher competition for employment. You will notice that once you get hired everybody is basically a junior anyways despite their years of experience. 6) Check all the blocks at your new employer to achieve a promotion within the first 3 years. Bam, you are now a senior by title. You don't have to know how to really program. You just have to learn to play the game and manage competing priorities. 7) After 5 years of total employment already be thinking of your exit, such as entering management. At this point if you have not taught yourself to program on your own time outside the office you are likely really good at doing the same beginner things over and over. You are an expert beginner. Some people are happy with that, but your career is essentially capped here unless you have an exit plan. |