[bwh2]

As a hiring manager who looks at a lot of resumes, I think your hunch is correct. I see a lot of junior to mid-level developers that primarily work in JS/TS/React. That market is heavily saturated and I regularly read posts on LinkedIn from these people about how difficult it is to find a job.

The candidates that stand out from the pack are those with some tangible production backend experience in languages like C#, Java, etc., combined with SQL experience. Strictly in terms of marketability, I do believe getting real-world backend experience greatly increases your value.

[nassimsoftware]

Would say working on backend projects with languages C#, Java, etc... a good idea if it's not possible to get work experience?

I would do those projects, add them to my cv and apply to backend roles for example.

[bwh2]

It would help both in demonstration of interest in learning that language further and in being able to pass technical interviews.

[willsmith72]

What are you hiring for? JavaScript doesn't just mean frontend.

I am much more interested in how people pick up new tech and interesting projects than the specifics of the language. With modern libraries and frameworks I don't think you need deep experts in particular languages anymore

[kristianp]

> JavaScript doesn't just mean frontend.

I would assume they know that. There are plenty of projects that don't have nodejs backends.

[willsmith72]

> I do believe getting real-world backend experience greatly increases your value

This would imply they don't or they don't value it nearly as much

[bwh2]

Agreed. That was the point of my comment - there is an abundance of developers who just work in JS/TS/React and have not picked up new technologies. Adding C#, Java, SQL, etc. helps your marketability.