I know it takes time to get a job but it seems like with the amount of skill and drive I have I should have landed a job by now. I have had many over the phone and hangouts interviews and only 1 in person interview. Still I have heard nothing back from any of them. I get calls daily for jobs in Dallas, east coast, west coast but I have no way to move their or any money to do so.
I live in the Houston area and can't seem to find just a normal starter job. I just need to get my foot in the door some place, is the job market for web development just that insanely full? I turned down 2 different careers in Electrical Engineering and a management position to pursue programming because I love it so much.
So I am just wondering if I am missing something, some key aspect to being a web developer that everyone else has that I haven't caught on to. If you are interested in answering this question I would be most appreciative to any response good or bad.
Robert
Building stuff
Hello Marcus, I know the feel. My first job wasn't my perfect job but with time, effort and dedication al arrives.
I recommend you that have the focus clear, your objectives like salary, ambient, sector, languages you want need to be aligned.
Goo to meetings, conferences, talk with people, make your own projects, self-studying and more, the opportunity some times appears not when you want.
If is your fist job go and send your resume to startups in your area, companies that are interesting for you and simply focus on the technologies you want to be great.
Open up angel.co. A lot of startups are hiring. Go to the jobs tab, create a job profile and select the location to Houston. If not enough jobs, choose "Remote Ok" option to see remote jobs. Hope this helps. Additionally you can also filter by tech stack.
Like anything it's location location location. If there aren't software companies in the area or if there is a glut of talent in the area then it's going to be difficult to find work.
I suggest you consult an outsourcing agent such as Toptal or CrossOver
First of all...don't give up! If it's what you want you'll find a way to make it happen. I think sometimes it happens at a different speed than we want, but find something to fill that time and keep at it.
Find a way to always do something a bit more complex. Add a cloud element to your MEAN stack application, for instance. Host it on AWS or something (try Elastic Beanstalk). Learn what it takes to do that, and add it to your list of skills if you don't already have it. Play with this stuff...it's supposed to be fun right?
The social is HUGE. Meetups for sure. Just posting questions here is probably a good idea too. Someone might engage with you about what you're up to, etc.
It does seem that different tech stacks live in different areas, so you might want to take that into consideration. Maybe try Austin for your specific stack, especially if you're not wanting to move too far away. Looks like right now there are 217 JavaScript jobs on Dice for Austin.
Also, maybe try some interview prep practice. That could be really helpful. There are several services you can use for that now. You can do actual mock interviews with these ones: www.interviewing.io www.pramp.com
Keep at it!! Good luck.