Cracking Front-End Interview - Part 1
I started my career as a Web Developer in a Singapore web design and web development company when I was in the 7th semester of college. I wasn't a fresh graduate yet. But I already get a full-time job as a Web Developer. Here are my tips.
Facing a job interview is quite challenging. A good interview recruits a good candidate and measures the candidate's experience. This article also could be a reference to create an interview for the Web Developer position. But here I am to share my story of how I got the job offer.
Portfolio
You need at least one portfolio. For a fresh graduate, I suggest you put a project from your college's assignment. You can offer a service of a web development project for an affordable or cheap price if you don't have any web project from your college's assignment.
I created a simple social network that implemented HTML5 and CSS3 for my essay or research paper. Those technologies were new in 2012. Not many web applications apply them at that moment.
You need to explain the project technically to the recruiter or on the resume. Especially how the way you build the front-end or web part.
Technical Questions
I still remember some technical questions during my first interview. Here they are.
- How many programming languages do you master? What are they? It is a plus if you master Python or Ruby at that moment.
- How familiar are you with servers? Linux. Apache. Nginx.
- What is AJAX? My answer, AJAX is a technique to change the content without loading the entire page.
Hands-on Assignment
The recruiter asked previous questions so fast to me and closed it with the hands-on assignment. It is the final section of the interview and the most challenging moment. Most candidates do not pass this section.
The assignment is to convert the web design from Adobe Photoshop to HTML or slicing within 1 hour. The maximum allowed time was 2 hours. Custom JavaScript (VanillaJS) or jQuery is a plus. It should be pixel-perfect. Home page only.
That was a good assignment. The recruiter judged me by:
- How efficient your code of HTML, CSS, and JS.
- How efficient you code within the given time.
- How similar or pixel-perfect with the design.
Closing
It happened to me in 2013. Today the interview is a little different, but the goal is the same.
- Adobe XD, Figma, InVision, Zeplin, or Sketch instead of Adobe Photoshop for application designs.
- Mastering other programming languages are optional for front-end or web developers. But it is a must for JavaScript.
- Because today is hype for Client-Side Rendering, some companies require you to master Angular, React, or Vue.
- I built many custom jQuery plugins at that moment, my first company. Today, custom npm packages are a plus.
- Sass is a must. But of course, it is easy to learn.
- Experience to work with any CSS framework or front-end or web ecosystem such as Webpack, gulp.js, Babel, Grunt, or TypeScript is a plus.
- Some companies require you to pass algorithm and data structures interviews. I will build an article for this later.