⚡️ Hotwire dev newsletter - Junior developer edition

Welcome back to the August junior developer edition of the ⚡️ Hotwire dev newsletter! This month is going to be a little different. I’m diving into something I’m passionate about: junior Ruby on Rails developers.

Why is it so hard for junior Rails developers to get their first job? And why do companies only seem to want to hire senior engineers? After doing a lot of interviewing I think I have some answers. I’m planning to share all of my learnings in my talk at the Rails SasS Conference in October. (I hope to see you there!)

Until then, here are some tips, tricks, and advice for juniors to get hired. From positioning themselves better to getting interview feedback, there’s something for every stage of the hiring process.

Also, I’ve included some tips for senior developers to help level up juniors. Whether they are already a coworker or an online friend, it’s our job to make sure they feel included and empowered.

📰 Articles

How to find your first Rails job

by Felipe Vogel @fpsvogel

Felipe was recently hired at a US-based remote company as a junior Rails developer. He shares tips on where to look for job postings, strategies for writing your resume, what to ask during the interview process, and more. My favorite tip: “finding out the salary before doing a technical exercise”. Congrats on the new job, Felipe!

So You’re a (Junior) Developer – Here’s How to Learn

by Brian Birdwell of Planet Argon @planetargon

Brian, a junior Rails developer at Planet Argon, breaks down the process of learning and why it’s important to have one. One tip that sticks out is to struggle before asking questions. I love the responsibility this puts on you as a developer to try and figure it out yourself. From experience, this is one of the best ways to learn.

The Beginner’s Guide To Learning Ruby on Rails in 2022

by Cezar Halmagean @mixandgo

A 6 chapter guide on how and why to learn Ruby on Rails from Cezar at Mix & Go. Chapter 4 dives into the “how” by outlining a few steps with flexibility to make the journey your own. He follows up with a great resource of different places to find jobs and tips for landing that first round interview.

Rails is back isn’t enough

by David Colby @davidcolbyatx

A bit meta, David uncovers a sad truth about the industry right now: not many companies are hiring junior Rails developers. He speculates that “many companies hiring Rails developers are hiring exclusively for senior level roles because companies using Rails tend to run quite lean.” But all is not lost – I’m on board with his advice for what we can do, today: invest in a pipeline of junior talent, give senior engineers time to coach and mentor, and slow down delivery cadence to give everyone room to breath.

“Juniors are absolutely critical to the healthy growth of engineering teams and overall companies…”

by Brandon Weaver @keystonelemur

Brandon tweeted about how junior developers are critical to the healthy growth of engineering teams and companies. I couldn’t agree more with this thread!

🎙 Podcasts

Best Resources for Juniors in 2022

by Julie J @codewithjulie and Andrew Mason @andrewmcodes

On my favorite new podcast, Ruby for All, Julie and Andrew share advice and resources for junior Ruby on Rails developers. No matter your learning style there’s something for you: blogs, Twitter accounts, books, conferences, podcasts, videos, and more.

Junior Devs, Mentoring, and Training with Adam Cuppy

by Remote Ruby @remote_ruby

This episode is packed with actionable tips from Adam on how the Ruby community can help foster more junior developers. My favorites include casual mentorship programs, how to create a welcoming environment, and pair programming.

Early Developer Career Stage with Brian Hogan

by Jason Swett @JasonSwett

In this episode of Code with Jason, Jason and guest Brian Hogan discuss the state of hiring in Rails (and tech in general), why we need to generate more senior developers, and what to watch out for when receiving career advice.

Gem Mining & Advice on Mentoring Developers

by Remote Ruby @remote_ruby

Around the 47 minute mark Chris and Andrew start discussing mentorship. They explain how there’s a lot more aspects to being a developer than coding and why it’s so important to take initiative if you are a mentee. There’s solid advice for both juniors and those looking to mentor in this episode.

🎥 Videos

5 Secrets to Getting Your First Rails Job

by Joe Masilotti (me!) @joemasilotti

I partnered up with Cezar from Mix & Go to share insights I’ve picked up while running my Rails-only hiring platform the last 9 months. I also answer a bunch of questions from junior devs including how to grow while freelancing, if you need to know testing, and how to contribute to OSS.

How to Land Your First Ruby on Rails Job With No Experience And No CS Degree

by Cezar Halmagean @mixandgo

Cezar, who puts out high quality Hotwire tutorials, shares advice for folks new to Ruby on Rails and programming in general. It’s a valuable resource if you’ve been looking to get your first Rails role but don’t have any experience or a computer science degree.

👩‍💻👨‍💻 5 Rails developers for hire

Here are 5 Ruby on Rails developers (including 2 juniors!) who are looking for their next gig and ready to start today. Most are interested in full-time employment but a few are open to freelance/contract roles, too.

If you’re looking for your next Rails gig then add your profile to RailsDevs and I’ll help you get hired.

Hire Karl

With over 12 years of experience across the front-end, back-end, and iOS, Karl found out that Ruby is literally the best. Now he’s pivoted his whole career to focus on making amazing websites that use Ruby.

Hire Osledy

I love working with Ruby/Rails and ReactJS/React Native tech stack. Prefer long-term and ongoing projects. Working remotely from Barcelona.

Hire James

A product-focused developer with strengths in back-end development and infrastructure management.

Hire Vignesh

Vignesh has 6 years experience in Ruby on Rails as a full stack developer. Also, he developed apps with React and GraphQL along with Python and Django.

Hire James

Support Engineer looking to break into product development. See my blog where I share content for Rails developers.

👀 One more thing…

I made my first billboard appearance this morning thanks to MicroAcquire! MicroMRR, their free tool to value a company based on MRR, helped me sell Mugshot Bot late last year. What a surprise this was to see in my Twitter notifications. 😆