4 ms·

Tangential question: does anyone have experience moving from full time (.NET) development to freelance React / JavaScript development and is willing to offer ad

Tangential question: does anyone have experience moving from full time (.NET) development to freelance React / JavaScript development and is willing to offer advice? I'm currently employed as a senior .NET consultant and I am seriously considering changing stacks and trying contracting / remote work in order to have more freedom to travel and work from different geolocations amongst other things. Should I take some time off to learn React? Do I have to position myself as a junior React developer?

bflesch 10y ago
I think it is worth it. Once you get a grasp of React (and get a working webpack setup, which was difficult in the past) allows you to build apps for mobile (React native), desktop and web. We're hiring react developers in Hamburg, Germany :)
- martijn_himself 10y ago
  Great, thanks for the heads up! :) Do you have any more information about your company, vacancies and hiring process? EDIT: a quick search has answered my question- no REMOTE positions I see :). Hamburg is a nice city though!
  - vinceguidry 10y ago
    Generally you'll find that a company is way more amenable to going full-remote after a few months of having you in the office at least three times a week. Just bring it up during phone screens whenever they ask "do you have any questions for us," after the obligatory company-focused question.
  - bflesch 10y ago
    Oh we're just a small startup with a node.js / react platform hosted on AWS. Due to our small size we have a simple and short hiring process, in which we try to hire smart, experienced people. As the sibling comment said we're also very open to remote working after a certain period of getting to know each other. I've refrained from adding the "REMOTE" keyword to our hiring posts because it attracts a lot of remote (non-)"talent", and we're being swamped in mails from people who don't fit the stated profile. We've been burned hard by remote-only employees in the past because it is very hard to keep the whole team on the same page, even more so with programmers inbetween junior and senior who want a lot of autonomy but end up delivering subpar results.
- swah 10y ago
  One thing I don't like about React Native is that you need a Mac... :(
  - jjnoakes 10y ago
    Why do you need a Mac...?
    - swah 10y ago
      Deliver anything to iPhones..
      - jjnoakes 10y ago
        Why is that React Native's fault?
        swah 10y ago
        Its not, its just that people compare it to Phonegap, Ionic, etc...
dahart 10y ago
> does anyone have experience moving from full time (.NET) development to freelance React / JavaScript development and is willing to offer advice? To me that looks like 3 different things - going from .NET to web dev, going from full time to contracting, and learning React. I wasn't .NET exactly, but went from Windows C++ game console dev to web dev, and I'm currently doing React contracting. I love web dev, and I don't want to go back to C++. That said, contracting takes a lot of learning and is hard to get used to. Many consider not switching everything at once, but focusing on learning on big thing at a time. React is great to learn, but it's early and time will tell if it sticks. There's a ton to learn about web development that is independent of React.
- cableshaft 10y ago
  .NET probably means web developer. There's game dev with Unity, granted, and a few jobs out there doing mobile work with Xamarin, and I imagine some windows only app or tools development, but the majority of .NET work seems to be web dev nowadays. You do make a good point, though.
- martijn_himself 10y ago
  Those are good points, thank you. .NET for me is mainly web dev, and I know some JavaScript (and JQuery), but it will be a bit of a shock to the system nonetheless.
Robin_Message 10y ago
We're hiring .net developers, we cross-train on react. So, if you want a lower risk way of getting into react, drop me an email.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

bflesch 10y ago

I think it is worth it. Once you get a grasp of React (and get a working webpack setup, which was difficult in the past) allows you to build apps for mobile (React native), desktop and web. We're hiring react developers in Hamburg, Germany :)

martijn_himself 10y ago
Great, thanks for the heads up! :) Do you have any more information about your company, vacancies and hiring process? EDIT: a quick search has answered my question- no REMOTE positions I see :). Hamburg is a nice city though!
- vinceguidry 10y ago
  Generally you'll find that a company is way more amenable to going full-remote after a few months of having you in the office at least three times a week. Just bring it up during phone screens whenever they ask "do you have any questions for us," after the obligatory company-focused question.
- bflesch 10y ago
  Oh we're just a small startup with a node.js / react platform hosted on AWS. Due to our small size we have a simple and short hiring process, in which we try to hire smart, experienced people. As the sibling comment said we're also very open to remote working after a certain period of getting to know each other. I've refrained from adding the "REMOTE" keyword to our hiring posts because it attracts a lot of remote (non-)"talent", and we're being swamped in mails from people who don't fit the stated profile. We've been burned hard by remote-only employees in the past because it is very hard to keep the whole team on the same page, even more so with programmers inbetween junior and senior who want a lot of autonomy but end up delivering subpar results.
swah 10y ago
One thing I don't like about React Native is that you need a Mac... :(
- jjnoakes 10y ago
  Why do you need a Mac...?
  - swah 10y ago
    Deliver anything to iPhones..
    - jjnoakes 10y ago
      Why is that React Native's fault?
      - swah 10y ago
        Its not, its just that people compare it to Phonegap, Ionic, etc...

dahart 10y ago

> does anyone have experience moving from full time (.NET) development to freelance React / JavaScript development and is willing to offer advice? To me that looks like 3 different things - going from .NET to web dev, going from full time to contracting, and learning React. I wasn't .NET exactly, but went from Windows C++ game console dev to web dev, and I'm currently doing React contracting. I love web dev, and I don't want to go back to C++. That said, contracting takes a lot of learning and is hard to get used to. Many consider not switching everything at once, but focusing on learning on big thing at a time. React is great to learn, but it's early and time will tell if it sticks. There's a ton to learn about web development that is independent of React.

cableshaft 10y ago
.NET probably means web developer. There's game dev with Unity, granted, and a few jobs out there doing mobile work with Xamarin, and I imagine some windows only app or tools development, but the majority of .NET work seems to be web dev nowadays. You do make a good point, though.
martijn_himself 10y ago
Those are good points, thank you. .NET for me is mainly web dev, and I know some JavaScript (and JQuery), but it will be a bit of a shock to the system nonetheless.

Robin_Message 10y ago

We're hiring .net developers, we cross-train on react. So, if you want a lower risk way of getting into react, drop me an email.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]