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Ask HN: Getting a job on a different technology

3 points by learnandshare 11y ago

Hi everyone, I am a developer with 5 years of experience: The first 3 years of my career I worked as web developer using very popular frameworks, however I have spent the last 2 years working on a niche backend technology (not very popular) building enterprise applications. I'd like to switch jobs and get back to web development since I realized that is what I really feel passion for, however I am afraid I have lost some web skills. I have neither side projects nor many references to provide to future employers but I still think I have experience enough for "senior" (or at least not junior) position. Do you think I should start working on my web skills (side projects, github...) before applying for web development jobs or should I just start applying right away? I would really appreciate your opinion on this. Thanks

CyberFonic 11y ago
Well it depends on how soon you want to change jobs and whether you "have to" change now. An immediate refresh of web skills, especially in the areas that you already have experience, but not up to date, is a very good idea. Always a neat idea to focus on UX, etc stuff that doesn't age as fast as the framework du jour. If you want to change jobs sooner, then why not start applying as well as refreshing your skill set. That way, even if you don't land anything straight away you are on track to be more up to date with the passing of each week.
- learnandshare 11y ago
  I appreciate the advise. I plan to switch jobs shortly (within 2 or 3 months) so I should probably start refreshing my web skills and applying for positions now. I guess I should not worry about github/portfolio in a short term, since it will take a while to build something solid.