JavaScript is one of the most popular and versatile programming languages in the world. It powers web applications, mobile apps, games, and even IoT devices. If you want to land a job as a JavaScript developer, you need to showcase your skills and experience in an interview. Here are some tips on how to do that.
Before the interview, review your portfolio of JavaScript projects and be prepared to explain how you used the language to solve problems, implement features, and optimize performance. You should also be able to demonstrate your code quality, readability, and documentation standards. If possible, have a live demo or a video of your projects ready to share with the interviewer.
Implement efficient event handling, avoiding memory leaks by properly managing event listeners and removing them when they're no longer needed.
I agree and I also recommend filtering your GitHub repos by languages to see the truth vs your own expectations of your work especially if you have a lot of repositories , you might not actually have any publicly available repositories in this language due to the work being owned by the company, that’s why it’s so important to own your own projects no matter how big or small.
Project Selection: Choose projects that showcase a range of skills and challenges. Include projects where you've worked on both front-end and back-end aspects to demonstrate your full-stack capabilities. Problem-Solving: Be ready to discuss specific problems you encountered during development and explain how you used JavaScript to overcome them. Highlight any innovative solutions or optimizations you implemented.
Even if you have years of JavaScript experience, you should still refresh your memory on the fundamental concepts and syntax of the language. You may be asked to write some code on a whiteboard or a laptop, or to answer questions about variables, data types, operators, loops, functions, arrays, objects, and other core elements. You should also be familiar with the latest features and updates of the language, such as ES6 and ES7.
I think it is very easy to become overly confident and neglect the basics, one way to get back in touch with your inner junior developer is to write blogs for beginners or even better seal out friends to mentor, they don’t have to be part of the same company.
Algorithmic Knowledge: Be prepared for questions on fundamental JavaScript concepts such as closures, prototypes, asynchronous programming, and the event loop. A solid understanding of these basics demonstrates a strong foundation in the language.
JavaScript has a rich ecosystem of frameworks and libraries that can help you build complex and interactive web applications. You should know the pros and cons of the most popular ones, such as React, Angular, Vue, jQuery, and Node.js, and how to use them effectively. You should also be able to compare and contrast them with each other, and explain why you chose a certain framework for a specific project.
Beware of your own bias, If I planned a project today I’d consider my own ego, and then try to remove myself from the decision. If the reason I choose a framework, DSL compiler or library was because I knew it well or it seemed cool, then that’s not the right motivations. Here are my top 3 reasons that you should consider: 1. hire-ability, can my dev team now and next, learn this framework through docs and community? 2. Does the choice meet the MVP but it can also scale? 3. Simplicity, and lock-in, can we write simple logic that decouples us from an overly opinionated proprietary syntax, when we need to move we can be agile and port the code.
Framework Familiarity: Depending on the role, be well-versed in popular JavaScript frameworks like React, Angular, or Vue.js. Discuss your experience in using these frameworks to build scalable and maintainable applications.
JavaScript is more than just a scripting language. It has some unique and powerful features and concepts that you should understand and appreciate. For example, you should know how JavaScript handles asynchronous operations, callbacks, promises, async/await, and event loops. You should also be aware of the scope, closure, hoisting, inheritance, prototype, this, and other aspects of the language that can affect how your code behaves.
It’s taken me 10 years to cram all this in my head, and it’s not that I knew it all at once, you can try to just pick up something new every day or week. Take an interest in the tiny details, the deprecated features, go spend a week in another language, learn how many languages solve the same problems as JS and don’t hold JavaScript as your darling. I do love it but JavaScript is a scripting language so it’s only as fast as it’s runtime or engine. seek out different ways to run JavaScript too, it’s a far bigger picture than just node or browser. IOT.js, Rhino.js, Bun, Dino, GraalVM.
Architectural Patterns: Demonstrate your understanding of design patterns and architectural concepts like MVC or Flux. Discuss how you've applied these concepts in your projects to create modular and scalable code.
Writing JavaScript code is not enough. You also need to test it for functionality, performance, security, and compatibility. You should be familiar with the tools and techniques that can help you do that, such as debugging tools, unit testing frameworks, code analysis tools, and browser dev tools. You should also be able to explain how you approach testing, what kind of tests you perform, and how you handle errors and exceptions.
The single most important thing I can offer to you is this advice, write the tests first, this pushes you to think about your public API design as a contract and your tests as a an extension of the issue you are working on and it’s requirements. Code should then be the ink that checks off this list of requirements as your tests go from failing to passing. This increases determinism and stability. I feel that this is far more trustworthy and worth the time, resist the urge to drop TDD and get to the code because what’s the point if you end up with the wrong solution or you are testing the implementation nuance which actually adds to the complexity.
Testing Practices: Highlight your experience with testing frameworks like Jest or Mocha. Discuss how you approach unit testing, integration testing, and end-to-end testing to ensure the reliability of your code.
One of the best ways to improve your JavaScript skills and experience is to learn from other developers. You should follow the latest trends and best practices of the JavaScript community, read blogs and articles, watch videos and podcasts, and join online forums and groups. You should also be open to feedback and criticism, and be willing to share your knowledge and opinions with others.
Community Engagement: Showcase your involvement in the JavaScript community. Discuss forums, conferences, or open-source contributions that have helped you stay updated with the latest trends and best practices in the JavaScript ecosystem.
Soft Skills: Emphasize your communication skills and ability to work collaboratively. Talk about instances where you've effectively communicated complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders or collaborated with team members to solve challenges.