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How do people with title Full stack developers get front-end/back end jobs?

17 points by FahadUddin92 ↗ HN
Considering a person is a full stack developer and he applies for a Frontend or a Backend role. How does he justify his experience in Front end/backend as he has done both together?

13 comments

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f055
My take is that full-stack devs are proficient in frontend, backend and sysadmin work. Therefore they are well equipped for either of these roles. To convince the potential employer, I would focus on describing the specific part of my previous work - say, describe my past projects in terms of the frontend tasks, showing proficiency in this area.
toomuchtodo
> My take is that full-stack devs are proficient in frontend, backend and sysadmin work.

If you're expected to know frontend, backend, and syadmin/devops, how are you supposed to be good at any of the above? You can either be a generalist or deep dive, but there are only so many hours in a day.

aregsarkissian
I think the main thing is to strive to be a T shape developer. Get general experience in all three areas but then get deep experience in at least one of them. So if you only have deep experience in the back end and general in the front end, that gives you an edge over other candidates that don't have the general experience when applying for a back end position
f055
I believe the assumption that to be really good at something you have to focus 100% on it is fundamentally flawed. It only applies to people with limited capabilities, I guess. I've seen people gaining proficiency in a fraction of time others needed. There are only so many hours in a day, true, but people work at different speeds.
CCing
A bit off-topic: is only my experience or usually full stack developers are paid less than a frontend/backend engineer ? seems like full stack developers are seen as generalist and so paid less.
FahadUddin92
I am observing that I am getting much more opportunities once I have changed my role from full stack to front end developer. I think recruiters want experts in one field rather than generalists.
twobyfour
Smaller teams find more value and flexibility in generalists, whereas larger teams are more likely to want specialists. Larger teams typically belong to larger companies, which have more resources and offer higher salaries than your typical startup.
bhchance
Write two resumes, one tailored for each. And then use the relevant one when applying to jobs.
d_watt
When I job hunt, I usually have 2-3 resumes and template cover letters for front end / full stack / software engineer. They highlight professional experiences most appropriate whichever role they're for.
flavio81
I haven't found any backend developer that has labelled himself/herself "fullstack". In my country, so far the "fullstack" developers i've seen are the JS frontend guys that learnt how to do server dev in Node.js.

A backend dev is usually higher paid than a frontend, so it makes sense.

ericmcer
I don't get why Node.js is looked down upon in respect to other server technologies. I have worked on Rails and Node apps, and just started a new job working with Scala/Play framework. Node paired with Nginx has been the easiest to start new projects on, develop on, and it is more performant than the other two.
3131s
> Node paired with Nginx has been the easiest to start new projects on, develop on, and it is more performant than the other two.

Very true compared to what I've worked with before too. I come more from a background in backend programming (but typically label myself "full-stack") and recently did my first Node.js project -- getting it live with Nginx took like 20 minutes. That was a pleasant surprise compared to my first experiences with something like Django, for example.

rjmill
It boils down to focus. When you present skills/experience that aren't relevant to what someone is hiring for, it distracts from your main message ("I can do this job well, pls hire") and leaves your audience unsure of what you'd be a good fit for.

A fullstack developer on the job hunt should have versions of his/her resume that are tailored for front end, back end, and fullstack. The front end and back end resumes should demonstrate a clear focus on the relevant responsibilities. That's not to say he/she should lie or exaggerate. All it takes is leaving off the impressive experience/skills that aren't relevant. It seems counter intuitive, but the idea is to present oneself as a specialist. For whatever reason, people are suspicious when others claim to be skilled at multiple things