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Ask HN: Why is it so hard to get a good job as a junior developer?

7 points by wayoverthecloud ↗ HN
I don't understand this industry. There are very few junior developer jobs and even they ask for 2 years of experience. How is one supposed to enter the higher paying market?

I work as a Node/Angular developer in a South Asian country and over the past 8 months have gained domain specific skills comparable to my own team lead who came from a different background. I write tests, APIs, UI features, deploy to QA, fix issues in QA, fix the build pipeline, architectured microservices and micro-frontend pattern, etc. I am not bragging, every of my team member does this and they should be paid more too. I am sure there are developers more competent than me but I really think I should be paid a lot more than $500/mo especially reading developers salary in American and European countries.

How do I as a South Asian junior developer land a better paying job? Remote is almost impossible considering they don't let Junior developers work remote and looks like only option is to move abroad but hardly anyone sponsors VISA especially for a South Asian junior developer.

Am I stuck here forever?

8 comments

[ 4.9 ms ] story [ 34.5 ms ] thread
wheybags
Maybe bad advice: just apply for remote positions that are not listed as junior. The worst they can do is say no. And for sure, any remote job with a western company should pay a lot more than 500/mo. The standard advice of "have something of your own to show" also goes a long way to differentiating yourself.
Etheryte
I think it would be useful to take a step back first and look at the bigger picture. Looking at most jobs in general you will find they have wildly differing salaries between different geographical regions worldwide. A shop clerk here will bring home a different salary from a shop clerk there. The fact that there's a chance to compete for a job offer globally is a perk that nearly no other industry offers. With that in mind, it isn't very useful trying to contextualize salaries and compare your income to salaries at hyperscalers, or more broadly to salaries in the US. Both of those groups are supreme outliers not only in their industry, but in the job market globally. Most salaries (although not all) are based on your geographic location and are in very broad strokes cost of life times some modifier depending on your profession.

With all of that in mind, some advice from someone who has emigrated abroad for reasons similar to yours. Firstly, the fact that you're currently employed and gaining experience is great — you're already considerably ahead of everyone else trying to break into the market. Take the opportunity and suck in every bit of knowledge you can. From my personal and very subjective experience, having junior developers on-site is valuable for exactly that reason: knowledge transfer. Remote work works when people already know how to do their job, teaching someone over the net is a whole different ballpark altogether. While you might not agree, I invite you to think back and ponder on this point a few years down the line when you've had the chance to coach people with little experience yourself.

As for the meat of your question, how do you land a better paying job, I think the most straightforward path is pretty clear: use your current employment to make yourself more valuable as a knowledge worker. See what your superiors do, ask them if they can teach you to do those things. Take courses or trainings when they're on offer. Etc. Then find better opportunities either locally or globally. Do apply to jobs even if you don't tick all or most of the boxes, getting experience in interviews and navigating the corporate world is also very valuable. As a word of warning, while there are companies that do fully global remote with remote first, those are very, very rare. In most cases, you are expected to hold a visa or a working permit or be sponsored/vetted by the company and then emigrate. Emigration is hard, but it is doable. Beware of finances, if you're emigrating into a country that's considerably more expensive you may end up saving money for a long time to get a shot or two abroad — make them count. Best of luck.

wayoverthecloud
Really appreciate you replying. You make very good points. I think the only way is to work harder. If you don't mind asking which country did you move to?
Etheryte
Working harder is good, but so long as you work on bettering yourself, not blindly ticking off tasks from an endless list. Working harder on making yourself smarter, more skilled, better experienced makes you a good hire, especially if it's in ways you can put on your CV as well. Simply grinding harder at work you already know how to do or what is repetitive is good for your current employer, but not necessarily good for you in the long run. In life of course it's a balance between the two.

As for moving, I moved to the Netherlands since I found an employer here whose work resonated well with what I'm interested in. I work in a fairly specific niche and they were looking for someone in that exact area meaning it ended up being a win-win for both sides. Making yourself wanted in such a way helps a lot when you're looking for the company to give you a hand in other matters, such as migration bureaucracy etc. I've found the Netherlands to be a good fit for me since Dutch people are great with English and it's a fairly international society. What works great for you might be something entirely different, but it's definitely good to think about that beforehand.

The Stack Overflow jobs board [0] helped me a lot when I was looking for positions. For one, you can set up filters and then subscribe to them, meaning you'll get emails about new jobs that are relevant to you. And for two, it's a good way to get a feel for what companies are looking for. Set filters for what field you're interested in and casually browse through some offers. You can see what they expect from you, and what they offer in return regarding salary and perks. This way you can figure out how to make yourself desirable and also motivate yourself as you can see what you can get out of it.

[0] https://stackoverflow.com/jobs

readonthegoapp
I wonder if your quality of life is any worse than a programmer in north america.

And/or if you're any un/happier than a programmer in north america?

even taking into account self-delusions about whatever people like to be self-delusional about.

south asian dev wants more pay but doesn't realize that living with family can be a boon to personal happiness.

north american dev lives relatively comfortably but is work-stressed and miserable because of the ever-present existential crisis of lack of meaning in their lives, and they're estranged from most of their family.

canadia dev is least unhappy because they have health care at least.

muzani
Hey, it's not just canadia. A lot of other countries have good pay, good family life, and good health care. America and India seem to both be different extremes.
tmaly
Update your resume and just apply for remote jobs. I think you will be surprised at the response.

There is quote I recall from a book I read years ago that stuck with me, "The answer is always no unless you ask"

blackcats
Just work on fiverr or freelance sites, for $500 you don’t need to leave your home By freelancing you can make more than $500/m