Ask HN: What is the minimum level of experience needed for a web developer?

Putting myself in the position of a recruiter, I would expect any web developer to know the names of the five major browsers, how to use the w3c validator and why, when to use different image formats and how to optimize them, some CSS, how CGI works, enough jquery to select an element, and a server-side scripting language, and to have once sniffed an HTTP connection to see what was happening. The better class of web developers at the entry level might know why to use SCP instead of FTP, common web security concerns, how to build a page that uses Javascript but does not require it, shell scripting, system administration, web server administration, what a SQL join does, how HTTPS works, how DNS works, how TCP/IP works, and a development framework or two.

It doesn't have to be beautiful but it should be functional. If you can have done this, you can find a job. We've been hiring for six months in Minneapolis and I've lost track of the number of candidates who don't understand SQL injection, password hashing, MVC and other web development basics. I've even had two who couldn't write the simplest of programs (think FizzBuzz. Actually I gave one of them, literally, FizzBuzz. )

I can't speak to interns but I expect web developers, even entry level ones to be able to:

    * Slice a PSD into HTML/CSS 
    * Build a site with a MVC framework
    * Write SQL without an ORM.  
    * Write SQL with an ORM.
    * Be able to implement pre-written jQuery plug-ins
    * Be able to write custom jQuery plug-ins

What is important to me is also that developers communicate well. In an interview I put them in front of the whiteboard to explain something they claim to know well from their resume, looking at the communication.

You could do that sort of thing in advance by writing a series of blog postings, for example showing how you came up with the top level design and implemented one of your portfolio items.

Attention to detail also matters and is a strong signalling mechanism. For example your text above has a spelling error that is picked up in Firefox and Chrome.

2. Developing Modular or Social Code (OOP techniques for a wide range of tech stacks/languages, SCM; git, SASS, LESS, e-mail inliner tools, etc.)

3. Execution of a Design [markup thinking (HTML, etc.), presentation organisation (CSS)]

4. Frameworks [etc.]

5. Optimization and Browsers [JS, SPDY, HTTP, etc.]

6. Documentation and Authorship of... [take a logic class]

7. Research [finding the right tools, knowing which tools are relevant]

8. Interaction and Games [I mean really, we're already talking about hooking up links to events in games like WOW. So, yes, even a designer needs to understand why he or she is providing error message alternatives in mock-up.]

9. Working with Humans [Humans often are not within cognitive or linguistic capacity to express sincerely what they want when it comes to complex interactions between data or programmatic objects. It takes serious effort to develop actionable content from phone calls or meetings, which can be incredibly impromptu. Social setting, dispositional factors, intentful listening, dialectics, etc. should be considered.]

I was fortunate in that my first job came to me, but that was only because I had a portfolio online and I had put it out there on linkedin, Twitter, various job sites, etc. My second job was posted on Google Groups, and I reached out to them to apply for the position. I got the job, and I'm happy where I am ever since.

Have evidence of your skills -- be it an online portfolio, some code examples that you can explain/demonstrate, or evidence of contributions to projects and a working knowledge of the technologies you need.

Have evidence that you're able to deliver -- it's okay to be working on your own website on and off for six months, but in the 'real world' there are deadlines. Have some evidence that you're able to work to deadlines.

Be passionate about the kind of work you're wanting to get in to. -- If you're not working on your own projects outside of work, you're not passionate. This isn't just a job to pay the bills.

Specialise - There's no benefit to being 'okay' across the board, nobody will take that seriously. Any good company/startup with an idea for the position they're trying to fill will want a specific set of skills. I went from being a 'web designer' in my previous job (which was a broad term that encompassed anything from creating HTML emails, resizing images, writing jQuery, fixing cross-browser bugs, writing batch scripts to parse xml/xslt with saxon, writing bespoke PHP/MySQL applications, etc.) to being a 'front-end developer' in my current job (which means I'm focussing more on css/html/javascript, championing these areas in the application/website the company is building, being the 'go to' guy for queries regarding these areas, working with designs designed by a designer, and working with a back-end/processes put together by our back-end developers).

Be able to demonstrate or put across that you're able to work well, and work well within a team.

Besides that, I'd say some basic skills for a front-end developer are:

- able to craft valid HTML

- know your way around CSS quirks and how to fix them, especially cross-browser quirks.

- write well-formatted code

- be familiar with CMS/templating engines. If you're familiar with variables, condition statements and for-loops in one language, you should be able to pick up most templating engines.

- know your software and be able to justify your reasons for using it over other software

- know the major browsers.

A lot of teams these days are using Agile/Scrum methodology for development, so having some understanding or working experience of using Agile might be useful depending on the job you're going in to.

Don't worry if you don't have all of the skills necessary for a job, in many cases not understanding a specific library/language isn't an issue providing you have some equivalent understanding of another language and are able to learn. Some personal examples:

- in previous job I hadn't used XSLT at all before starting there, but I had an extensive knowledge of PHP/Wordpress templating, so getting used to the syntax of XSLT wasn't very hard, and I picked it up in a week.

- in current job, I had no prior experience with Django but again using similar templating languages in the past helped and I've had no problems. (Also for some side projects such as my personal blog, I use Jekyll which uses liquid-tags similar to Django templates, so that skill has improved/carried over)

First is personality/culture fit. We don't have to be BFFs, but I need to know that you can get along with the rest of the team. If I hire you, I'm going to have to work with you for the next few years. My ideal team member is smart, respectful, and can take a joke. Can you disagree with people respectfully? Can you admit when you're wrong? Even more importantly, can you tell me when I'm wrong?

Second is willingness to learn. In a given year we might start out building a Rails app, switch to another project building an Ember app, write a backend service in Java, then finish off the year with an iOS app. I don't expect you to know how to do all of those things, but I need you to be willing (and excited) to learn a new technology when the need arises.

Third, and this is a somewhat distant third, is all the stuff I told you I needed in the job listing. Most of the stuff that I claimed to need is actually negotiable, even if it didn't sound negotiable in the ad. I'd sooner hire someone a bit more junior than I'd like if they surpass expectations on the first two criteria.

Don't worry too much about the job listing. Get in there and scedule an interview. What's the worst thing that can happen? It's not like they're going to stab you because they wanted someone with more experience.

Your best bet is to make some friends in the software development community. Find out where the nearest user group or meetup is taking place. Chat with some people, make a few friends. A lot of them will have leads on a job, whether you're looking for contract work or full-time. Maybe their company is hiring, or they've got a friend who needs a junior developer. Maybe they're fully booked with consulting work and they can toss you a contract from their backlog.

I've gotten more jobs given to me by friends and past co-workers than I can even begin to recall. Just remember to return the favor. When a job offer comes in that you don't have the capacity to handle, pass it on to a friend.