Should I even bother competing for React jobs?

If you've been programming for years and can't get an entry level job, it might be that your presentation skills / communication skills are the weak link. Might be worth doing a mock interview with a professional whose job it is to help you get a job (you may have to pay them for their time) to make sure there's nothing obviously wrong with the way you are presenting yourself. As far as react goes, have you done work on front-end only or back-end as well? Do you have experience with databases and writing SQL? Getting a full-stack engineer role often requires less 'know this exact framework/language' if you can do some simple technical screens online where you can select from multiple languages or in-person via pseudocode.

When you say you can't get a job doing it, how many positions did you apply to? Even for a competitive candidate with a degree, you might have to send out 50 applications to get in pipeline with 10-15, ultimately end up with 2-3 offers.

Last, what country are you from?

Il just assume you are in the US market. Sounds like you need some guidance on the interview process, you might be applying to the wrong type of jobs, you might want to be more selective/directed with your approach/goals. Maybe you are unable to adequatly prepare for interviews due to your current day job. You should have a plan, how long you can practice interviewing before running out of money, and then go from there. Maybe you can try get a less physically taxing day job so you can study/practice more after work until you get a great dev job.

Ive interviewed for some basic software engineer roles in the US NY region with Node in the last 2 years that basically just wanted basic JS experience to work there without any production Node experience. No 8 hour tests, just general discussions, and build a CRUD app that handles X type of object.

Programs like Outco(costs money) exist to help software engineers improve their interviewing skills/try get more money in their next job, even if they are experts with great experience they take these classes because interviewing can be hard for some devs.

If i were you i would spend a day or two researching the current state of interviewing for JS/react roles. Its a big market, lots of devs talking about succeeding in it online.

Start talking to currently employed software engineers for specific advice on your current issues. Fish for referrels, this is the biggest way companies hire nowadays in US in my opinion.

Large companies and startups are both looking for React programmers. Large companies can afford to pay competitive salaries, and the wheels for hiring can move slowly. Many startups can't compete on salary, thus they have to settle for devs who don't win the React competitions. So maybe think of looking at smaller companies.

React is supposed to be the easy way to get a job. If you feel the market is too competitive, try something else.

Ruby on Rails is probably the next most popular web stack.

Mobile is another form of "front end". Try Flutter, or native Android/iOS.

Vue and Angular are quite popular too. I feel like React has mostly been adopted because it's a replaceable part. But there's plenty of good web stacks too.

It's all a balance of risk and returns, and you want to hedge your bets.

If you aren't getting opportunities because you can't pass React tests, then it sounds like you should practice React. There is plenty of work to go around, don't waste your time worrying about how long others have been doing React.

I’m in my 30s and was coming off the back of part-time retail jobs before I landed my first dev job.

I have a B.A. and taught myself programming (including React). Over the course of 4 years, my gross income went to something like 25k to 160k (in the U.S.) because I learned React.

So, I guess, don’t compete if you’re not up to it, but if you’re willing, the jobs and monies are out there.

You just need to get your first dev job, stick it out for a year or two (even if it sucks), and you should be a lot more desirable going forward. Do whatever you need to do to get that first one under your belt.

I personally know another person (bootcamp grad). Got their first job at 80k and is about to double their salary after a couple years.

"Wtf do I do to actually put an ostensibly useful skill to actual use?"

I wish I could tell you. I have a job as a developer and it sucks (at least it pays somewhat ok). I don't get to use any real skills. All the work is bullshit that nobody else wants to do.

Maybe try switching to different tech or different types of companies? I plan to switch from my current team to something else. Not sure what I'll end up doing. It looks like there's not a lot of opportunity out there for me, so it will probably take a long time.

Maybe focus more on backend skills? Those tend to change a lot slower. SQL knowledge is still plenty marketable, even with no-SQL and GraphQL out there.

I'm still getting a good amount of attention from recruiters even though I have zero professional React experience. But then again I do have some decent Angular experience.

If your skill set is primarily around JS, you may have better luck targeting:

- full-stack positions with a Node backend. Their hiring process may be less frontend framework specific

- positions with more than one front-end framework in their stack. They will usually care more about a more general skill set

Could you try create or showcase existing personal projects to demonstrate your skills and the decline any tests and point them to those projects explaining that spending 3 hours on a test for every job application isn’t sustainable?

Take React off your Resume entirely, that way you should be able to filter out the jobs you won't get anyway, and you should be able to say no to any online test that requires React.

I'd also look again at the type of companies you're applying to. Insurance companies, banks, pharma, government agencies - Enterprise software basically - these tend not to be using the most cutting edge front end frameworks.

Also, if you have even a small amount of experience in Enterprise type backend technologies you should be able to land a backend or full stack role at one of these types of companies. .Net, Java, etc.

This is the most candidate-friendly job market in decades. The winds are behind you.

If you don't want to compete on React jobs: Optimize for companies that do leetcode interviews, because it's 45 minutes versus sometimes 3-5 hours just for a first stage. Don't do long take homes, unless you really want the job. Take homes are always eeking one more hour out of you, especially when you get to the 'nice to haves' sections...

If you do want to compete on React: Find a way to set yourself apart. Maybe start a blog on React basics and start posting it here on HN? Then drop that in your job application process somehow when you have enough articles/projects.

Yes, even if you are terrible, nobody knows how to interview, so if nothing else, just by chance you’ll eventually land a job and an opportunity to prove yourself.

If you’re not good at the HackerRank thing, then don’t do it. There are hundreds of startups out there completely desperate for frontend developers right now. Find them and convince them to hire you, even if just for a month.

How many years have you been programming? I would recommend learning the fundamentals (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) because React is a code smell [1].

[1] https://www.peachesnstink.com/p/McgAxopYuNacWbhodHCxIS

Where did you graduate from? What's the local industry like around you?