Thanh Nguyen
“Moving the title from Back-end to Front-end was pretty a struggle. I started my career at the point where those frameworks like Angular or React JS were still under the radar. Heuristic approach is challenging. Everything is new and you don’t know where to take the first step. Plus, the trade-off. I’ve decided to reduce the income in exchange for training. Besides a whole new surrounding, embarking on the Front-end journey faces some specific hurdles. UI Style is one of them. I didn’t have a sense of art back then. So whenever I finished making one, I gave it to the seniors and asked for their comment. I did it repeatedly until things got better. Another point which I found very lucky is even I was working with many youngsters, never have I seen there was a single conflict between us. They were supportive and opened to back up, which is why I’ve been so grateful.
Outsource companies usually have many projects at once. Though the knowledge might be wide and in-depth; but it’ll be gone after 3-6 months when the project comes to an end. We don’t have enough time to master it. Meanwhile, product companies tend to aim for one project consistently. It’s a chance to dive more on the domain knowledge, maintain the code, fix & hone them to an upper level. Given that, I personally prefer to work in a product company. So depends on the current need, developers can choose which type of company suits them more. Before stepping in a place, try to research more about their current tech stacks, and see if their core values match the vision you’re pursuing. Freshers and juniors can hardly bring experience to the table, so the best they can use is the attitude they have for the work. And don’t ever forget to communicate. Communicate makes the job better. I did have times when I took the wrong message due to a lack of communication, and that led to fault in the process just because I managed to discuss them personally. Bring the talk external makes people feel more obligated to participate, follow up and confirm the issue. It reduces the ratio of misunderstanding while opening a better chance for help & advice”
