How To Get A Full Stack Developer Job In 2023 — A comprehensive guide

That there is demand for full-stack developers isn’t a secret. In fact, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics recently revealed that the number of jobs for full-stack developers will go from about 135,000 to a whopping 853,000 by 2024.

2024 isn’t far away and the number of jobs there are isn’t negligible. If you’re already a full-stack developer, you know how competitive the job market is. If you’re not a full-stack developer already, how do you get in on the action? Given that I run Simple Job Listings, I get to talk to companies all the time. And this blog is written after talking with companies that are hiring full-stack developers currently. We’ll go over the skills you need, current trends, the do’s, the don’ts, and everything in between.

So, let’s get started!

How to get a full-stack developer job:

Elevate your coding skills — go from proficient to excellent

Let’s be honest, coding is the skill to have if you’re a full-stack developer. There are other skills that you need, skills that’ll come in handy, sure. But ultimately, what you cannot do without are amazing coding skills.

Now, there are a lot of programmers who are good at coding and they’re all looking to be full-stack developers, too. So, how can you be a cut above?

First and foremost, strive for mastery in your chosen programming languages. Delve deeper into advanced features and capabilities, and explore best practices for writing efficient, maintainable code. Familiarize yourself with industry-standard style guides, such as PEP 8 for Python or Airbnb's JavaScript style guide, to ensure your code is consistent and easy to read.

Next, focus on understanding and implementing design patterns, which are reusable solutions to common problems encountered in software design. Developing a strong foundation in design patterns will help you write more modular and flexible code, improving the overall quality of your applications.

In addition, sharpen your problem-solving skills by studying algorithms and data structures. Regularly practice coding challenges on platforms like LeetCode, HackerRank, or CodeSignal to improve your efficiency and accuracy. Participate in competitive programming contests to benchmark your skills against other developers and learn new techniques.

Engage in code reviews and collaboration with your peers to gain different perspectives on problem-solving, and stay open to constructive criticism. This will help you identify areas for improvement and discover new approaches to coding challenges.

Finally, cultivate a growth mindset and embrace the idea that there is always more to learn. Stay current with emerging technologies and programming paradigms, and be proactive in updating your skill set. Attend conferences, watch webinars, or participate in online communities to engage in ongoing learning and knowledge sharing.

Going Cross-Platform with Mobile App Development

This one seems like a no-brainer at first but as it turns out, there aren’t enough mobile developers out there. I spoke to quite a few companies when writing this blog and a majority of them said that they weren’t finding enough developers for their mobile apps.

It’s 2023 and we all know how important mobile app development is. So, let’s skip that and get to what you have to do.

Platform-specific design principles:

Familiarize yourself with the UI/UX guidelines for Android and iOS, as adhering to these principles will help you create intuitive and user-friendly applications.

Performance optimization:

Cross-platform apps can sometimes suffer from performance issues. Learning optimization techniques, such as efficient resource management, caching, and minimizing network requests, will help you build responsive and resource-efficient apps.

Mobile app security:

Understand the security implications and best practices for mobile app development, including secure data storage, encryption, and proper handling of user authentication.

Device compatibility:

With numerous devices and screen sizes on the market, it's essential to ensure your app looks and functions optimally across different devices. Familiarize yourself with responsive design and device-specific testing tools.

App store submission and updates:

Master the process of submitting your app to the App Store and Google Play, including understanding the review guidelines, creating app metadata, and managing updates.

What platforms do you choose?

There are several cross-platform frameworks available, each offering distinct advantages:

React Native:

Developed by Facebook, React Native is a popular choice among developers for its performance and ease of use. It allows you to build applications using JavaScript and React, leveraging native components for a near-native experience.

With a vast community and rich ecosystem, React Native offers extensive libraries, tools, and support to streamline the development process.

Flutter:

Google's Flutter framework is gaining traction due to its fast development capabilities and expressive UI. Flutter uses Dart as its programming language, and its widget-based architecture enables the rapid creation of visually appealing applications.

With hot reload functionality and a growing community, Flutter is a strong contender in the cross-platform arena.

Xamarin:

While Xamarin may not seem very appealing at first, remember that they’re supported by Microsoft. So, you can expect regular updates to the source code and generally rely on the fact that they’ll keep improving it. As it improves, its market share will improve, too. Don’t be too disheartened by its current market share which is at a paltry 1.8%.

Xamarin uses C# as its primary language and allows developers to share up to 90% of their code across platforms. Xamarin provides robust performance and access to native APIs, ensuring that your apps can harness the full potential of the underlying platform. If this isn’t enough to convince you, consider this: Xamarin has 60,000 active contributors from around 37000 companies.

Delve into DevOps and CI/CD

DevOps and CI/CD sound like catchphrases that every company likes to use, no matter what they’re talking about. But the fact is they are important and if you’re looking to get a full-stack developer job, they are more important to you, than they are to others.

So, let’s take a quick look at both.

The fusion of development and operations, better known as DevOps, has become an essential practice for modern software development. The core objective of DevOps is to improve collaboration between development and operations teams, resulting in faster, more efficient software delivery.

As an experienced developer, mastering DevOps methodologies and Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) processes will undoubtedly elevate your skillset and enhance your marketability.

Continuous Integration (CI) is the process of automatically building and testing code whenever changes are committed to a repository. This practice helps detect issues early and minimize the risk of integrating new code into the main branch.

Continuous Deployment (CD), on the other hand, involves deploying these changes to production environments automatically, ensuring a smooth and timely release of new features or bug fixes.

To effectively delve into DevOps and CI/CD, consider focusing on the following aspects:

Version Control Systems (VCS):

Familiarize yourself with popular VCS tools like Git, Mercurial, or Subversion. Proficiency in these systems is vital, as they enable collaboration, code tracking, and the ability to revert changes when necessary.

CI/CD Tools:

Gain hands-on experience with CI/CD platforms such as Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD, Travis CI, and CircleCI. These tools automate building, testing, and deployment processes, streamlining your workflow and reducing the likelihood of errors.

Infrastructure as Code (IaC):

Learn to manage and provision infrastructure through code, using tools like Terraform, Ansible, or Puppet. IaC enables version control, automation, and consistency in infrastructure deployment.

Containerization:

Containerization technologies like Docker and Kubernetes facilitate scalable and maintainable application deployment. Acquire proficiency in these tools, as they play a pivotal role in DevOps practices and CI/CD pipelines.

Monitoring and Logging:

Get acquainted with monitoring and logging tools such as Prometheus, Grafana, ELK Stack, or Splunk. These solutions help you analyze application performance, detect anomalies, and troubleshoot issues, ensuring the stability and reliability of your software.

Master Web Security

For all the talk about how common people don’t understand the intricacies of software development, there’s one exception that every company knows — security.

Data security wasn’t even a term that the general public used a few years ago. Now, it’s the talk of the town. People may not know how their data got leaked but they do know that it’s bad. There have been innumerable campaigns and protests about data security and companies have taken note. So, if you’re looking to get a full-stack developer job, make sure you understand web security thoroughly.

Here are some key areas that you should be focusing on:

Understand OWASP Top Ten vulnerabilities:

Familiarize yourself with the OWASP Top Ten, which is a list of the most critical web application security risks. These include injection attacks, broken authentication, sensitive data exposure, XML external entities (XXE), and more. Stay informed about these vulnerabilities and adopt best practices to mitigate their risks.

Authentication and authorization protocols:

Learn about authentication and authorization protocols like OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect. These protocols provide secure access control for web applications, ensuring that only authorized users can access protected resources.

Encryption:

Delve into encryption techniques for data at rest and in transit. Implement HTTPS with TLS for secure communication between clients and servers, and use strong encryption algorithms for storing sensitive data.

API security:

With the increasing use of APIs, it's crucial to secure them properly. Implement proper authentication, rate limiting, and input validation to prevent unauthorized access and data leaks.

Secure codding practices:

Adopt secure coding practices to minimize vulnerabilities in your code. Use tools like static analysis, dynamic analysis, and fuzz testing to identify and fix security issues before they reach production.

Security testing:

Perform regular security testing, including penetration testing and vulnerability scanning, to identify potential weaknesses in your application. This proactive approach helps you stay ahead of emerging threats and maintain a secure environment.

Incident response:

Develop an incident response plan to address security breaches and minimize their impact. Regularly review and update this plan to ensure its effectiveness.

Stay informed and up-to-date:

The world of web security is constantly evolving. Stay informed about the latest trends, threats, and best practices by attending conferences, participating in online forums, and following industry experts.

Today’s niche is tomorrow’s mainstream

Tech is obviously an ever-changing industry. There are a lot of developments every day and this means that there are companies that are looking for some very specific skills. As a full-stack developer, you’re placed quite conveniently to cater to these requirements. Given that you understand both, back-end development, and front-end development, consider specializing in a few niche verticals.

After all, what’s niche today will most probably become the mainstream tomorrow.

This is something that companies agree, with, as well. Some of the companies that we spoke to have a very unusual tech stack, some use tools that aren’t popular yet, and others are betting that their method will become the world’s method soon.

So, how can you specialize in specific niches?

Research and explore:

Identify the niche technologies or verticals that interest you and start researching them. This can include reading blogs, attending conferences, and participating in online forums.

Get hands-on experience:

Practice your skills by working on projects related to your chosen niche. This can include building a demo app, contributing to open-source projects, or taking on freelance work.

Collaborate and network:

Join developer communities and groups related to your niche. This can provide opportunities for collaboration, learning, and networking.

Attend specialized training:

Consider taking specialized training courses or certifications in your chosen niche. This can demonstrate your expertise and help you stand out to potential employers.

Soft skills — they really do matter

If you’re joining a company as a remote full-stack developer, chances are, you’re working as a part of a team. And any time you have to achieve something as a team, soft skills come into sharp focus. If you’re amazing at programming but can’t communicate effectively, companies won’t want you. So, how do you show off your soft skills before joining a company? Well, here are a few tricks:

Talk about how soft skills help you:

Every company that’s interviewing you is going to ask about your achievements. When telling them how amazing you are, make sure you tell them how soft skills helped you.

Be specific

“Yeah, I’m just really cool, ya know” — isn’t the right way.

Be specific.

Use concrete examples that demonstrate how you used your soft skills in a real-world setting. For example, if you're discussing your leadership skills, you could talk about how you motivated a team to meet a tight deadline.

Get references:

Ask former colleagues or managers to provide references that speak to your soft skills. A positive reference from someone who can attest to your communication or leadership skills can go a long way in demonstrating your value to a potential employer.

Be authentic:

It's important to be authentic when discussing your soft skills. Don't try to oversell yourself or claim to have skills that you don't possess. Instead, focus on the skills that you have developed and be honest about areas where you're still working to improve.

Showcase your personality:

Soft skills are often closely tied to your personality and how you interact with others. During the interview process, try to showcase your personality and demonstrate how you would fit in with the company culture.

Conclusion

Full-stack developers are in demand, they’re being paid well, and companies want more of them. The way to get in is to make yourself an amazing proposition to these companies. The points mentioned above are just a few tips to get you started.

If you’re looking for remote full-stack developer jobs, check out Simple Job Listings. It’s a website where we list the best remote jobs in the world. Full stack developer pay goes up to about $250K on our website!

What’s more, a large number of jobs posted on Simple Job Listings aren’t listed on any other job boards. So, check out Simple Job Listings and land your dream full-stack developer job. Good luck!