Hello Everyone!
I am from the UK and I struggle to find work in my field due to some gaps in my CV and because I am looking to work remotely. Is there anybody (especially from the UK) who can please advise me on how to get a junior developer role fully remote?
Thank you very much!
Managed to find any remote jobs yet? I am in the same boat as you !
Hi there!
No, still trying, but I don’t pass the technical test at all and I am not sure what to do. Do you happen to have any advice?
Thank you!
Hi Mate,
sorry to hear that. Can I ask what sort of technical tests are you being given? Are they related to data structure and algorithms at all?
One thing I have experienced that for most software/web developer roles, companies tend to give candidates small coding challenges to complete. Below are what I have been given for some of the roles that I have applied for:
1: a simple converter web app (convert from meter to km and so on) It was partially done. I have to complete it and fix some existing errors. I also added some tests to it too. I did not pass the tests. See below the feedback from the manager:
> Positive
> Extraction of the conversion factors into constants.
>
> The new code has some validation in it to avoid the crashes that happen with the existing features.
>
>
> Negative
> No use of git/structured commits.
>
> The broken unit tests are still broken.
>
> No refactoring/removal of duplication (other than extracting the conversion numbers).
For another role that I have applied to, I have been given the following task:
Make a simple ‘Contact Us’ form using C#/SQL, ASP.NET MVC. I did that in 2 days and submitted it. Did not get to the next stage. See the feedback from the employer below:
Unfortunately at this stage we will not be progressing your application further. It is with regret that I say this as you have been excellent throughout the process.
The only reason we have went in another direction is purely due to the calibre of candidates that have applied this year, it has been so competitive unlike anything we have seen.
And it was only due to other candidates having more experience that meant you have missed out on this occasion.
I hope you take this as a positive in some regards (although I appreciate that will be difficult) as you pushed other candidates very close even though they had more experience than yourself, your positive attitude and coding example was excellent and I do hope that our paths cross again in the future.
So what I am trying to say to you is, most challenges that the employers give the candidates are do-able and somewhat similar to what one would be doing upon getting hired. Some companies do not even bother with coding tasks (junior devs role especially), since they just ask you questions during the interviews to gauge your basic understanding.
Unless of course you are applying for a big tech firm that requires tasks related to data structure and algorithms, you should be able to do most of the coding challenges.
Hope this somewhat helps.
Let me know if you need anything else.
Cheers
Hi there!
Sorry for the long time no reply, but I was trying to find a technical task and I found one of my latest ones:
"Ensuring the Acceptance Criteria are met, build an API in any language that connects to an instance of a database and persists the contents of the Meter Reading CSV file.
We have provided you with a list of test customers along with their respective Account IDs (please refer to Test_Accounts.csv). Please seed the Test_Accounts.csv data into your chosen data storage technology and verify the Meter Read data against the accounts.
From the day you receive this test, you have 48 hours to submit your work for assessment.
Please send it to [their email]. It is advised to use a publicly accessible Git repository to commit and share your work with us. Any work committed after the deadline won’t be considered towards the technical assessment.
Please submit your work after a reasonable amount of time. We will use the work you have submitted as a topic of conversation, so please don’t feel you need to complete the task or spend an excessive amount of time on it.
Create the following endpoint:
POST => /meter-reading-uploads
The endpoint should be able to process a CSV of meter readings. An example CSV file has been provided (Meter_reading.csv)
Each entry in the CSV should be validated and if valid, stored in a DB.
After processing, the number of successful/failed readings should be returned.
VALIDATION
You should not be able to load the same entry twice
A meter reading must be associated with an Account ID to be deemed valid
Reading values should be in the format NNNN
NICE TO HAVE
Create a client in the technology of your choosing to consume the API. You can use angular/react/whatever you like
Other functionality such as CRUD for accounts/individual meter readings
So yes, I am getting these kind of technical tasks as a junior developer in becoming. What do you suggest to practice this?
Hi Mate,
Hope you are well. Apologies for the late reply. To be fair, the task does look somewhat meaty (and they expected you to complete it within 48 hours).
To be able to tackle those sort of assignments, I would suggest starting off with making small CRUD applications in your chosen language/IDE. So for instance, a common one would be ‘Employee’ CRUD applications where:
If you have a go at implementing it (does not have to be Employee management system, could be anything you want, as long as you are able to Create, Read, Update and Delete records), you will come across different problems/issues that you would be able to search them for online.
Having a personal project completed gives you something to talk about during interviews. Also remember there are a lot of small software companies that do not give technical tests, especially for junior/entry level developers. They just look for someone who is willing to learn and grow within the team and has good attitude. This is a risk that they are willing to take, which is great !
So just keep at it mate and you will achieve your goals in securing a dev role. If I have time in the future, I will try to break down the task you have shown here and maybe give you few pointers on how to go about solving the assignments, but it wont be anytime soon, unfortunately (really busy with things, hence also my late reply).
Cheers mate. Seasons greetings.
Thank you very much mate! Don’t worry about the late reply!
That task is now gone for the position, but yes, whenever you are available, I would really like to see a more expertise person doing this sort of task if you don’t mind? As I feel these kind of tasks are too advanced for a junior to receive imho. Thank you again! 
