5 Reasons Why JavaScript is Your Express Ticket to a Tech Job

Aug 15

Written By

Picture two scenarios. One, you’re working in tech but want to take your career to the next level. You’re a marketer, a project manager, or an aspiring entrepreneur with big plans for the future.Second, you’re not working in tech and want a sure-fire way to enter this exciting sector.In either scenario, it’s high time you learn how to code. Whether your job title will read “engineer” or not, automation, artificial intelligence, and — of course — the internet will all be essential to both professional and personal life. And now that the internet is the world’s largest marketplace, the separation between “tech industry” and “industry” has disappeared. Every company is essentially a tech company now. Knowing how to write code has the potential to make all aspects of your professional life easier and more productive — from personal experience, it’s like having a low-key super power.Regardless of if you’re starting your coding education from scratch, or if you have a bit of experience, it’s important to choose the right coding language to focus on. It’s my strong recommendation, as a startup founder and former senior engineer, that you learn JavaScript. Here’s why:

1. The most in-demand tech job is software developer...

And the most in demand skill for developers to know is JavaScript. In fact, there’s a large shortage of qualified developers, and a simple demonstration can prove this.Check out the links below, which are searches for “JavaScript Developer,” “Ruby Developer,” and “Python Developer” on the popular job site Indeed in New York, NY. At over 2,400 open positions, JavaScript returns significantly more opportunities than Ruby, and even Python. Simply put, if you want a developer job, your chances of getting hired quickly and at your choice of company are better with JS.JavaScript Developer (Most open roles)Ruby Developer Python Developer

2. Even if you don’t want to be a developer, JavaScript will make you indispensable in other key roles

Tech companies hire for other positions outside engineering, most notably in Marketing, Product, Design and Sales. Can knowing JavaScript help you land a position in those areas too? Absolutely.As a marketer, knowledge of JavaScript allows you to connect into various APIs and automate workflows, both of which greatly increase productivity. Additionally, along with some HTML and CSS skills, you’ll be able to jump right into your company’s website and make real-time changes to any content.If you’re aiming to be a product manager, JS will help you better communicate with your development team and understand the codebase. There will also, of course, be opportunities where it’s more efficient to jump in and implement changes yourself.Designer? JavaScript, HTML, and CSS (the holy trinity of the front-end) let you bring your creativity to life, directly from photoshop to a beautiful, live webpage.Even the sales team can benefit from code. JavaScript will help you automate followups to prospective clients, scrape contact information from public lists for maximum efficiency, and sell more technical products.

3. As a popular, in-demand language, there are a ton of online resources for learning it

I recommend trying Codecademy, Code School and CodeCombat. They’re all fun, instructive, and enjoyable, plus either free or very low-priced.And if you’re looking for a high quality online introductory class, check out JavaScript Jumpstart, taught at Fullstack Academy. It covers all the fundamental programming concepts like loops, arrays, if-else statements, and others. As a special offer to the TechDay audience, this $49 course is free if you enroll using the code techdayfs.

4. JavaScript is the best language to know when learning other languages

Not to be an alarmist, but JavaScript is messy. Compared to other languages, like Ruby or Python, JavaScript doesn’t seem very elegant. “Sentences” are much longer, and you’ll be using characters you never even knew existed on your keyboard.The benefit of this is JavaScript has fewer abstractions than other languages. That is to say, there aren’t as many “shortcuts” through the logic. The end result is a fuller and deeper understanding of what’s going on in your code. This makes adopting other, simpler languages magnitudes easier.

5. JavaScript is the language of the web

Website design is more intuitive, responsive, and beautiful than ever before. Without JavaScript, web pages would be merely documents, and the only thing you could do on them would be link to other documents. JavaScript is what makes websites interactive and gives them personality.Additionally, JavaScript is the only language that runs on the front-end (what you see and interact with when you visit a website). Whether you begin by learning Ruby, Python, C, etc., you will eventually need to learn JavaScript if you’re building or making changes to a page. Furthermore, using the technology Node.js, JavaScript can be used for logical operations on the server-side as well. This utility makes knowledge of JS especially appealing to employers.So if you’re just starting out, feel free to take Fullstack’s Jumpstart Online course for free. Coding is the type of skill that rewards dedicated work with amazing results, and I’m excited to see what you’ll build!