
Ask HN: Possible to gain employment as an entry level back end engineer? - gigatexal
I&#x27;ve no desire to sling javascript or work on webpages or other front-end specific things but would love to work on distributed systems and other &quot;back-end&quot; related things, services that other developers build upon. Is this something (looking at you hiring managers, etc.) that can be interviewed for at an entry-level level or is this something one must have experience doing? Skills: python (intermediate)
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brogrammernot
Yes. I'd be very careful about your wording/intent around nothing front end.
Whenever I interview developers(back end, full stack, front end) it's a little
bit of a concern if someone has no interest in learning the mechanics of the
opposite side. My personal opinion, n=1, is that to be a great back-end
developer you should have a solid understanding of front end architecture and
design.

Granted, zero wrong with a candidate letting me know that he/she does not want
to work on the front end but with the understanding that there may come a time
where some minor front end/full Stack projects may be needed, and on a case by
case basis I may ask them to help out.

Just looking out for you, as I think if you did some front end side projects
(simple to do apps, crud apps, or anything like that) it'd make you a much
better backend developer.

Even just a simple Django or flask app with angular, or some basic JS/jQuery
would show you some of the pitfalls of the front end and how to design your
APIs, services/microservices in a way that helps out your front end teammates
consuming them.

As for Portland, I believe LaunchPad or Smarsh is based out of Portland, which
are pretty cool companies to work for.

Tl;dr . Yes, people look for backend developers a lot. Doing some front end
side projects(small crud apps) will make you a better back end developer.

Best of luck!!

~~~
EduardoBautista
If you require front end then you are obviously not his target employer. There
plenty of companies that would hire a backend only developer.

~~~
brogrammernot
That's not what I said. We never require front end work from someone who only
wants to do back end work.

My point was if you have intermediate backend programming ability with a DBA
background and you're concerned about getting a backend role you should be
careful, yet clear about what you're willing to do.

Generally speaking, if a candidate comes across as willing to help out on a
case by case basis but the vast majority of their workload is backend that's
an easier hire by far. Is the trade-off of a potential 95/5 split of time
worth it to the developer? That's a personal decision to the developer.

Unless you're never going to be writing code that is directly consumed by a
front end or full Stack developer it is a good idea/practice to understand
basics of the front end.

So yes, you are correct that if the poster never was willing to touch the
front end he'd be harder to hire for the company but that's just because we
want people to be open to new technology and the full Stack.

Either way, I think it'd be unwise to not learn basics of the opposite side
you're on to stay relevant and be an attractive hire. N=1.

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tabeth
1.) Through what criteria do you consider your Python skills intermediate?

2.) You can work on the back-end and use Javascript. The two things are not
mutually exclusive.

3.) "Services that others developers build upon" do not exclude the front-end.
D3 is something other developers build upon, along with front-end interfaces
to back-end services. There are many more examples of this.

\---

Anyway, to answer your question: it is yes. Large tech companies readily
employee developers to work primarily on the back-end. To increase the
likelihood that you'd be working on distributed systems, I'd try to join a
team that works on a product that is already at scale (Google Maps, Facebook
Newsfeed, Amazon AWS, etc.)

~~~
gigatexal
I've written tools for work that automates the boring things in python. That
said I wouldn't consider myself advanced and maybe intermediate is pushing it.
But I know how to use the language to accomplish things and I try to optimize
where I can: using threading and queues where they help etc

Edit: I know JavaScript can be done on the server side via nodejs I was
talking more about the client side soup of libraries that I'm not interested
in

~~~
brogrammernot
Using threading and queues where appropriate is excellent stuff. Presenting
yourself as intermediate knowledge is also humble, and from your description
of your background I do think you'd be able to get a back end job.

I'd look at AngelList for companies in Portland.

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tedmiston
100% yes. Build something with Django + Django Rest Framework if you haven't
already. Back-end engineers are one of the hardest positions to fill, and
often pay higher than mobile or full-stack web. Reddit and Instagram are two
large starrups that run Python backends. Lots of companies use Python for
automation and "glue" if you want to go that route as well.

------
imauld
It would help if we knew what area you are in.

But yes, that's a role companies hire for all the time. I believe we are
currently hiring for those roles as well.

~~~
gigatexal
I'm a DBA in Portland Oregon.

~~~
imauld
We are in the Seattle area. You can send me an email if you're interested from
my personal site listed in my profile.

~~~
gigatexal
Your contact me page isn't working.

~~~
imauld
Sorry about that, haven't updated that page in a pretty long time. Shoot me an
email at my username @ gmail dot com

