

Ask HN: Would you hire an 18 year-old front end developer? - thebigone

Hi HN,<p>I&#x27;m 18 years old front-end developer from small county called Slovenia. I&#x27;m seeking for new customers because in Slovenia is very hard to find any work.<p>I love to work with Photoshop and Sublime Text editor. My passion is HTML, CSS3 and responsive design. I know some basic Javascript too.<p>Screenshots of my work:<p>- http:&#x2F;&#x2F;i.imgur.com&#x2F;yv59AxJ.jpg<p>- http:&#x2F;&#x2F;i.imgur.com&#x2F;xGibpfo.png<p>- http:&#x2F;&#x2F;i.imgur.com&#x2F;jYrkur0.png<p>- http:&#x2F;&#x2F;i.imgur.com&#x2F;hLJCOOe.png<p>- http:&#x2F;&#x2F;i.imgur.com&#x2F;H90epkH.jpg<p>- http:&#x2F;&#x2F;i.imgur.com&#x2F;DJOOP2s.jpg<p>- http:&#x2F;&#x2F;i.imgur.com&#x2F;uH0Cp8k.png<p>- http:&#x2F;&#x2F;i.imgur.com&#x2F;Dg8wDUp.jpg<p>- http:&#x2F;&#x2F;i.imgur.com&#x2F;0bZrRtP.jpg<p>So, would you hire me for your next project? Why not? Here is my email address: vidakovicmiha1@gmail.com
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axaxs
How in the world did this get to the front page? This isn't a question for
discussion, it's a solicitation for work.

~~~
munchor
I wrote a more socially-acceptable comment below but unfortunately I have to
agree with you, that's pretty much what this is.

~~~
gus_massa
I sometime answer with something like this: \-- There is an official "Who is
hiring?"/"Freelancer?" monthly post the first day of each month. They are
popular and you should post there. It was only 5 days ago. Last editions:

Who is hiring?
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7970405](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7970405)
(97 points, 5 days ago, 205 comments)

Freelancer? Seeking freelancer?
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7970372](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7970372)
(75 points, 5 days ago, 121 comments)

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bcrescimanno
Context: I've been building web sites and applications since the mid-90s and
I'm currently managing a team of 15 web application engineers at PayPal.

First, a little honesty: in 2014, it's going to be extremely difficult to get
a "developer" job with only "basic Javascript" knowledge. It's not that HTML
and CSS are bad skills. Rather, in today's market, together they do not
constitute enough technical skill to be an effective contributor to a
development team. Given that, no, I would not hire you as a developer--at
least not today.

Going further, you've shared screenshots of designs you've created. If you're
looking for a developer position, I'd expect you to be sharing something like
a GitHub link to code projects you've worked on. What you've shared resembles
a design portfolio and I would treat it as such. Not that there's anything
wrong with a design / developer hybrid (certainly many folks in web
development began or continue to work that way). However, you haven't provided
any evidence that you're actually capable of any sort of development.

I'm not saying any of this to be discouraging; you asked a question and I want
to give you an honest answer. If you're truly interested in getting into the
world of development, you should spend time with Javascript (or any other
programming language that suits your fancy--JS just happens to be a natural
fit for "front-end development"). Work on some projects, create a Github
account to share your code, and start looking for an internship or junior
level position to get some real work experience.

Good luck on your journey!

~~~
__xtrimsky
I do agree with you. Throwing in something with Bootstrap and basic Javascript
can be enough to create some restaurant's website. But you won't be hired to
work on a fancy project on hacker news.

If you want to be hired, either learn Javascript in depth (objects,
constructors etc...), either learn a service side language. And in a few years
try to learn both, it's not that hard to become "fullstack"

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munchor
I think you should start a personal website with a clean, well-written
portfolio of your work. Also maybe put up some of your work on GitHub so
people can actually look at your code. Your work looks pretty good but in
those screenshots it's a bit hard to see how much you care about detail, hence
it might be better to put it live somewhere.

In addition to this, I think you really needn't mention your age when looking
for work. Try and make sure people will hire you no matter what age you are,
ignore that factor as I personally think it's quite irrelevant.

~~~
thebigone
I had my portfolio website but recently i had some problems with it. Here is
re-upload of it: [http://apartments-mlinar.com/vidakovic/](http://apartments-
mlinar.com/vidakovic/)

And here is my most recent project: [http://apartments-
mlinar.com/simplicy/](http://apartments-mlinar.com/simplicy/)

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nightcracker
I don't have actual feedback, but when you post screenshots you should
probably not post downscaled blurry versions.

~~~
thebigone
Link to gallery with full size screenshots:
[http://imgur.com/a/48ZI5#0](http://imgur.com/a/48ZI5#0)

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thebigone
Clickable screenshots: \-
[http://i.imgur.com/yv59AxJ.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/yv59AxJ.jpg)

\- [http://i.imgur.com/xGibpfo.png](http://i.imgur.com/xGibpfo.png)

\- [http://i.imgur.com/jYrkur0.png](http://i.imgur.com/jYrkur0.png)

\- [http://i.imgur.com/hLJCOOe.png](http://i.imgur.com/hLJCOOe.png)

\- [http://i.imgur.com/H90epkH.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/H90epkH.jpg)

\- [http://i.imgur.com/DJOOP2s.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/DJOOP2s.jpg)

\- [http://i.imgur.com/uH0Cp8k.png](http://i.imgur.com/uH0Cp8k.png)

\- [http://i.imgur.com/Dg8wDUp.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/Dg8wDUp.jpg)

\- [http://i.imgur.com/0bZrRtP.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/0bZrRtP.jpg)

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thebigone
For everyone who asked, here is my github account:
[https://github.com/mihavidakovic](https://github.com/mihavidakovic)

You can reach me at: vidakovicmiha1@gmail.com

