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| Jumpstart Your Tech Career: 14 Awesome Junior Developer Roles |
Are you looking to break into the exciting world of tech, but don't have prior professional experience? Not to worry! There are tons of junior developer positions perfect for beginners.
These roles allow you to gain invaluable on-the-job training while collaborating with experienced mentors. You'll build up your skills and expand your network, setting yourself up for future career success.
In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore 14 of the best junior developer jobs to launch your tech career. You'll learn about the day-to-day responsibilities, required skills, average salaries, and more.
Let's dig in!
Why Pursue a Junior Developer Position?
Before we overview specific roles, let's discuss why junior positions are so valuable for aspiring developers:
Test Your Interest in Tech
Junior roles enable you to experience day-to-day life as a developer on a professional dev team. You'll discover whether you enjoy the work and want to continue pursuing this career path.
Gain Specialized Skills
You'll have the chance to build expertise in specific languages, frameworks, and methodologies. These specialized skills make you an attractive candidate for more advanced positions later on.
Learn from Experienced Mentors
By collaborating with senior developers, you'll absorb industry best practices and technical knowledge that would take years to acquire on your own.
Boost Your Resume
A junior developer position, even for just 1-2 years, goes a long way towards landing your next role. You'll have tangible achievements to showcase.
Now let's explore some of the best junior developer jobs for beginners!
1. Test Developer
Test developers write code to test software applications and find bugs or issues. Rather than building new programs, you'll be focused on ensuring existing ones function properly.
Responsibilities
- Design and code test automation scripts
- Perform exploratory testing to identify defects
- Document test cases and report issues
- Re-test fixes implemented by developers
Required Skills
- Programming languages like Java, C#, Python
- Understanding of QA methodologies
- Detail-oriented with strong analytical abilities
Average Salary: $65,000
Working as a test developer allows you to sharpen your coding abilities while learning how professional dev teams operate. This experience then enables you to transition into a more traditional developer role.
Entry-Level Test Developer, Hyland
2. QA Tester
QA testers focus on assessing software quality and functionality without doing any coding themselves. You'll design test plans, manually check for issues, log bugs in tracking systems, and verify fixes.
Responsibilities
- Review requirements and specs to guide testing
- Execute test cases and report defects
- Compare software behavior against expected outcomes
- Recommend improvements to QA processes
Required Skills
- Understanding of testing methodologies
- Eye for detail and stellar communication abilities
- Solid analytical thinking and problem-solving
Average Salary: $55,000
This role allows you to understand developer workflows and start-to-finish product cycles. You can then leverage this knowledge as a tester or make the transition into an entry-level dev job.
Customer Support Representative, DealerSocket
3. Tech Support Specialist
Tech support specialists provide technical assistance to troubleshoot issues that software users encounter. You'll answer questions, investigate problems, and determine solutions.
Responsibilities
- Diagnose issues through discussions, remote access, and log analysis
- Clarify software capabilities to customers
- Document detailed issue reports for engineering teams
- Follow up with users to ensure problems are fully resolved
Required Skills
- Substantial customer service expertise
- Proficiency troubleshooting common tech issues
- Excellent verbal and written communication abilities
Average Salary: $45,000
Tech support allows you to strengthen your technical knowledge and interact extensively with end-users. This foundation then sets you up to transition into more advanced IT roles.
Technical Support Engineer, Intronis MSP Solutions
4. Front-End Web Developer
Front-end developers create the user-facing portions of websites and applications using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and frameworks like React. You'll focus on visual design, interface interactions, and responsive layouts.
Responsibilities
- Build reusable code for web interfaces
- Ensure cross-browser compatibility
- Collaborate with designers on look-and-feel
- Optimize performance and accessibility
Required Skills
- Fluency with front-end languages/libraries
- Understanding of UX and UI principles
- Eye for aesthetics and attention to detail
Average Salary: $75,000
If you love bringing visual designs to life in the browser, front-end development is a great place to start your dev career.
Junior Front-End Developer, Eurofins Digital Testing
5. Back-End Web Developer
Back-end developers work behind-the-scenes using programming languages like C# and Java to build application logic, connect servers and databases, and handle data flows.
Responsibilities
- Develop APIs and integrate with front-end code
- Build database schemas and architect infrastructure
- Monitor back-end performance and scalability
- Identify code improvements and optimization
Required Skills
- Expertise with back-end languages like Java, Python
- Understanding of web architecture and servers
- Strong grasp of data structures and algorithms
Average Salary: $90,000
Though back-end roles typically require some prior experience, there are junior-level opportunities out there to get your foot in the door.
Junior Back-End Developer, Omaze
6. UI Developer
As a UI developer, you'll code animated effects, complex interactions, and responsive interfaces to enhance user experiences. You'll work at the intersection between design and development.
Responsibilities
- Build reusable interface components
- Implement page animations and single-page apps
- Map out component architecture and data flows
- Optimize performance across devices
Required Skills
- Expertise with HTML, CSS, JavaScript
- Fluency in JavaScript frameworks like React
- Passion for creating intuitive UIs
- Creative problem-solving skills
Average Salary: $90,000
UI development allows you to blend visual design skills with programming to dream up dynamic interfaces. With some experience under your belt, you can progress to more senior UI roles.
7. JavaScript Developer
JavaScript developers use the flexible scripting language to add interactivity, effects, data visualization, and more to websites and applications. You'll collaborate with both front-end and back-end teams.
Responsibilities
- Design data flows between UI components
- Connect front-end code to back-end APIs
- Build charts, graphs, and interactive data viz
- Implement error-handling and debugging
Required Skills
- Mastery of core JavaScript and browser APIs
- Experience with code versioning tools like Git
- Passion for creating engaging interfaces
- Relentless problem-solving attitude
Average Salary: $85,000
With JavaScript powering the vast majority of websites on the internet, this versatile language provides a fabulous starting point for new developers. The demand for JS devs shows no signs of slowing down!
Entry Level JavaScript Developer, Bookspan
8. Ruby on Rails Developer
Ruby on Rails developers build web apps using the popular open-source framework based on the Ruby language. You'll implement database interactions, APIs, interfaces, and more.
Responsibilities
- Architect the structure of Ruby on Rails apps
- Build out custom features and programmatic logic
- Integrate Ruby code with databases like PostgreSQL
- Follow test-driven development approaches
Required Skills
- Fluency in Ruby and the Rails framework
- Understanding of MVC patterns
- Knack for breaking down complex problems
- Comfort iterating on solutions
Average Salary: $100,000
Ruby may not be as mainstream as Python or JavaScript, but it remains a powerful language for modeling complex systems. And the Rails framework allows rapid web application development.
Ruby Developer, SocialVolt
9. WordPress Developer
As a WordPress developer, you'll build websites and custom plugins using the widely-used CMS platform and PHP scripting language. With over 40% market share, WordPress drives a huge portion of sites on the web.
Responsibilities
- Design themes and customize site architectures
- Develop custom plugins to extend functionality
- Integrate third-party APIs like payment gateways
- Optimize performance and security
Required Skills
- Expertise with WordPress platform and hierarchy
- PHP language fundamentals
- Working knowledge of MySQL databases
- Strong grasp of web standards/best practices
Average Salary: $65,000
WordPress remains the world's most popular web publishing platform. Mastering WordPress development sets you up to serve SMBs, ecommerce sites, blogs and more!
Junior Web Developer, CJ Affiliate
10. PHP Developer
PHP developers use the widely-adopted server-side scripting language to build custom web apps, APIs, ecommerce sites, content management systems, and more.
Responsibilities
- Architect PHP project structures
- Connect web apps to MySQL and NoSQL databases
- Implement authentication, security, payments
- Follow established coding standards
Required Skills
- Solid grasp of PHP syntax and frameworks
- Understanding of MVC patterns
- Experience with Linux environments
- Practice writing clean, maintainable code
Average Salary: $75,000
For newbie coders, focusing on a single language like PHP allows you to quickly ramp up your development skills and become proficient. And PHP remains one of the best languages for getting web projects off the ground quickly.
Entry Level PHP Developer, Internet Brands
11. JavaScript Framework Developer
JavaScript framework developers create application front-ends using popular libraries like React, Angular, and Vue. These frameworks help structure and organize JavaScript code.
Responsibilities
- Architect complex user interface components
- Design scalable data and state management
- Standardize processes across dev teams
- Advocate for performance optimization
Required Skills
- Deep knowledge of frameworks like React
- Strong grasp of modern JavaScript syntax
- Passion for staying on top of emerging web tech
- Ability to mentor teammates
Average Salary: $100,000
JavaScript frameworks power the front-ends of enterprise platforms, ecommerce sites, web/mobile apps, and more. Specializing in these high-demand skillsets accelerates your career growth.
UI Developer, MarketShare
12. Software Developer
As a software developer, you'll architect and code custom programs per business requirements and technical specs. You'll bring ideas from conception through to rollout and iteration.
Responsibilities
- Gather functionality requirements from stakeholders
- Design appropriate data structures and algorithms
- Develop software following protocols and documentation
- Run integration testing and fix issues
Required Skills
- Comfort with multiple programming languages
- Ability to grasp complex workflows and logic flows
- A meticulous approach to writing code
- Natural curiosity to keep exploring/learning
Average Salary: $70,000
Software engineering remains one of tech's most versatile and future-proof career paths. By learning multiple languages and environments as a junior developer, you equip yourself to work at startups and big tech alike.
Associate Software Developer, General Motors
13. Mobile App Developer
As a mobile app developer, you'll build the next generation of iOS, Android, hybrid, and cross-platform apps using Swift, Java, React Native, and more.
Responsibilities
- Translate wireframes and mockups into working apps
- Architect data sync and cloud integration
- Implement animations, gestures and transitions
- Continuously deploy updates and new features
Required Skills
- Fluency in mobile languages like Swift or Kotlin
- Comfort developing with Android Studio/Xcode
- Strong debugging and performance tuning abilities
- Understanding of mobile design patterns
Average Salary: $75,000
Mobile development provides awesome opportunities to turn user experiences into reality. And the expanding mobile landscape guarantees continuous demand for skilled devs.
iOS Developer, BoomTown
Those are 14 of the top junior developer jobs for beginners. While specific responsibilities differ across roles, they all let you gain professional experience in a collaborative environment. You'll work on real-world projects and pick up specialized skills quickly.
Check out the Ultimate Tech Job Interview Guide to ace your interviews and land your first developer job!
We hope this post got you excited about the many possibilities to launch an awesome tech career as a junior dev. The key is getting your foot in the door, so start applying today!
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