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General Discussion

Daryl Baker
Daryl Baker
2,044 Points
Posted by Daryl Baker
Daryl Baker
2,044 Points

Laid off from work, need some advice on whats next...

Hey all,

I'm seeking some advice , just recently my boss sat me down on Monday without any warning and said I will be laid off Nov 16th and this is my two weeks, He did however mention it has nothing to do with my work performance and I do great work, But if I had the ability to offer backend programming knowledge this would help me.

I must also mention that this was a "start-up company" where the BOD members were suppose to offer there talent in trade to him covering the cost. They did nothing to assist for the backend programming,

My job was UI / Frontend Dev, I was the only hire to start with them so I took on many rolls to get things moving, from concepts to coding the full live site in HTML/SASS etc. then the projects would sit for 6 mo's to die, currently we have 3 projects I've completed that are still sitting.. ( I must also mention the backend dev would only let him do it and it had to be in ASP/MVC) I think it was due to thats the only thing he knew so it was forced on us. I did however learn a bit of it on my own in Visual Studio being able to setup the basic routing etc but always found the program very daunting.

Anyways my question is, should I be learning more of the backend dev or not take this to heart and really keep focusing myself on Frontend Dev & Design, I feel Frontend Dev is becoming wider in whats required for a new job.

Warm regards from Canada, D

3 Answers

Jacob Mishkin
Jacob Mishkin
23,118 Points
Jacob Mishkin
Jacob Mishkin
23,118 Points

Daryl,

That sucks, and a bummer that you are in that situation, It's never fun. My advice is you have two options, one, is keep with front end, you didn't mention JS, how proficient are you at that? KNOW Compass/Sass whatever and be darn good at it. Second, learn a backend language. PHP, Java, even Python. the more you know the better. from what I've seen most places want traditional front end, JS and a second language. Once again bummer about your position I hope things work out. In my opinion I'd take the second option and you will be more marketable, and versatile.

All the Best!

Caleb Kleveter
MOD
Caleb Kleveter
Treehouse Moderator 37,862 Points
Caleb Kleveter
Caleb Kleveter
Treehouse Moderator 37,862 Points

I would agree with Jacob that a backup language would be good to learn. JavaScript has so many API's that you could get full hands with that, but a backend language like Ruby is good to know. Another option is to look into mobile app development. It can get confusing at times, but I still enjoy it.

Daryl Baker
Daryl Baker
2,044 Points
Daryl Baker
Daryl Baker
2,044 Points

Thanks guys and for the advice, I have done the basic JS course here at Treehouse and understand it pretty well, Would Ruby be a better to learn over say Nodejs ? to this day I still do not really understand what's better (each has its strong points I would assume)

After some thought I feel I need to progress more into the programming side of things to offer more to my future,

Warm regards, Daryl

Jacob Mishkin
Jacob Mishkin
23,118 Points

Not a problem! I think the first thing you need to do is really learn JS, and also take some logic and algorithm courses. Try MIT open Courseware, it's a great place to learn for free. Take an intro to comp sciences and some basic logic classes as well, it uses python as a platform to understand programming. This will help you in so many ways. I would start by creating a name generator, or a flip card game. Here you can use your design and programming skills.

I don't think any programming language is better than any other. It's a tool, and some tools are better at performing certain tasks than others. First, Know what you want to do. Have a goal as to what kind of programmer you want to be, research what languages are best at doing what you want to do, then learn as best as you can.