Ask HN: Possible to gain employment as an entry level back end engineer? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Possible to gain employment as an entry level back end engineer?

10 pointsgigatexal12 comments

I'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 "back-end" 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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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!!

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

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.

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.

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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.)

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

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.

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.

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.

I'm a DBA in Portland Oregon.

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

Your contact me page isn't working.

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

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