Member Avatar for Gideon_1

I am a 19 year old guy who is yet to get a CS degree from the university. I learned web development on my own from resources online. Mostly from youtube videos precisely from thenewboston and phpacademy and a few text-based tutorials from w3schools.com.

I am good with HTML, HTML5, CSS3. I am also good with procedual and function PHP. But by the way I am very cool with OOP in PHP. I don't know much about JS but I know how to do some few AJAX calls to dynamically query my database and show results in my apps. I am very proficient in SQL statements and using MySQL as my RDBMS. I sometimes use already built JQuery functions to implement sliders and carousels in a few of my projects. I don't know any PHP Framework yet I like building my own and also I have fair knowledge in MVC Frameworks.

My problem is with my skills above can I apply for a junior web developer position. It's like a fear to be intimidated by co-workers that I'm a novice or something like that.

Thanks for your comments.

Edited by pritaeas because: Closed cross-post.
  • 2 Contributors
  • 1 Reply
  • 419 Views
  • 1 Hour Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by pritaeas

Dani AI

Generated

Short answer: yes. With the HTML5/CSS3, PHP (procedural + OOP), MySQL and basic AJAX that described, applying for junior web developer roles is appropriate. As pointed out, every junior developer starts as a novice — the immediate goal is turning existing skills into a few clean, verifiable artifacts that hiring teams can review.

Practical checklist (priority order)

  • Portfolio: three focused projects with source and live demos — a responsive site, an OOP PHP + MySQL CRUD app (auth, validation), and a small JS-driven interface (vanilla ES6 or a lightweight framework). Building your own framework is an excellent learning exercise; also implement the same app once with a mainstream PHP framework so employers see both understanding and convention-familiarity.
  • Tooling: use Git (public GitHub), write clear READMEs and descriptive commits, and show at least one hosted demo or screencast.
  • Back end habits: use Composer, follow PSR conventions, add simple unit tests (PHPUnit), and practice deployment basics (SSH, environment variables).
  • JavaScript: strengthen core JS (DOM, ES6, Promises/async-await, fetch) before reaching for a front-end framework.
  • Security & DB: always prefer parameterized queries and prepared statements; avoid SELECT *; use EXPLAIN for slow queries and add indexes where appropriate.

Quick PDO example (safe query)

$pdo = new PDO($dsn, $user, $pass, [PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION]);
$stmt = $pdo->prepare('SELECT * FROM users WHERE email = :email');
$stmt->execute(['email' => $email]);
$user = $stmt->fetch();

Interview & troubleshooting hints

  • Expect questions on HTTP/REST, sessions, authentication, XSS/CSRF, SQL tuning and basic system debugging.
  • Debugging checklist: JS failures → Console/Network tab; AJAX errors → check response & CORS; PHP blank pages → enable error_reporting or check webserver/PHP logs; slow queries → run EXPLAIN.
  • Practice reading and improving other people’s code; pair-program or seek code reviews to accelerate learning.

Application strategy & mindset
Apply for junior/entry roles now — list projects honestly, highlight what was learned and show commit history. Seek positions that offer mentorship. Confidence grows on the job; demonstrating practical problem solving and a willingness to learn matters far more than a degree at this stage.

Member Avatar for pritaeas

Welcome to DaniWeb.

I think you can. Every junior developer is a novice, even if they think they are not. Doing projects at home or school is nothing like creating production code for a client under a deadline. I do suggest learning more Javascript and maybe experimenting with a PHP framework. If you want a developer position, expect to use one, either a known one, or built in-house. Knowledge of how one works makes it much easier to learn another one. Not everything needs to be built again, even that's what a developer prefers.

Only now noted the cross-post. Closing this one, continue here:

https://www.daniweb.com/web-development/php/threads/497088/i-am-good-enough-for-this

Edited by pritaeas
Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.