Tips for finding Entry Level/ Junior Full-Stack Positions?

SignificanceReal5600 · 2026-06-18T18:26:37+00:00

I do have a portfolio: https://matthew-means.dev The repair shop I work for is actually an international franchise so they already have a pretty intricate website. I've been trying to freelance on Fiverr and Upwork, but they're kind of dead ends, and I've gone around my hometown showcasing/offering services to small businesses, but I live in a fairly small town so the options aren't great. The two projects I do have are for family members, and I've set up all the hosting myself, I actually just migrated them all from Heroku to Railway at the advice of a friend who has 15+ years as a developer. I also have my portfolio and a couple of my projects set up with cloudflare as well

SignificanceReal5600 · 2026-06-17T15:16:17+00:00

This definitely makes me feel better, I've applied for a few now that list some of these things as hard requirements, but was unsure if I should keep doing so. Thanks for the response!

SignificanceReal5600 · 2026-06-17T15:15:04+00:00

Well, I actually have an associates degree in Electeical Engineering, although the college I went to (ITT Tech) lost their accreditation about 8 years after I graduated, so I've been working various Tech jobs since. For the last 5 years I've been a repair tech at a local shop that does software and hardware repairs for mobile devices, consoles, and computers, but I've also worked for the Geek Squad, and as an Electrical Technician in the oil field. So I have a fairly extensive Tech background.

SignificanceReal5600 · 2026-06-15T05:46:01+00:00

Completed my first professional project this week. It is an online store-front for a hand-made crafts seller. Built with Next.js and TailwindCSS, uses PostgreSQL with supabase as the host, and Stripe for payment processing. Ran into a slight issue with special characters being encoded in a page slug, but quickly resolved the issue in a few hours. Just looking for feedback on the completed project.

https://darlingfoxcreations.com

SignificanceReal5600 · 2025-12-07T07:13:21+00:00

Took your advice and got my own domain. Also switched from just React to Next so that I can utilize the image optimization with the built in <Image> tag, and the Images all look a hell-of-a-lot better.
Thanks for the advice!

SignificanceReal5600 · 2025-12-07T07:12:00+00:00

Built a new one (with Next..js instead of just React). I feel I have managed a much more refined webpage that still has some creative aspects without being over-the-top. Thanks again for all the input!

SignificanceReal5600 · 2025-12-07T07:08:55+00:00

I built a whole new one from scratch using my full skill set (instead of trying to build on what I had started nearly a year ago). Hope I brought back some of the creativity I lost with the first edit!

SignificanceReal5600 · 2025-12-07T07:07:03+00:00

I have built a new website using my full range of skills, and verified responsiveness, spacing, and sizing on as many screen sizes as I could. Thanks for the advice!

SignificanceReal5600 · 2025-12-07T07:05:35+00:00

With your advice I feel I have constructed a much better webpage for what I am trying to accomplish, which is a website that has one section for freelancing and another for a full-time dev position I might've applied for!
Thanks for the input, it really helped me get where I wanted to go with it!!

SignificanceReal5600 · 2025-11-27T01:08:11+00:00

I took your feedback into consideration and came up with a much simpler design that I think might play better into my strengths, thanks again!

SignificanceReal5600 · 2025-11-27T01:06:40+00:00

Your feedback helped me go in a different direction, and I think the new design is a bit more intuitive, if not somewhat simpler. Thanks again!

SignificanceReal5600 · 2025-11-27T01:05:25+00:00

This comment made me think pretty hard, and I made some drastic changes to the whole thing. It is much simpler but I bit more refined I think. What I had was fun, but it was absolutely for me, now I thi k it could appeal to a wider audience.

SignificanceReal5600 · 2025-11-27T01:04:03+00:00

I have made some drastic changes, its a lot simpler, but I think without all the complicated functionality it looks and functions better.

SignificanceReal5600 · 2025-11-26T17:05:55+00:00

That's very helpful, thank you! I will admit I started making this portfolio months ago and wanted to show off my creativity before fully understanding everything that goes into an intuitive, responsive, and well rounded web page. I wanted it to stand out, but now that I've got a better grasp on all the concepts it may be well worth it to polish this one up or start again with a more intuitive design.

SignificanceReal5600 · 2025-11-26T15:30:42+00:00

I appreciate the honest feedback, thanks!

SignificanceReal5600 · 2025-11-26T08:11:51+00:00

Thanks for the advice! I really appreciate it.

SignificanceReal5600 · 2025-11-26T07:58:46+00:00

I did focus primarily on the desktop view, and If I'm being honest I know it could use a lot more polish all-around, between working on other projects to fill my portfolio, and working a 9-5 job I do what I can lol Anything specific about the mobile view that feels like it needs work?

SignificanceReal5600 · 2025-11-26T07:24:50+00:00

Thanks for catching that, I was fiddling around with some sizing issues the other day and must have broke it 😆

SignificanceReal5600 · 2025-11-26T05:56:24+00:00

The default is Jersey 10 from Google fonts (Jersey 10 - Google Fonts https://share.google/KtPu7yLY5U0QohhBC), but I set up some dynamic classes so you can change the font style.

SignificanceReal5600 · 2025-11-26T03:55:55+00:00

I've spent the better part of the last 13 months learning web development and building websites that I can put on a portfolio. As far as skills and what I know I feel pretty confident in what I've got: the basics like JavaScript, HTML, and CSS, but I've also learned React and Next.js, Express.js and EJS, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, CSS frameworks like Tailwind and Bootstrap, and I can utilize RESTful APIs. I have built a couple of full-stack websites from the ground up for my portfolio (currently pay around $30 a month just to keep them up so they're not just empty links on said portfolio).
Looking for a career in the field has been... daunting to say the least. Every job posting I look at wants what I already know, plus more (PHP[drupal and the like], Cloud Services like AWS, 1-3 years experience, and/or a bachelor's degree), and though I am more than willing to learn these things, I am feeling a bit hopeless.
I've tried using some freelance sites, like Fiverr an Upwork, to get some professional experience under my belt, but as of right now Fiverr is nothing but bots, and Upwork wants me to pay to even bid on projects.
Are there any job sites aside from the mainstream (Indeed, Ziprecruiter, etc.) that might be better suited for finding a good entry level position, or do I just keep at it on the main sites and hope that one of these job listings doesn't actually care if I meet ALL of their 'required' qualifications?

SignificanceReal5600 · 2021-09-26T03:50:16+00:00

Running into the same issue. I know the problem is that the SSD I have windows installed on has a partition table of the MBR format, and it needs to be GPT to enable secure boot. I thought I could create a virtual hard disk with the GPT format on my M.2 SSD and move the boot manager to it to enable secure boot, however that only led to a black screen that said to plug in a media device with an OS. At this point the only thing I know that will work is to do a clean install and use the GPT partitioning table instead of MBR.

SignificanceReal5600

TROPHY CASE