How to Become a Front End Engineer: Skills, Requirements, and Career Guide

Front End engineering is a critical component of modern web development, and front end engineers play a key role in creating the visual and interactive aspects of websites and applications. If you're interested in pursuing a career in front end engineering, you'll need to develop a strong set of technical skills and stay up-to-date with the latest front end technologies and best practices.

In this guide, we'll explore the skills and requirements needed to become a successful front end engineer, and provide valuable insights and tips to help you start your journey to a fulfilling career in web development.

Also commonly known as a front end developer, front end engineers work in various coding languages to build websites and applications. Front end engineer goals usually align with creating an optimal user experience, and they achieve this by building well-functioning application interfaces through efficient code. Front end engineers work directly with designers and product managers to build optimal user experiences for websites and applications that function beautifully and render quickly.

Front end engineers build the code seen and interacted with by users. They often work directly with UX designers to make sure the product is looking and functioning as expected. Front end engineers release new products, features and applications that are efficiently constructed to allow for optimal speed and performance.

This role does require hard skills, meaning front end engineers need to be able to program in HTML, CSS or JavaScript to be effective. The most popular way for people to learn these skills without a degree in computer science is to enroll in a bootcamp, which usually lasts 3-6 months and can be taken full or part time. These languages can also be self-taught, though it does take motivation to keep it up.

Curious what we mean when we say "product?" Read this.

What does a Front End Engineer do?

At companies of all sizes, front end engineers will often work in a pod structure led by a product manager to decide what order to prioritize development tasks. It’s the product managers’ role to decide prioritization of development work based on a function of importance, function and visibility.

An engineer is usually responsible for completing a certain number of tasks– often referred to as “tickets” or “user stories” within a set timeframe (often referred to as a “sprint”).

Difference between Front End, Back End, and Full Stack Engineers

Front end engineers differ from back end engineers in that front end only focuses on parts of the site actively seen by users (front meaning “visible” in this instance).

The term and title of “Full Stack” engineer showcases the ability to work on either the front or back end of the product (hence, full stack engineers are capable of managing the company’s FULL tech stack).

View Full Stack Engineer Job Guide | View Back End Engineer Job Guide

Do I need a degree to be a Front End Engineer?

Contrary to popular belief, you do NOT need a CS or otherwise technical degree to be any sort of engineer. In fact, no degree is required for an associate/entry level front end engineering position. Hiring managers focus primarily on previous products built, which are usually on display in a portfolio like GitHub. Job applications will usually leave space for a GitHub link for a recruiter to review. Engineers can be self-taught, as long as they have a decent number of projects featured and can pass a coding interview. This is also an incredibly popular role to learn by bootcamp.

Job descriptions will often mention a requirement of something STEM related, but more often than not these roles are filled by bootcamp graduates or those with impressive portfolios.

We've seen these people be incredibly successful front end engineers:

• Data entry and receptionist professionals
• Restaurant servers and managers
• Accounting and budgeting roles
• Truck drivers (truly!)

If you're new here to Bridged, we're glad to meet you! We are huge fans of alternate forms of education, and recommend specific certifications to target skills.

Our Favorite Front End Engineering Programs and Certifications

Front end engineering certifications are a dime a dozen. Many of the reviewer sites recommending programs get significant kickbacks for the $3,000+ certifications they're reviewing, and while we respect their hustle, and also love money-- that's a little shady.

Our criteria for these programs were that they cost under $300 for completion. Some dev programs come with a job guarantee after placement, which is pretty neat. But for developers, the absolute best thing you can have is a snazzy portfolio of impressive projects. This can absolutely be self-taught if you're motivated enough.

The most relevant certification (meaning you could stick it on a resume) is the Software Engineering Specialization by Duke. It's only $49/month, so theoretically you could blitz through the program for under $100. Good luck!

Popular Job Description of a Front End Engineer

We've used AI to aggregate the top job descriptions used by hiring managers looking for front end engineers. When putting your resume together, try to mimic these listings. To learn more about this process, check out our partner Jobscan for a comprehensive resume review.

• Develop and implement user interfaces using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
• Collaborate with the design team to create visually appealing and intuitive interfaces
• Work with the back end development team to integrate front end interfaces with back end functionality
• Optimize web applications for maximum speed and scalability
• Write clean, efficient, and well-documented code
• Debug and troubleshoot front end issues
• Keep up-to-date with emerging trends and technologies in front end development

Top Skills of a Front End Engineer

We've compiled thousands of job descriptions for front end engineers to record the most common requirements to save you time. While preparing for interviews, keep in mind specific times you've demonstrated these skills.

• Experience with modern front-end frameworks such as React, Angular, or Vue.
• Strong understanding of web development principles, including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and responsive design.
• Experience with cross-browser compatibility issues and ways to work around them.
• Experience with Git and version control systems.
• Write automated end-to-end tests via Jest and Cypress
• Strong problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
• Good communication and teamwork skills.
  

Top Tools of a Front End Engineer

We've also compiled the most common tools listed in job description. If you're serious about becoming an front end engineer, get familiar with these and be ready to talk about them.

Hey, it's Billy! If you're feeling intimidated by the technical aspects of a career in software development, don't worry. I've worked with many successful developers who don't have a traditional background in the field. What's surprising is that soft abilities are highly valued in this industry.

While programming abilities can be learned through experience, it's much more difficult to teach people how to communicate effectively with stakeholders and coworkers. In my view, problem-solving and the ability to convey technical concepts in simple terms are the most essential qualities for success in this field. If you have these attributes, you'll likely excel in a career in software development.

Front end engineering is a great career path for those fulfilled by building new things that people will actually use. We love recommending front end engineering, but often encourage our users to self-teach and practice building sites for real experience.

Here at Bridged we are huge fans of stacking micro-certifications to achieve desired career results. We're building a product to make your career planning fun and affordable, and we'd love to talk to YOU! Was this article helpful? Did you land an interview for a front end engineering role?

Let us know at hello@getbridged.co

Check out our sources!

Glassdoor Team. “Salary: Front End Engineer (March, 2023) | Glassdoor.” Glassdoor, Glassdoor, 1 Feb. 2023, https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/product-analyst-salary-SRCH_KO0,15.html