How I came to call myself a frontend developer

It's already been four months since I started working as a frontend developer. In this post, I look back on how I grew into the role, including my time in the 9th cohort of Geultto (글또), a Korean community where developers write regularly. I also reflect on my first four months at the company and share my plans for the 10th cohort.

What is Geultto?

Geultto is short for a Korean phrase that means writing weirdos change the world. It's a community where developers from many different roles write and share a post every two weeks. A cohort usually runs for six months. Members push and inspire each other to grow, and they swap knowledge and worries through networking events such as meetups for members in the same role, write-together sessions, and coffee chats.

Looking back

Highlights from the 9th cohort

• Writing
  • Had one post picked for Geultto's curated list of recommended posts
  • Submitted 11 posts and used my one pass (Geultto lets each member skip one deadline)
• Networking
  • Joined 10 coffee chats and one write-together session
  • Attended the frontend meetup and Geultto House (Geultto's annual in-person, conference-style event) once each
• Frontend
  • Joined three study groups (TDD, interview prep, and resume)
  • Completed two Udemy courses
  • Used Codetree (a Korean coding-practice site) for two months
  • Contributed one translation and built a VS Code extension
• (Outside Geultto) Joined a frontend book club, an algorithm study group, and an interview study group on Inflearn (a Korean online learning platform for developers), and went to more coffee chats

How I grew in the 9th cohort (and beyond)

Growing through frontend study

When I joined the 9th cohort, I was taken aback to see that a take-home assignment I'd received required test code, and that's how I ended up in a testing study group. Some people said studying testing was a waste of time for a junior, but I wanted to focus on whatever I could do right then to get out of that situation. In the group, I learned the basic React testing libraries (Jest, Vitest, and React Testing Library), applied them to personal projects, and shared what I learned with the other members. Thanks to that, I now write unit tests with Jest and Vitest at work without much trouble.

For algorithms, I joined a group that solves two problems every morning so I could keep a daily routine. At first I struggled. Then I spent about two months working steadily through Codetree, which Geultto provided, and after that I started sharing my solutions in the group. Little by little, things began to click, and I found myself quietly enjoying it. As I took more and more coding tests, I even put together a full review (the second image at the top of this section). On Baekjoon (a Korean online judge for algorithm problems), copying and pasting the same input template in VS Code every time got tedious, so I built the BOJ-Starter-Kit VS Code extension. I shared it with my study group and with people around me who were practicing algorithms in JavaScript, and the positive response made me proud.

I often heard that algorithms and the Engineer Information Processing certification (a Korean national IT license) are no help at all on the job. Having been through both, I think the picture can look a little different if you didn't major in computer science. Things we do every day without a second thought have to be broken down into sequential steps before a computer can do them. To get used to that way of thinking, beginners are often told not to jump straight into building, but to write out what they want to do as ordered comments first and then turn those comments into code. At some point, though, I caught myself starting to write code out of habit. Solving algorithm problems helped me build the habit of not rushing in: I think through what I want to do step by step, then write the code. The certification, I think, is worth getting when you're starting out, because it makes you familiar with terms you'd never come across otherwise. Terms that feel obvious to CS majors after four years of classes may not be obvious to people from other fields. To fit into the community, you need to explain things and communicate in the same vocabulary, so the certification is well worth it.

I imagine many job seekers, especially those coming from outside CS, feel overwhelmed: there's so much to learn that it's hard to decide what to focus on or what the best choice would be. I asked about this in nearly every coffee chat myself. A line from a book answered it for me: a truly wise choice isn't the one that leads to a better outcome; what makes it wise is what you do after choosing, and how you shape it to serve what you intended. Whatever you choose, what matters is making the outcome work in your favor.

I also joined a book club reading React Deep Dive (a Korean book on how React works under the hood), an interview study group, and a resume study group. As I expected, everyone there was working hard to make the most of every day. The book club was especially interesting: each member researched a topic of their choice related to the chapter and presented it, which gave me a look at other people's interests and how they solve problems. Along the way, I dug deeper into React's Context API and rendering strategies (CSR, SSR, SSG, and ISR), and I got to try GitHub Actions and Next.js and use them to improve my projects.

Growing through networking and writing

Writing and submitting a post to my blog every other week for five months built a steady writing habit and sharpened my ability to organize and communicate my thoughts. Above all, knowing that someone would read my posts, rather than keeping notes to myself in Notion, made me feel responsible for the content, so I researched more widely and in more depth. One post I spent a lot of time on was picked for Geultto's curated list and shared with the whole community. I remember how much that comforted me during my dark days as a job seeker.

I majored in English Language and Literature and didn't have many developers around me. At my bootcamp, the classmates who had studied CS seemed to share information and talk through their worries with developer friends, and I decided I needed to belong to a community of developers like that too. So when I joined Geultto, I threw myself into coffee chats. Some people kindly reached out to me first, and I also asked for chats after reading someone's blog or meeting them at an event. I remember every one of them, and what struck me most was their attitude toward life. They didn't passively accept their work. In every situation, they took the initiative to grow and change things themselves. That resonated with me deeply and kept me motivated.

I've also been lucky to meet people outside Geultto. In particular, I want to thank someone who has mentored me since we first met last summer. He was a team lead I met at the resume review booth at INFCON 2023, Inflearn's annual developer conference. Our feedback session was far too short, so I asked for his business card before I left. Later, I emailed him, and that was the start of a connection that continues today. We meet now and then, and he has reviewed my resume and code, walked me through an overview of computer networking, and given me plenty of advice on which direction to take and what mindset to keep. At work, I follow his routine: I start my day the way he does and stay after hours to study what I need.

Much later, he told me that of everyone who took his card that day, I was the only one who came back with a revised resume, and that he helped me because he could see how hard I was working. I applied to more than 100 companies and was rejected again and again, and he always gave me strength when I was worn out. I'm truly grateful, and I hope I can grow enough to help others the same way someday.

There's a passage I try to keep in mind every day. It's from a Korean book whose title translates to You're Someone Who Gets It Done in the End.

None of the people I met through coffee chats let their time slip by carelessly. Every one of them was doing their best wherever they were. That left a deep impression on me, and I enjoyed working to become someone who belonged in that community. Getting to know these people was real luck, and I hope to meet them again this cohort and keep those connections going.

Goals for the 10th cohort

Growing through frontend learning

This cohort, I joined a Three.js study group, and we had our first online meeting a few days ago. Last cohort I wanted to get into interactive web development but couldn't because of time constraints, which I regretted. This time I also have upcoming work involving Canvas and 3D, so I joined to get ready ahead of time. It's a field I've been curious about ever since I heard a talk by a Naver Webtoon developer at INFCON, so I want to learn it properly even if I have to carve out the time. Holding on to that excitement, I've set these goals for the end of the 10th cohort: 1. fully understand the official docs, 2. finish at least one project, however small, and, if possible, 3. work through the WebGL docs. I want to learn it well enough to apply it at work without trouble.

Growing through networking and writing

Last cohort, as a job seeker, I wrote about whatever I came across and learned at the time. Now I want to include knowledge I can use, or need, at work as well. To keep blogging consistently alongside my job, I'll pick topics in advance and spend the two weeks before each deadline researching and organizing the content so I can meet it. As Seongyun, Geultto's founder, recommended, I'll make full use of GPT, Cursor, and Napkin AI to share higher-quality posts. I hope the 10th cohort is a time to achieve what I want and enjoy that sense of accomplishment. During the long stretch when I was desperately looking for a job, many people comforted and helped me. I feel I'm able to work as a developer today because of them, so I want to help others as much as I've been helped.

A quick look back at work

Q3 retrospective and Q4 resolutions

I haven't been at the company long, so I want to focus on pulling my own weight. I set goals for each month and each quarter and work to meet them. There are definitely things I wish had gone better, but rather than get discouraged by what's already happened, I want to focus on what I can do so I don't repeat the same mistakes. My retrospective is in the image at the start of this section. Next quarter, I plan to create a PR checklist with another developer and put it to use. I'll keep doing a retrospective like this every quarter to build my self-awareness and keep checking and adjusting my direction and goals.

So, how's the new job?

First, as a frontend developer, I get to work with images in all kinds of ways, which I find fascinating. (It also helps that the company provides three meals a day, since I tend to skip meals.) Recently, for example, I had to implement on-screen guides for resizing images for a new feature. I'd never done anything like it before, and I wasn't used to coordinate calculations, so it was hard. But seeing it behave exactly as I predicted felt meaningful and fun, and it's amazing when a feature I add brings a real increase in users. I'm excited about all the interesting problems I'll get to tackle in this domain and role.🥳

The process of joining felt well organized and welcoming, from onboarding through three rounds of probation reviews and a meeting with the HR team. Recently, when I hit my 100-day mark, I received a cute certificate celebrating my first 100 days. It reflected everything I'd written in my self-introduction, like the book that left the biggest impression on me and my favorite movie, and I really appreciated that. Overall, the culture feels young and autonomous, and I like that so many people here are kind and make an effort to be considerate when they communicate.

Wrapping up

It took a lot of different experiences before I could introduce myself with the words "Hi, I'm Minji Kim, a frontend developer." I quit my work as a translator and interpreter, which built on the English I'd studied since I was young, moved to Seoul, went through a bootcamp, joined several study groups, and kept a blog. Along the way, I met many people and learned what a good developer's attitude toward life looks like and how to communicate well. When I once mentioned in passing that I had so much left to learn, my team lead said that having a lot to do is a good thing. So I've decided to take it as a positive sign that I have so many chances to grow as a developer. I keep in mind the idea that progress comes from countless small failures along the way, and I want to fail often and grow from it.

To mark my fresh start as a frontend developer, I put together this simple blog. I'll keep improving it and plan to write here about what I learn at work too. If you have feedback or questions, feel free to leave a comment anytime.

Thanks for reading this long post. Good luck, everyone, and keep going.