How to find your first Django Developer Job

Wherever I go within the Django world, be it online or at conferences I get asked by junior developers how they can get their first job as a developer.

Although every wannabe first time developer’s origin story and personal situation are different, but the advice I give is often the same. In this blog post I want to share the common bits of advice I give with the aim of helping people to get closer to that first job as a developer.

Before we get going, I think it’s worth saying that the job market in the last 12-18 months for juniors has been a lot harder than I’ve ever seen before but keep going with your search! Hopefully these tips will help you.

The second thing to say isn’t supposed to sound negative but as a junior developer you must temper your expectations. Applying for jobs internationally will probably not help your chances.

From the hiring companies perspective they often take a risk hiring a junior so to minimise this they would most likely look closer to home. From a positive viewpoint, this means you’ll possibly have more chances applying locally and be competing with fewer people for the role you want.

When thinking about what people look for in a junior developer it will mostly come down to your personality and soft skills rather than a piece of code that you wrote. I always think back to this list of things that require zero talent that an employer will respect if you demonstrate.

Out of curiosity, while researching for this blog post I asked ChatGPT for junior developer job searching tips and was pleasantly surprised by the results. Most of the tips make a lot of sense and should make up the majority of your strategy for searching for a role.

I want to expand into more detail on some of these as this is where my experience as a recruiter for the Python and Django world should come in handy.

Build a Portfolio

• Create small projects like a blog, to-do app, or e-commerce site.
• Share your code on GitHub and contribute to open-source projects.

I think it’s important that you write your own CV/Resume, and tell your own story as a junior. How did you get into coding? What was your previous career if you are switching from something else? What work did you do alongside your studies if you are coming straight from education?

Your past career is important as you could leverage your knowledge in this sector to help secure a developer role in the same industry. Make sure you include it

Emphasise your strengths (don’t over egg these) and what you know that you need to improve on (this helps show your willingness to learn) and add examples of your work, if you were part of a team - explain the role you took and the things you learned while working.

Load as many projects into your GitHub as possible and link this in your CV/Resume as the hiring team will be interested in learning more about your coding style.

Check out our other blog post about writing your Resume/CV

Improve Your Skills

• Learn Django basics (models, views, templates, authentication, REST API).
• Get familiar with databases (PostgreSQL, SQLite) and deployment (AWS, Heroku).
• Learn some frontend (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) to complement your Django skills.

People try to learn how to code in multiple languages as a junior, thinking that this will help pick up a job somewhere. Whilst this may be true, if you want to work as a Django Developer then focus your time here, the deeper your knowledge in Django the better equipped you will be for your job applications.

Look into Will Vincent’s courses at learndjango.com to hone your skills. These cover the fundamentals all the way through to being able to produce production ready websites. The courses cost $40 - $50 and are available as books too.

Watch conference talks from previous DjangoCon events around the world. These are all available on YouTube and cover so many topics you’ll be engrossed in no time at all. Also make sure to check out Django.tv where a lot of these will have been collated.

Try to find an experienced mentor to help you when you get stuck. The Django community is full of people who are willing to share their experience. Having someone in your corner should help you to navigate your coding journey.

Get Experience

• Apply for internships or freelance gigs (use Upwork, Fiverr etc).
• Join hackathons or open-source communities.

Gaining experience is one of the hardest things you’ll face but if you can afford to give your time for free you should be able to pick up some freelance projects from friends and family who need websites for their own businesses or side projects.

Alternatively think about your hobbies, can you build something that you could use yourself? I love sports and have apps that track all my golf scores, alert me when my football team is playing and what my batting and bowling averages are for cricket.

What about building something to track the companies that you want to work for and the applications you make during your job search?

There’s plenty you can do to practice your coding and build your experience outside of securing an internship or a place on a graduate program. Once you have a solid understanding of how to write code then have a look out for places where you can contribute to open source projects.

I recommend looking into the djangonaut space initiative as they run several sessions each year helping people to do exactly this.

You can find out more here.

Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile

• Highlight Django projects and skills.
• Use keywords like "Django developer" and "Python."
• Get recommendations from mentors or colleagues.

I already covered some CV/Resume tips above and you can read more in this blog post so I’ll give you some pointers for making the most of your LinkedIn account.

Use a real picture. It doesn’t have to be overly formal or professional, make sure your face is central to the image and do not use AI to produce it.

Give yourself a headline such as Aspiring Django Developer or Looking for my first Django Developer position. This will help people immediately know what to expect from your profile.

Utilise the about me section and introduce yourself like I’ve suggested doing on your CV/Resume. Tell your story and highlight your personality and ambitions to work as a developer.

Update your education with as much detail as possible - showcasing the courses and grades you have achieved that will be relevant to your search.

Give details in the employment history of work you have done whether freelance or in your past career. My main suggestion here for your profile is to create a role called looking for a django developer job and within the responsibilities list everything you’ve done to support this journey.

Apply for Jobs

• Join Django Developer groups on LinkedIn, Discord, and Slack.
• Apply on job boards like LinkedIn, Indeed, Stack Overflow Jobs, and your local job sites

These are all excellent suggestions but following this alone will not help you to get a role. You need to write introductory messages/emails etc for every role you are interested in. DON'T USE AI for this, put into your own words about your journey and specific interest in that company.

Find the person at the company most likely to be making the hiring decision for the role you are interested in and message them, introduce yourself and highlight your own interest in the role.

TOP TIP - LinkedIn is a great place to learn about job opportunities etc but you will not immediately see lots of Junior developer positions. Instead, use the search facility and search for people with the job title that you want, for example “Junior Django Developer” in the city that you live in and see who they are working for.

This will provide you with a list of companies that are local to you and have employed junior developers at some point in the last year or so. Then - you guessed it, message the Engineering Manager or CTO and introduce yourself.

Prepare for Interviews

• Practice Python and Django coding challenges (LeetCode, HackerRank).
• Review common Django interview questions (ORM, views, APIs).
• Be ready to explain your projects.

Congratulations if you have received an invitation to interview for a Junior Django Developer position. This is a key part to securing your dream job.

I would probably disagree with most of the tips given by ChatGPT here! 9 times out of 10 a junior developer will be hired because of their personality and soft skills rather than what you already know. That is all just evidence of your commitment to securing a career as a developer.

Put yourself in the shoes of the company, would you rather hire someone who can pass a LeetCode test or someone who can demonstrate their passion for starting their career as a developer. I know which one I would pick.

When I used to hire junior recruitment consultants I would look for their ability to listen, take instructions and learn through the interview process rather than those who had a few months of work experience (the two things combined were brilliant though) - again this was to minimise the risk of hiring the wrong person.

In your interview if you don’t know something, don’t try to guess the answer. Own your lack of experience here and explain insead where you would go to find out the answer. Most of the time when doing the job when you come up against a problem you won’t guess how to solve it as this could ruin the project or cause issues later on, in that instance you will look elsewhere for the answer. So take the same approach in your interview.

It should go without saying but when you have an interview; be on time, make sure you are dressed smartly, that your camera (and wifi) works and that your background is not too distracting.

Visit our YouTube Channel to see our conference talks and how-to videos

To summarise, getting hired as a junior developer is hard, especially if you're in a region where companies prefer mid-level or senior candidates. Many employers will prioritise applications from people with more experience, so expect some rejections before securing your first job.

That said, companies that do hire juniors often focus more on personality, attitude to learning, and soft skills rather than specific experience. However, this is usually true only for local candidates! They’re less likely to take that risk on remote juniors from other countries.

To improve your chances:

• Focus your search on your own country and the cities you can commute to.
• Gain experience through freelance work, internships or helping friends.
• Target “junior-friendly” companies who already employ junior developers.

Rejections are going to be a regular part of the journey, not a reflection of your potential.

Keep learning, keep applying and one day the right Junior Developer job for you will come!

Good Luck!!

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Check how your salary compares to others in the UK, Europe and USA by reading our 2025 Django Developer Salary Report.