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Transitioning from Backend to React Native: Taking Time to Follow My Passion for Mobile Development

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Mid-Level Software Engineer at Unemployed11 days ago

Hi everyone!

After 14 years of mainly working as a Java backend developer (with about 2-3 years of Node.JS experience), I’m currently taking a few months off due to family reasons and don’t have a job at the moment. I want to make the most of this time by preparing for interviews and finding a good job. Right now, there’s no pressure on me to find a new job quickly.

However, I’ve grown tired of backend development and was doing it just out of necessity. Inspired by your community, I wrote a first version of a mobile app in React Native (while learning React Native), and I absolutely love it. I’ve worked as a senior and mid-level developer so far. I think I would need about three more months to refine my app a bit and get ready to apply for React Native positions.

What do you think? What level of positions should I aim for besides junior, maybe even mid-level? My plan is a bit risky, but I realized I really want to work with UI, mobile, and UX, as it’s much closer to my heart. The market in Hungary is different from the USA; there are plenty of job opportunities, but Java + Angular is still dominant here.

Thank you,

Lajos
PS: I wish Taro had been around earlier so I could have learned with you from the beginning of my career. You are amazing, thank you!

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Discussion

(4 comments)
  • 0
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    Tech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
    10 days ago

    I'm glad to hear that there's a lot of job opportunities in Hungary! In the US, it honestly feels like everyone is thirsty but is walking around in a desert 🥹

    If you really need a job fast, I think you should be pragmatic. At the end of the day, paychecks are extremely important, especially if you are supporting people besides yourself. Here's my advice:

    • Apply to back-end roles as well - However, apply to back-end roles at product-based companies where there is a mobile component. In the US, it's very common to have "wide" product teams where all types of engineers blend together (i.e. Android, iOS, back-end all report to the same manager). This is contrast to a more "vertical" team where it's only back-end engineers, only ML engineers, etc. Anyways, you should be open to taking a back-end role in a team where you can dabble in mobile on the side and hopefully transition into mobile full-time once you have earned enough trust.
    • Understand your mobile market - There are many ways to do mobile, and it will vary depending on company type, region, etc. You should look through all the mobile job postings and see which mobile engineer type is the most common. Here are the Top 4 types:
      • Native iOS (Swift)
      • Native Android (Kotlin)
      • React Native (cross-platform)
      • Flutter (cross-platform)

    The feeling of mobile will be around the same overall, so divorce yourself from the technology. Don't be afraid to pivot off of React Native if it is not in-demand in your area. My final note on this topic is that I generally prefer native over cross-platform, especially if your ultimate goal is FAANG/Big Tech.

    Companies are risk-averse, especially in this economy. It's important to follow your passion, but you need to blend in some pragmatism and patience as well. It will be tough to convince a reputable company to hire you as a mobile engineer, especially at a senior level matching your years of experience. So be open to continuing with back-end development for a bit more but with a clear plan to transition (you should mention this to hiring managers as well that you are interested in switching).

    • 1
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      Mid-Level Software Engineer [OP]
      Unemployed
      9 days ago

      Hi Alex,

      Thank you so much for your detailed response, it really helped a lot!

      I will definitely follow your advice—it’s very well thought out and pragmatic.

      This whole process is not really a sprint but more like a long walk or a slow marathon. :)

      In fact, I’ve had good experiences with larger companies in the past (Ericsson, Evosoft/Siemens HealthCare), where there was some flexibility with roles and technologies. I’ve generally found that larger companies provide better support and have a healthier work culture.

      I will start looking for bigger companies where there is potential to transition into mobile development over time.

      I use Apple products, and I’ve written a few demo apps with the iOS stack during 3-4 short training sessions. Since there are more paid apps in the Apple Store, it might be advantageous for me to publish my app for free.

      As you suggested in one of your trainings, I aimed for a minimal viable product with my React Native app, so I think I’ll be able to release the first version quickly. This is something I can see myself working on in my free time over the long term.

      We don’t have any big tech companies here, but there are larger multinational companies. Here, they do tend to prefer native applications, and I agree with you on that. I’ve often thought about this myself, and my goal is to work for a larger company.

      I will also mention to the hiring managers that I’m interested in transitioning to mobile development within the company. That definitely seems like a fair approach.

      Thanks again for all your help!

      Best regards,

      Lajos

  • 0
    Profile picture
    Tech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
    10 days ago

    The beautiful thing about mobile is that it's the absolute best when it comes to side projects. Keep on building, and my recommendation is to publish apps and maintain them over a long period of time. You don't learn that much publishing new app after new app, never taking them past a v1.

    I need to make a dedicated side project course at some point, but in the meantime, I recommend the resources here (particularly the masterclasses): [Taro Top 10] Building Impressive Side Projects

    Side projects literally made my career: I have published 30 apps with 5+ of them getting 100k+ users. To this day, I still get dozens of interviews from top companies due to my side projects. I genuinely believe that anybody else can do the same.

    • 1
      Profile picture
      Mid-Level Software Engineer [OP]
      Unemployed
      9 days ago

      Thank you for the encouragement! I’ll focus on creating a high-quality app that is useful for others and publish it for free on the Apple Store. While working on my first app, I already came up with an idea for a second one, which I don’t see on the market yet. Although, even if something similar exists, you can always create a better, free version as long as it’s not too big or feature-rich.

      I had no idea you’ve already published 30 apps—that’s impressive! I’m confident and understand that this will likely be very beneficial for me in terms of future job opportunities as well.

For those who were laid off, taking a career break, or any another reason why they're not working right now. It's good to be unemployed every once in a while!
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