I have about 3.5 years of experience working on large enterprise websites and mostly maintaining existing web applications. I can solve small JavaScript problems, but I struggle to build complete projects from scratch without relying heavily on search engines or AI tools.
I feel like I chose comfort over deliberately improving for the past few years. Now I'm underpaid, receiving few recruiter calls, and dealing with a 90-day notice period. I'm considering spending the next 6–12 months seriously strengthening my skills before applying elsewhere, but I'm worried that having more than four years of experience will make companies expect me to be much more advanced.
If you were in this position, how would you prioritize your time? Would you focus on algorithms and data structures, build personal projects, deepen your frontend knowledge, move toward full-stack development, or take another approach?
4 Answers
AI-assisted coding hasn’t made fundamentals irrelevant. You still need enough knowledge to understand generated code, spot incorrect assumptions, recognize poor architecture, and modify the result confidently. At the same time, experienced engineers are valued for more than typing code: translating business problems into software, designing systems, making trade-offs, and communicating with product, design, customers, and other engineers all matter a lot.
Build one medium-sized personal project using the technologies you actually want to improve. Try to implement it without AI writing the code for you, although documentation and search are fine. You’ll learn much more by designing the features, debugging your own mistakes, and finishing something end to end. Practice consistently, because coding fluency fades when you only supervise generated code.
I’ve been practicing JavaScript consistently for about six weeks. Should I move on to React now, or spend more time on algorithms and data structures?
Don’t wait until you feel ready or assume your experience has already put you too far behind. Start now and improve in parallel with your job. Focus first on becoming solid in your target frontend stack, then build a project that demonstrates those skills. Add enough algorithms practice for interviews, but don’t let difficult puzzle problems replace practical development.
I’m also wondering whether I should start learning AI-related development now or first spend more time strengthening my programming fundamentals.
Use realistic problems as practice instead of only doing isolated exercises. Write down how you would approach a feature, break it into smaller parts, implement it, and review the result afterward. You can also have an AI tool quiz you with interview questions or review your code, but treat it as a coach rather than a replacement for your own thinking. A steady routine over the next several months will matter more than trying to learn everything at once.
I use AI for small, clearly defined tasks rather than blindly generating entire applications, but I still get overwhelmed when reviewing unfamiliar syntax or large systems. That’s why I want to improve my underlying coding knowledge.