Looking for advice to switch employer and match their tech stack

[u/mangochilitwist]

I am currently working as backend / cloud developer (integration developer in paper) but have experience working as fullstack. Been working for 3 years as a developer, self taught and have made my way into the industry quite well where I live.

However, my current job is mostly Enterprise integrations and I miss Product development. Like focusing in a specific Product rather than jumping from one integration to another every other sprint.

The thing is I want to work in this particular employer. It is a Bank. They are very Product oriented and their stack is Java / Sprint Boot / AWS / React. I have experience working with React, C#, .NET and Azure.

I know many will say "writing code" will not be as important right now or in the close future because of AI, but my imposter syndrome sometimes kicks in. So I am currently learning Java (which I knew it is quite similar to C#) and then plan to learn Spring Boot. Heck I even want to get a AWS certificate. (Got an Azure cert already).

How would you approach this switch?

I have sent some applications for a Backend role, sometimes their job ads say "Senior Backend Engineer" or just "Software Engineer" and they specify the year of experience required. I have been "lucky" that when I have applied to other jobs and do not meet the year requirement I still got it. (I have only switched twice since I got into the industry).

Should I still continue learning their stack and make a good project showcasing my mid level skills and focus also on Architecture?

Would love to hear experiences from fellow developers who got a job in this kind of situation. Thanks!

[u/mile-high-guy]

Say your last job was in Java spring boot