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I have no side code projects to show

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Re: I have no side code projects to show

#111

Post by bluepnume »

Part of the process for me has been to try to do as much of my job as possible in the open source world.

Naturally, I can't open-source any private business code. But if I'm doing my job right, I'm building libraries and reusable code that isn't tightly coupled to business logic -- and there's no good reason to avoid throwing all of that on github, and have it be used by as many people as possible.

Of course there are going to be companies that aren't onboard with the idea of open-source. It's taken a lot of places a lot of time to get to that stage. But are those the places you really want to work?

Re: I have no side code projects to show

#112

Post by dj-wonk »

dasil003 wrote: post #108
TAForObvReasons wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> side projects usually demonstrate that you have a passion for code outside of your work In other industries, these are called "portfolios" or "writing samples". It's not just about showing a passion; it's your chance to make a piece of work that represents your best abilities and judgments. When I interview candidates I find it easier and more constructive to ask design questions about the side projects than to con…

I know what you mean, but it's also easier to fake. I've definitely run into the situation where someone's projects look good, but then they are terrible on the job. I'm left to conclude they were pairing with someone more knowledgeable or cloning some idea or maybe has spent years preparing to tackle that one problem and are not good in general problem solving. Not saying you won't get a lot of false negatives with…

I also think that contract-to-hire is a good option to consider. Vetting a small, unknown company requires time and effort.

Re: I have no side code projects to show

#114

Post by cocktailpeanuts »

dasil003 wrote: post #81
cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #47

I have worked at a prestigious tech company, and I know what OP is talking about. A lot of very talented people don't have side projects, and they don't do any coding outside of work. They don't go to hackathons. They don't bother to learn the newest reactive javascript framework. They go to yoga classes after work. They talk about TV shows they watched last night during lunch. But they EXCEL at what they do at work.…

Having spend the last decade living the startup life, and now searching for something more stable, I have to say you're setting up a false dichotomy between passionate and balance-seeking. They are completely orthogonal, you can be passionate and work widely varying hours; you can also be indifferent and work widely varying hours. On a tangent, I don't really like the word passion anyway. What makes me a good program…

Sorry that it came off that way, I tried to make myself clear with "I can say that this is really a subjective thing. When you make a judgment about these people, it actually tells more about yourself than the person being judged."

From my experience, all these brilliant, intelligent, and talented people (who don't do extracurricular activities related to coding) have completely different motivations than myself. My point is that it's fine that they do, and it's fine that I don't think that way either.

I'm just saying that there are people who are fit for certain type of situations, and some people--no matter how talented they are--are not fit for certain jobs just because their life values are not compatible with the situation. That doesn't mean the employer who made that decision is an idiot. They're just not compatible, and that's fine.

Re: I have no side code projects to show

#115

Post by nicolia »

citruspi wrote: post #85
nicolia wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a field that doesn't cater to people with families and other life obligations too well, I think it does.

> For a field that doesn't cater to people with families and other life obligations too well There's no reason that the field (of computer science/software engineering/etc) _can't_ cater to people with families and other life obligations. Jobs that don't cater to people with families include being a surgeon, a pilot, a firefighter, etc. I've worked at several software companies (including a company worth hundreds of…

I agree that there is no reason that it can't, however the loudest narrative (and in the cultures of the flagship companies) is that it does not. If the author doesn't gel with that for whatever legitimate reasons, then they are looking at the wrong companies. The company culture is like this because it is apparently working (so far). People who don't like it should go to better companies for them, or push for a collective change like a union I guess (just look at HN's love of 'old geeks'), or start their own. Nothing is stopping them from doing that.

Re: I have no side code projects to show

#116

Post by x0x0 »

TAForObvReasons wrote: post #57
x0x0 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been penalized for showing side projects and kaggle entries that weren't production quality code. No shit it's not production code, because it's not going into production. I quit working on them when I stopped learning, and that was well before code polishing.

To be completely fair, if you are showing a project you have done, it should be a good representation of your abilities. Treat it like how other industries treat "portfolios" or "writing samples".

That's a backdoor work sample. I personally don't do work samples unless paid...

Re: I have no side code projects to show

#118

Post by bdcravens »

nicolia wrote: post #8

I actually don't mind being a human machine. Not that I've had the chance yet. I'm still in college to get my CS degree and would fall into one of those people where "coding is a Craft". I genuinely love programming. I don't have a family, or really desire one. My weekend plans always consist of building another project of my own. A place that will let me code all day, give me a nap room, a shower, some salary, and f…

> Tech moves fast and to stay on top of it you have to move fast too.

This is a myth that comes out of drinking too much VC kool aid and watching too many TED talks. Most successful tech is built using 20-40 year old programming languages, operating systems, and data stores. Depth is far more important than breadth.

Re: I have no side code projects to show

#119

Post by palerdot »

I always go through an extreme opposite hiring experience. I'm not on linkedin by choice. Currently I use my SO developer profile as my online resume. But the lack of a linkedin profile and associated connections makes it look like I'm not a professional in the view of certain employers. I have a decent bunch of side projects, and a moderately active github profile and I have gotten all my jobs including my current one based on that. I don't regret not being on linkedin. I'm just happy showing my side projects for my coding knowledge as I cannot show code I have worked as a part of my employment. Also I believe when talking about code written as a part of employement, it all boils down how effectively one communicates/talks to the potential employer than how actually we did it. This is one of the reasons I try to maintain side projects independent of my day job.

For me, the whole idea of proving oneself as professional by being on linkedin has been a biggest turn off. Coupled with this, when I look at some of the people's linkedin profile and the actual attitude and proficiency they demonstrate in their jobs makes linkedin look like a ridiculous circus.

Re: I have no side code projects to show

#120

Post by peteretep »

DCoder wrote: post #101
eps wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The range/xrange question was likely to check if you were a fraud. Having interviewed close to a hundred people in a year for a senior C dev position I can assure you that people lie like you wouldn't believe. They cheat with take-home tasks, they show others' code as their own. And that's in the system programming circles, where the level of professionalism is typically much higher than in app/web development areas.…

Web dev chiming in with a similar experience. Last month I interviewed three people claiming multiple years of PHP/MySQL experience, not one of them could tell me what an SQL transaction is.

I've worked with plenty of developers who knew what they were and massively overused them without any thought as to whether they were appropriate...
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