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Ask HN: What sort of side-projects are useful for getting jobs?

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Re: Ask HN: What sort of side-projects are useful for getting jobs?

#101

Post by oeb25 »

Danieru wrote: post #3

I made a video game and I have had two jobs thanks to that code base. The thing which is valuable is to show you can get things done. That's it. Nothing special, just do what you want to be doing then show it to be who need engineers to do that thing.

If you don't mind me asking, in what field were the jobs? Does making a game give you much credit out of the game industry?

I hear some say game development is the hardest field in software, but I'm not sure recruiters in say web development sees much of a bridge between the two!

Re: Ask HN: What sort of side-projects are useful for getting jobs?

#102

Post by aphextron »

jamesmp98 wrote: post #63
UweSchmidt wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lol. There is definitively a barrier of entry in software and it helps if you do a bunch of things that are discussed here in this thread. On the other hand, if you just need a job as a programmer and have skills like OP seems to have, and apply for junior positions, possibly through a contractor, then you will get a job. This is for anyone who reads these threads and wonders "am I good enough?" "can I be a programme…

One of my problems is finding junior jobs. It seems whenever I go searching I see only mid-senior level jobs

>One of my problems is finding junior jobs. It seems whenever I go searching I see only mid-senior level jobs

Stop applying to junior jobs and thinking of yourself as a junior. "junior" is just code word for "pay me less". Get yourself to where you need to be and just apply for regular roles.

Re: Ask HN: What sort of side-projects are useful for getting jobs?

#103

Post by gricardo99 »

logicallee wrote: post #70
akhilcacharya wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> stupid toy problems in minutes. What sort of toy problems are you talking about?

I'm going to be snarky but I'll say it anyway: you know, stupid stuff like balanced binary trees and shit like that, when nothing's going to fall apart if the user's browser shows a spinning wait animation for 7 seconds (45 seconds at peak times but that happens for just a few hours per week at most) while you iterate through the data sequentially. honestly, who ever needed an algorithm or data structure. /s (I'm sor…

and if you did absolutely have to implement one from scratch, then you probably wouldn't have to spit out an answer on a white board in front of some judging eyes with very limited time and push that into production.

Re: Ask HN: What sort of side-projects are useful for getting jobs?

#104

Post by logicallee »

adrianN wrote: post #95
logicallee wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm going to be snarky but I'll say it anyway: you know, stupid stuff like balanced binary trees and shit like that, when nothing's going to fall apart if the user's browser shows a spinning wait animation for 7 seconds (45 seconds at peak times but that happens for just a few hours per week at most) while you iterate through the data sequentially. honestly, who ever needed an algorithm or data structure. /s (I'm sor…

the last time i had to implement a datastructure was in class. on the job i use the standard library. i hope you do the same.

But rolling a standard datastructure (and what's the "standard library" for a red-black tree anyway - in Python, or in Java? - or C++ for that matter) proves that you can do something "tricky" and hopefully get it right. You can understand and reason about what you're doing. If they don't let you Google while doing a "CS" type problem, of course, then they're insane.

When it comes time to do something novel, that understanding will be very useful.

People pooh-pooh Google's hiring interviews, but when was the last time Gmail's search results on your email were as bad as Bing's (I use this example because it's not their general index, I'm asking about your mail.)

There are a lot of good reasons to bone up on CS 101 (and 201, 301, 401, and 501).... I disagree that it's just "studying for the test".

Re: Ask HN: What sort of side-projects are useful for getting jobs?

#105

Post by ryandrake »

nickjj wrote: post #89
ryandrake wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Congratulations, you're in a nice spot but your situation is extremely unusual. Most people do not have jobs just being offered to them out of the blue, so not sure if the advice is really that usable.

Anyone can do it right now.

OK, I'll bite. What's the secret? Because nobody yet has E-mailed me out of the blue with my next job offer.

Re: Ask HN: What sort of side-projects are useful for getting jobs?

#106

Post by v89 »

cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #10

Here's a piece of advice from actual experience (from both sides): Invest your time studying for interviews than wasting time building side projects if you're doing this purely for getting a job, period. In my experience, companies don't care about your little side project when hiring--that is, unless your "little side project" had some huge impact or is something they have been aware of--the best you could get is "h…

There is so much evidence online of this being true but people just don't want to believe it.

Devs love the idea of "being found" because they had the perfect project on GitHub or a great blog. Reality is these are time consuming, low % approaches to improving one's job prospects.

It's so much more time efficient to network and study for interviews.

Re: Ask HN: What sort of side-projects are useful for getting jobs?

#107

Post by sebringj »

cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #10

Here's a piece of advice from actual experience (from both sides): Invest your time studying for interviews than wasting time building side projects if you're doing this purely for getting a job, period. In my experience, companies don't care about your little side project when hiring--that is, unless your "little side project" had some huge impact or is something they have been aware of--the best you could get is "h…

I've had quite the opposite experience as a corp-to-corp freelance contractor but this isn't scientific as its testimonial anyway. My focus has been on cutting edge technology that appears to be the right way of doing things based on large successful companies using the particular technology like Uber, Netflix, Facebook, Google, etc. I've built side projects with forefront technology gaining valuable experience that otherwise I would never get because of the chicken and egg problem. How do you get experience without experience? You don't.

I tend to be pretty decent on interviews anyway so its difficult to know if this approach is the right one but for sure it keeps you sharp.

It is more common than not that the technical interviewer compliments me on this approach. Recruiters and non-technicals tend to not care about the specific project but do like that I am comfortable with the technology which gets me through the next round at least.

Re: Ask HN: What sort of side-projects are useful for getting jobs?

#108

Post by localtalent »

It depends where you want to work. Here in NYC my experience, the plural of which is not data:

Enterprise-style jobs at non-tech-focused places (banks, pharma) don't care.

Big Consulting companies really don't care, they just want warm bodies.

Startups and small companies care a lot. I've been on both sides of the table and it's been a big differentiator. When I was screening potential candidates at another company, if you didn't have anything at all we were less likely to bring them in for an interview.

And it wasn't always tech stuff. One person did multiple research projects on bird species and submitted them to science journals. One person made a book of notes passed to tellers during bank heists. At a small company people spend more time with their colleagues than their SOs, and you need to like each other. Side projects are like cover letters, they let me know what you're interested in and that you're an actual human being.

Currently on lunch at a job acquired through a side project. I built it because I saw a problem, got upset enough about it to do something, and made it happen. I think that's the key - it's a combination of being interested in something and design/build/execute ability. Do it because you care, not because you want a job.

Re: Ask HN: What sort of side-projects are useful for getting jobs?

#109

Post by halis »

Think of a web application. Anything, Trello, Twitter, Harvest, Facebook.

Re-build said web application in your own image. Pretend you are going to release it to the public even if you aren't. Develop everything a public app would need.

As long as you learn a lot, that should be sufficient.

Re: Ask HN: What sort of side-projects are useful for getting jobs?

#110

Post by wheaties »

nrjdhsbsid wrote: post #16
cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #10

Here's a piece of advice from actual experience (from both sides): Invest your time studying for interviews than wasting time building side projects if you're doing this purely for getting a job, period. In my experience, companies don't care about your little side project when hiring--that is, unless your "little side project" had some huge impact or is something they have been aware of--the best you could get is "h…

This 100%. When I'm involved in the interview process I make a point to check out all candidates side projects but over 90% of people don't care. In getting my last job I thought I would have a slam dunk because I have a bunch of cool stuff I work on but nobody cared at all. I failed multiple on site interviews until I gave in and read a couple CSCI 101 books cover to cover. I had too much specialized knowledge and n…

This speaks more to a flawed interview process than it does anything else.
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