"... we are looking for a .NET developer ..."
can't think of a better reason for having pet projects.
If you don’t have pet projects, I don’t think I want you
91–100 of 105 posts
Re: If you don’t have pet projects, I don’t think I want you
#92this is completely silly. what about all the developers that devote all of their time on the product at hand...? i guess... your heuristic says that you dont want them? and you'd rather take the guy that goes home at 5 and gets distracted with pet projects that sap engineering time and focus?
simply put, you are thinking it wrong.
Re: If you don’t have pet projects, I don’t think I want you
#93If you have a life, I don't want you. If you have a family, I don't want you. If you have enough energy to do your work but not enough energy that after work you can work some more, I don't want you. What is it that makes employers so enamored of people with 'pet projects'? Are they easier to take advantage of? Do they work long hours without expecting compensation? Does not having dependents mean that it's easier to…
This is bullshit. I have a full time job, a family and I've written a book in the past two years, and I still have time for side projects. Normally while commuting on the train or in the evenings, but still... Pet projects are a good proxy for determining whether a developer can actually, you know, develop. Much better than asking trivial algorithm questions or getting someone to figure out a puzzle. They're also goo…
Why the downvote? It is bullshit. This is the first stage in making yourself an obsolete COBOL developer - just say "I don't have time to keep up with the latest technologies." and twiddle your thumbs for 5 years.
Lots of knee-jerk defensiveness on this thread.
Re: If you don’t have pet projects, I don’t think I want you
#94If you have a life, I don't want you. If you have a family, I don't want you. If you have enough energy to do your work but not enough energy that after work you can work some more, I don't want you. What is it that makes employers so enamored of people with 'pet projects'? Are they easier to take advantage of? Do they work long hours without expecting compensation? Does not having dependents mean that it's easier to…
Like the person who wrote the article and as someone who has hired for more than a decade for my own businesses, I've noticed my best developers had pet projects. They tend also to be the most passionate about developing. It's not an absolute rule, but I found a good indicator.
As for having a life, let me tell you I have a 6 months old who spent 1.5 months of his life in the hospital, a wife, I'm CTO and co-founder of startup for which I code about 60 hours a week. On top of that, I have time to help my my wife with her business (my previous company), I have fulfilled time with my family, take the weekends off and have time for personal hobbies and pet projects. I sleep enough and sleep well and I'm happy and balanced.
A lot of the most involved and active people in the tech community in Montreal that I know personally have startups, children and time for their family. I'll tell you they're the most awesome, bright, funny and balanced people I ever met.
One thing that makes it possible for me is a 10 minutes walk commute. The other biggest factor is having priorities straight on how I want to balance my life. Is it easy? No. Do I always have the energy and passion to go forward? Yes. Seeing my son smile when I wake him up each morning helps a lot.
You don't have to be young, without a family and responsibilities to have the passion and energy to be able to do things you care about for yourself outside your work. Even if you work more than 40 hours a week...
Another thing: some pet projects or hobbies can take only a few hours a week or a month. So not having enough time is not a valid argument in my opinion.
Re: If you don’t have pet projects, I don’t think I want you
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If you have a life, I don't want you. Seriously, there is a lot of judgement in that sentence. "Having a life", having a family is a matter of choice. I can choose not to have a family and work on my pet projects. I choose how I spend my time. If I sacrifice relationships in favor of pet projects, does that make me a lesser person? could it possibly make me a better software developer? Is it really unreasonable to…
You can read a judgement in there if you want to, it is actually the opposite. I think having/not having pet projects or other life choices you make outside of your professional hours should not have such a direct impact on being hired or not. Of course you are free to make your choices any way you see fit and if you choose work over personal relationships that does not make you a lesser person. So you can have your…
My point is that having pet projects might actually increase software development skills. In the same way that practicing any activity generally makes you better at it. People who're good at socializing, basketball, football or whatever typically invests time in it. The more you do it the better you get at it. Why shouldn't the same apply to software development?
A person who invest their free time in relationships or sports will probably get better at those things than a person who only invests in pet projects, but why shouldn't the person investing in pet projects get better at his/her activity?
I think it's unfair to say that the employer should ignore all skills achieved your in spare time because other people choose to spend their time differently.
Re: If you don’t have pet projects, I don’t think I want you
#96All I got from this was that the interviewer had no idea how to judge the interviewee and needed someone to blame it on. I wish there was a part of career development that dealt with dealing with the idiots we want to hire us.
Re: If you don’t have pet projects, I don’t think I want you
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is bullshit. I have a full time job, a family and I've written a book in the past two years, and I still have time for side projects. Normally while commuting on the train or in the evenings, but still... Pet projects are a good proxy for determining whether a developer can actually, you know, develop. Much better than asking trivial algorithm questions or getting someone to figure out a puzzle. They're also goo…
Why the downvote? It is bullshit. This is the first stage in making yourself an obsolete COBOL developer - just say "I don't have time to keep up with the latest technologies." and twiddle your thumbs for 5 years. Lots of knee-jerk defensiveness on this thread.
The downvote because:
- The first thing I think when I read "this is bullshit" is "fuck you, you are bullshit". You start by obliterating any chance for a constructive interaction
- You are not actually engaging the arguments of the person you respond to. It seems you didn't get past his first three lines.
- Not only does it seem like you didn't read the arguments, it also seems you cannot think of valid reasons why a decent programmer would not have pet projects. Otherwise your response would have been less vitriolic.
- You are complaining about being downvoted ... by repeating the offensive assertion that probably got you downvoted in the first place and then poisoning the well by asserting that anyone that disagrees is engaging in 'knee-jerk defensiveness'. That's the second time I thought "fuck you", without even having considered what you actually wrote.
Re: If you don’t have pet projects, I don’t think I want you
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why the downvote? It is bullshit. This is the first stage in making yourself an obsolete COBOL developer - just say "I don't have time to keep up with the latest technologies." and twiddle your thumbs for 5 years. Lots of knee-jerk defensiveness on this thread.
The downvote because: - The first thing I think when I read "this is bullshit" is "fuck you, you are bullshit". You start by obliterating any chance for a constructive interaction - You are not actually engaging the arguments of the person you respond to. It seems you didn't get past his first three lines. - Not only does it seem like you didn't read the arguments, it also seems you cannot think of valid reasons why…
Pot, meet Kettle. You're judging me on the first word of my response, when the rest of it responds to his argument in detail.
Here's another response. This time I've quoted what I'm replying to, to save you any more confusion:
> Really, having or not having pet projects ... shouldn't matter [at] hiring time. You judge people on their ability as good as you can and what they do in their free time is simply none of your business.
So, my choice is between a) someone who likes programming enough to have a personal project - code that you can see and ask questions about - and b) someone who claims to have been too busy raising a family or having a life to have done anything else but work, can't show you any code because it's either "none of your business", or so much of a drag that they can't bring themselves to do it outside of work hours.
It's a no-brainer who I'm going to pick, and it's nothing to do with exploiting him.
Re: If you don’t have pet projects, I don’t think I want you
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
Really? Try having a 18 month old & a 3.5 year old and single parenting.
And yet here you are, demonstrating that you have time to read Hacker News and participate in the discussion. I'm not saying that parenting isn't time consuming but it's not as good an excuse when it's so obvious that your lack of time for more programming is also caused by much less noble activities than parenting.
That is a terrible argument as downtime is essential for humans to stay productive.
Of course people are going to watch some TV with their families, or play an hour of games to unwind a little, or go watch some sports game with their buddies, or spend god knows how many hours practicing their musical instruments. This is what keeps people sane, productive, balanced, and happy.
Having other hobbies after work is generally a good sign that the person is mature, and has good perspective on life.
Re: If you don’t have pet projects, I don’t think I want you
#100If you have a life, I don't want you. If you have a family, I don't want you. If you have enough energy to do your work but not enough energy that after work you can work some more, I don't want you. What is it that makes employers so enamored of people with 'pet projects'? Are they easier to take advantage of? Do they work long hours without expecting compensation? Does not having dependents mean that it's easier to…
Like the person who wrote the article and as someone who has hired for more than a decade for my own businesses, I've noticed my best developers had pet projects. They tend also to be the most passionate about developing. It's not an absolute rule, but I found a good indicator. As for having a life, let me tell you I have a 6 months old who spent 1.5 months of his life in the hospital, a wife, I'm CTO and co-founder…
I find it extremely hard to believe that you have 6-8 hours of sleep a night.