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How to not waste time on a side project when trying to get a job

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Re: How to not waste time on a side project when trying to get a job

#11

Post by jdc0589 »

ch4s3 wrote: post #4
noncoml wrote: post #2

Forget about side projects if you are looking for a job. Focus on leetcode. It is like buying stamina when the next boss can be easily defeated using strength.

Can you elaborate on why that might be the case?

a lot of technical interviews use super contrived problems for you to work through. There is a non-zero chance that a super experienced engineer could be qualified for a job, but stumble on the applied questions asked by some interviewers.

leetcode is intended to help that type of interviewee get up to speed on a lot of those sort of technical interview questions that they may not have directly thought about for years.

Re: How to not waste time on a side project when trying to get a job

#12

Post by eigenhombre »

I was a bit nonplussed reading this as well. If I'm interviewing a future colleague I am especially curious about their side projects on GitHub ... but I don't care how well what they have done dovetails with my current technical needs, or many "iterations" they have shipped, but rather: are they passionate/do they make things they care about? Can they write clearly? Is the code of high quality? Have they interacted with others well (respectful/helpful tone in PRs, Issues, etc.)? I find most candidates don't bother with half, or any, of these, but the ones that do tend to be good ones (and, alas, are also employed already).

Re: How to not waste time on a side project when trying to get a job

#14

Post by zitterbewegung »

ryandrake wrote: post #10
realPubkey wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thought the the same. For me it's not doing sideprojects to get a job but having a job to finance my sideprojects.

My guess is you're both gainfully employed :) Side projects are more and more being touted as a way to "stand out" from the enormous crowd of people trying to get tech jobs. A company choosing among 100 candidates, all things being equal, may bias towards the few with active interesting side projects. If you accept that, then starting some kind of side project would be worth it.

Side projects got me jobs and when I do side projects sometime they are for fun and sometimes they aren’t . I think a better objective is to do fun / cool side projects and try to align them when you want to.

Re: How to not waste time on a side project when trying to get a job

#15

Post by JSONwebtoken »

ch4s3 wrote: post #4
noncoml wrote: post #2

Forget about side projects if you are looking for a job. Focus on leetcode. It is like buying stamina when the next boss can be easily defeated using strength.

Can you elaborate on why that might be the case?

I think it's because such a small percentage of competing applicants are likely to have substantial projects anyway, you may as well focus on the common denominator of the interview, which are the data structures and algorithms questions.

Re: How to not waste time on a side project when trying to get a job

#16

Post by dundercoder »

alexkavon wrote: post #6

I totally stop my side projects when job hunting. There really doesn't seem to be any practical time. Often I find that I need that time to study new concepts and play catch up improving my skills so I can be even more presentable to a company. I mean the tech industry, especially software engineering is rife with testing merge sorts, parsing csv files, and non-real world coding challenges when interviewing. Who has…

I had never even heard of HackerRank before applying at a few places. I was supposed to write a binary search tree algorithm without using anything except the language docs. I rarely write anything new without a quick search, it wastes valuable time reinventing the wheel.

Re: How to not waste time on a side project when trying to get a job

#17

Post by wwalser »

jefe78 wrote: post #3

I don't understand the logic of this article. My side projects tend to be efforts in self employment, not 'click bait' for an employer. While not everyone has the same approach, this article seems to imply the only value of side projects is for future employers. I'd hate for people to get the wrong impression about the value of these projects.

> this article seems to imply the only value of side projects is for future employers

It doesn't imply that. When writing about anything, explaining all the things that you're _not_ talking about is a great way to never get to the point.

Determining that the post is about side projects aimed at landing a job is a task left to the reader. If the title didn't get you there, the second sentence is here to help: "For the distinct purpose of getting a job in tech, side projects are either a great use of your time or a great waste of your time."

"Distinct" as in specific — "The following may not apply if you're objective is not specifically to getting a job in the tech industry."

If you'd like to talk about other great uses of side projects, I think that's a completely reasonable discussion to have. Simi-related threads in top-level comments are common: "I know it's a little different form what the article is talking about, but I'd like to talk about…"

Re: How to not waste time on a side project when trying to get a job

#18

Post by lfowles »

zitterbewegung wrote: post #14
ryandrake wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My guess is you're both gainfully employed :) Side projects are more and more being touted as a way to "stand out" from the enormous crowd of people trying to get tech jobs. A company choosing among 100 candidates, all things being equal, may bias towards the few with active interesting side projects. If you accept that, then starting some kind of side project would be worth it.

Side projects got me jobs and when I do side projects sometime they are for fun and sometimes they aren’t . I think a better objective is to do fun / cool side projects and try to align them when you want to.

My "side projects" have generally been learning exercises and almost exclusively for fun, but maybe that's an uncommon view.

FTA: > Side note: learning a skill isn’t a side project, you have to ship something.

Re: How to not waste time on a side project when trying to get a job

#19

Post by pcl »

wwalser wrote: post #17
jefe78 wrote: post #3

I don't understand the logic of this article. My side projects tend to be efforts in self employment, not 'click bait' for an employer. While not everyone has the same approach, this article seems to imply the only value of side projects is for future employers. I'd hate for people to get the wrong impression about the value of these projects.

> this article seems to imply the only value of side projects is for future employers It doesn't imply that. When writing about anything, explaining all the things that you're _not_ talking about is a great way to never get to the point. Determining that the post is about side projects aimed at landing a job is a task left to the reader. If the title didn't get you there, the second sentence is here to help: "For the…

Well, the title reads "3 Principles to Make Your Side Project Stand Out to Help You Land a Job in Tech".

Re: How to not waste time on a side project when trying to get a job

#20

Post by er0l »

fardo wrote: post #8
ch4s3 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you elaborate on why that might be the case?

Regardless of how impressive your side project is, unless it is a very special exception (e.g. you’re head maintainer of a linux distribution or open source tool the company hiring you is extensively using and needs your expertise on), it’s only getting you into the door to talk to people, and it’s not a route around the interview process. So, ultimately that process is going to be whiteboard coding, because it (let’…

Spot on.
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