Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I have no side code projects to show you

codementor.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 545 posts

Re: I have no side code projects to show you

#51

Post by 2trill2spill »

sbov wrote: post #19

I like to have side projects, but I still don't like to share them. People love to find reasons to reject, and an 18, 11, or 7 year long side project (the age of all my side projects) isn't really a fair representation of how I code today. Even as someone who enjoys side projects, the prospect of sharing a side project, and being criticized by a potential employer about the contents of it, turns it from "side project…

> Even as someone who enjoys side projects, the prospect of sharing a side project, and being criticized by a potential employer about the contents of it, turns it from "side project" to work.

You should be able to take constructive criticism of your work regardless if it's a side project or not.

Re: I have no side code projects to show you

#52

Post by busterarm »

richardwhiuk wrote: post #33
busterarm wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most sane folks would like to find another job to quit into rather than just leave their job, but if you have a great financial cushion to rest on, sure, go ahead. Having been poor most of my life and worked full-time since I was 15 years old (with an odd break or two), I can tell you that that is a luxury most people do not have.

Work the hours in your contract. No more, no less. If you aren't being compensated, why work longer?

It's not happening to me, but it happens in plenty of places.

crunch time is very real.

Re: I have no side code projects to show you

#53

Post by kodablah »

sidlls wrote: post #37
TAForObvReasons wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Side projects are for software what a portfolio is for other creative industries. You don't hire a designer sight unseen -- usually you ask for a sample. It makes perfect sense to expect the same of technology.

Only if you believe software development is neither engineering nor science, and is purely creative. It isn't, though, and demanding a portfolio is almost as terrible a practice as Cracking the Coding Interview style interviews.

> Only if you believe software development is neither engineering nor science, and is purely creative.

I have to believe it "is neither engineering nor science, and is purely creative"? Only those extremes? I believe it is some of all 3 and I don't think requesting (i.e. not "demanding") a portfolio or prior work is any more unreasonable than not asking for it.

Re: I have no side code projects to show you

#54

Post by kelnos »

nathan_long wrote: post #40

Honest question: do you use open source at work? Do you contribute to open source while at work ? If not, why not? A couple days ago I spent several hours puzzling through how to use an open source library. When I figured it out, I made a PR for documentation. Our closed-source app will benefit from having its dependencies better documented. I do very little coding outside of work anymore, but I still have public con…

A docs PR probably wouldn't satisfy this type of interviewer's curiosity. A code contribution large enough to be useful to an interviewer would likely require enough employer time that it'd be harder to sell your average employer on allowing you to open source it and/or contribute back.

Re: I have no side code projects to show you

#55

Post by ringaroundthetx »

kelnos wrote: post #32
shortsightedsid wrote: post #25

It's funny that the tech industry is so insistent on side projects. I mean - would you hire a marketing person based on their 'side projects' or a corporate lawyer purely based on their pro-bono work? Likewise, who on earth asks a building contractor if they have any side projects? You would ask for references or find a contractor via someone you know. What about recruiters themselves? How does one judge if a person…

The next time I'm interviewing in front of a hiring manager who asks me about my side coding projects, I'm going to ask them about their side managing projects.

yeah and they are going to write in the slack channel how you were so aggressive and extrapolate how bad of an employee you would be for the company, challenging every little thing with abrasive non sequiturs

cute, but you'll adapt.

Re: I have no side code projects to show you

#57

Post by tomcam »

colomon wrote: post #48

What strikes me as weird about this is the assumption that it's an either/or proposition. I am passionate about playing traditional dance music. And I have supported this by writing a program to generate high quality sheet music from ABC scores; scripts to download collections of scores or MP3s off the web; scripts to handle tagging/naming my MP3 files; etc. I am passionate about RPGs. Back in the day I supported thi…

Please contact me about dance music! Email in profile

Re: I have no side code projects to show you

#58

Post by wellboy »

Yes, that's why he'll get a job at a large and average software company, but not at a modern, small software company that still has to make a name for itself and has to rely on people living for code, having work life in their top 3 priorities being able to pull out the company out of closing down if needed.

Each their own.

Re: I have no side code projects to show you

#59

Post by icebraining »

kelnos wrote: post #38
warcher wrote: post #31

I’m not mad at you, but as the dude on the other side of the desk, I have to decide whether you can cut it and I’m fine saying no. I could make you do some whiteboard problems, but I think whiteboard problems are pretty far removed from your day to day development and I am uncomfortable relying on them as a proxy for your ability to ship code. I don’t really disagree with your philosophy of working while you’re worki…

You're espousing a false dichotomy. The options in evaluating a candidate aren't merely "give them whiteboard coding problems" or "examine their side projects". Give them a take-home assignment. Give them an in-person assignment where they have several hours to complete a smallish design-and-build task. There are a lot more options, and I'm getting tired of people claiming they don't know how to evaluate technical ca…

This seems like a weird position to take from the employee's side. I'd much rather work a few hours on my own schedule and on projects I choose and that I can then show to multiple companies, than to have to write multiple custom hours-long projects for each company on a fixed day.

Re: I have no side code projects to show you

#60

Post by derekp7 »

apk-d wrote: post #39
derekp7 wrote: post #8

How would you go about putting a personal side project up on github if you are stuck with an employment contract that says your employer owns all your intellectual output, even that which you produce on your own time? Yes, I realize that stipulation is there for general protection of the employer and not typically intended to be used in a draconian way, however it still leaves the door open for you to get sued into o…

> your employer owns all your intellectual output, even that which you produce on your own time Holy shit, I had no idea this was legal [furiously reviews contract]

If I remember the phrasing correctly from a fortune 50 company I worked at (during the dot com boom):

Any inventions, innovations, or ideas, conceived solely by you or jointly with others, whether or not using any company resources, at any time during the course of your employment, will be owned by the company.

Post reply on HN