
Ask HN: How far can personal projects get you? - HighlandSpring
I&#x27;m currently working on an application as a sort of showcase of my skillset. SPA frontend in Vue.js with a REST API in Scala using Spring. Although, it is a struggle to put what little time I have left after work into this. I&#x27;d also like to go on to turn it into a couple short blog posts where I can comment on what I&#x27;ve done and show I know what I&#x27;m talking about.
It&#x27;s also worth noting that I crash and burn at whiteboard problem solving and would far prefer takehome exercises so this is another thing to make my CV stand out.<p>Those of you who were in a position of no work experience and a graduate degree (still working on mine) - just how significant of a role did your personal projects play in getting you hired somewhere you actually wanted to work? What kind of company was it? Was it ultimately worth pushing yourself towards doing it?
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magic_beans
It depends on the role you want, but for front-end developers having a
portfolio is an ABSOLUTE MUST.

Seriously.

I didn't have a stellar portfolio, but the jobs I applied to got so many
applicants with NO portfolio that I immediately stood out.

The thing is -- your personal projects don't have to be front-page HN-worthy,
but they should demonstrate skills that you'd be using on the job you're
applying for.

~~~
HighlandSpring
I don't have a particular passion for front-end but I do like to make an
effort to learn how other applications implemented similar UI so that what I
produce can pass as designed and not necessarily 'developer-made'.

I'm in the UK but I would like to find myself somewhere "exciting" like the
west coast of the US or somewhere in Asia. I need to be in a position where
companies abroad justify the cost and hassle of a remote recruit.

~~~
crestedtazo
The West Coast of the US is objectively the greatest area for human beings to
live on the planet. As someone who lives here, I believe that everyone born
here is (or should be) extremely thankful for it, and anyone who isn't born
here will likely spend their entire lives figuring out how to get here. :)

Glad to see you already understand this. :)

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madamelic
Took an entrepreneurship class

My group didn't want to work on our project (I was the only tech person in the
group)

Another group recruited me to build theirs. I was the only tech person willing
to do the work in the group. I self-taught Angular and Javascript

Attempted to get into an incubator with those people.

Failed.

Met up with another team wanting to build a startup.

Built it. Launched it. Learned Meteor and expanded JS skills

Graduated.

Got job at startup writing JS.

\---

tl;dr: Pretty far.

~~~
tedmiston
It's kind of crazy how many people go into entrepreneurship, in school and the
real world, thinking they can succeed without doing a ton of work.

~~~
madamelic
Yeah, it is the reason I don't really work with people anymore on their
startups anymore. Even "recruiting" a co-founder seems risky.

At first, it was fun but after "co-founders" bailed on me twice because "it
isn't fun anymore" (eg: what happens when you get into actually, you know,
running the thing), I just stopped joining teams that didn't pay me.

Everyone has an idea that they think will make them a millionaire or whatever.
Either they need to pay me (money. None of this "equity-only" junk) or they
need a proven track record of unstructured work and some killer skill I can't
touch.

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dasil003
When I first turned pro 17 years ago, my personal portfolio of projects dating
back to high school certainly made a difference. 10 years ago when I moved to
SV and joined a tech startup, it was my open source contributions that made
the difference.

Granted it was a simpler time back then, but I fundamentally believe in the
idea of scratching ones own itch and showing the world. Maybe things are
saturated now, and you won't stand out as much, but I still think shipping is
the ultimate litmus test. If you can ship stuff by yourself that's one of the
most powerful signals, and we are very fortunate how easy it is to do that as
developers in the modern age.

A lot of startups are aping Google/Facebook and trying to get the absolute
smartest engineers they can find by casting a wide net and then aggressively
culling so they end up with what they believe are the cream. If you really
want to get into one of these then you need to practice algorithms and
whiteboarding, you _can_ improve at it. That said, passing a high interview
bar says very little about your real value as a programmer. Companies like
Google and Facebook have amazing technical knowledge and to work on, but your
individual impact will rarely be detectable. And if you're not careful you end
up with the golden hand cuffs in the sense that no other companies pay as
well, and you won't really learn the hustling skills you need if you ever want
to do your own thing.

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mamaniscalco
At some point in the past each of us has had no work experience. Way back when
I did not, my personal projects mirrored exactly what I was passionate about,
which was data compression. Because I did what I was passionate about I was
compelled to be more creative and I produced some very significant work
including multiple novel compression techniques and solutions to related
algorithmic problems. As with anything else in life chance plays a role as
well and I was fortunate enough to have an opportunity to get a job with a
company that specialized in just that - data compression. But, as the saying
goes, chance favors the prepared (mind). Because I followed my passion I was
prepared when the opportunity arrived and my personal projects all but ensured
that I could get the job. That job was the best experience of my life and
allowed me to continue to pursue my passions for another 15 years or so.

You're personal projects, assuming they are really compelling to you and not
exclusively to showcase your skill set, will be the strongest assets you have
when an opportunity arises to do what you are passionate about. The degree
will, likely, be far less important than your body of work.

Follow your passion in your personal projects and you will be positioned well
when the opportunity to pursue that same passion professionally presents
itself. And you will likely be exceptionally well versed in the subject matter
that is important to that employer as well since they will likely be
considering you due of your body of work in the exactly the area where they
are in need. Good luck.

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mvpu
In a nutshell, where a "sensible" person (engineering manager, engineer,
founder..) is involved in front line recruiting (i.e they search, they look at
applications), your projects are valuable. I found that in a lot of cases such
people have a bias against resumes and will only consider candidates with side
projects and a github profile. Mostly these would be early stage startups and
some growth stage and large companies that believe in side projects.

Where "recruiters" and "recruiting systems" do front line recruiting, projects
don't matter. They're pattern matching resumes and looking for specific things
they're told to look for. These would be growth stage startups and large
companies, generally companies that hire in volumes and don't have the time or
patience to holistically look at candidates.

In short: don't work on projects just to showcase your skills and get hired -
hiring is a crap shoot. Work on them because you love working on them, and
believe that the world could benefit from them no matter how small.

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rwieruch
I see my website [0], where I teach React and JavaScript, as my personal
project. It is time consuming, but in the end rewarding. Only some of the
benefits I see:

\- improve communication skills

\- learn yourself by teaching others

\- it's open source, you give something back

\- maybe it is even good for your employer

\- personal branding, enhance own credibility

\- [0] [https://www.robinwieruch.de/](https://www.robinwieruch.de/)

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poletopole
I don't have a graduate degree, few do in your typical software company that's
not a household name. However, employers are very interested in personal
projects and want to know what you gained from building them. Professional
experience trumps personal projects I would say, but something is better than
nothing. Were my personal projects worth it? Yes, without them I probably
wouldn't be employed. But it's easy to get lost in them, when sometimes you
should move on.

The better strategy is to take a job where you know you can introduce
programming into your assignments, even if your job isn't a developer
position.

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psyc
I have no degree. Personal projects played a huge part in helping me get jobs
at Microsoft and Electronic Arts. Also, I'm very sure I'd be a shit programmer
if I hadn't put tens of thousands of hours in at home.

~~~
wapz
How did you put tens of thousands of hours at home? Are you referring to
remote work in your house? Or did you somehow have enough money saved up to
study for 10 hours a day, every day, for 6+ years?

~~~
psyc
I'm old, so I've had a lot more than 6 years. When I got my first job at a
small unknown software company, I'd been programming in my spare time for 9
years already, and I estimate I had put in the proverbial 10,000 hours. I
wasn't very good at that time, just good enough to get hired.

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iEchoic
In college I had no work experience and wasn't going to a good enough school
to work where I wanted based on my education alone. I spent two years making
games in college, and it was extremely worthwhile. It played a big role in
getting my dream job straight out of school, and made me a far better
developer than I would have been otherwise. In my experience, it can get you
pretty far.

Having impressive side projects puts you ahead of the majority of applicants
at most places.

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sfilargi
Side projects is the best favor you can do to yourself IMHO. The benefits are
lots:

0\. You exercise your passion

1\. You improve your coding skill

2\. You learn new stuff

3\. You build a portfolio

4\. You network (if you decide to do your side-project in a group)

5\. There is a slight chance that your project will succeed.

I personally started spending all my free time in side projects about a year
ago, and it was the best decision ever.

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segmondy
As far as you take em. It's not necessarily that you get to demo your project
and will get hired. It might happen, but it's more so the knowledge you
acquire along the way. That will serve you well down the line.

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matttheatheist
My personal project (www.enrad.io) got me a nice job. Also, I'm still selling
the units, making coin on the side.

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dbancajas
pretty far. it goes a long way for a prospective manager that you are self-
motivated

