Comment by PaulRobinson | Hacker News Reader

Comment by PaulRobinson | Hacker News Reader

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YMMV, but when I interview as an employer is ask a candidate to talk me through a project they really enjoyed. It can be work-based or a side-project, doesn't matter as long as it's something they really enjoyed. We then use that to explore what it was that excited them, the technology decisions they made, etc.[1]

If your answer was an unfinished project, I'd want to know why they were unfinished. Did you give up on them because of external pressures, you had a better idea, or because you often struggle to finish things you've started?

That last one is not alway a pejorative statement, BTW. Some people are great at figuring out the big stuff and then need others to help them execute on the detail (think about architects or producers). Others however, just give up at the first obstacle they meet, and if I get that impression from a candidate I'd want to dig into it a bit as it's possibly a yellow flag.

My advice then: think carefully about what they are likely to ask you about those unfinished projects, and what your answers are likely to be, before you offer them up.

[1] The most interesting answer to this question I've had was "an OpenGL renderer for the X Window System written in Lisp". My follow-up questions were many...

> That last one is not alway a pejorative statement, BTW. Some people are great at figuring out the big stuff and then need others to help them execute on the detail (think about architects or producers). Others however, just give up at the first obstacle they meet, and if I get that impression from a candidate I'd want to dig into it a bit as it's possibly a yellow flag.

The most common reason for me to ditch a side project is that I've gained what satisfaction is to be gained from making it. For example, I want to try or learn some new thing and convince myself I can do it. Once I'm far enough to know how it works (even if it's not really doing much yet), I'm satisfied and I can move on to the next interesting thing.

That's why I have basically no side projects to show off..

Follow-up: Where do you think my time would be better spent preparing for a new job? Making a sideproject I can show off or doing interview puzzles?

High-pay or high-reputation jobs where the employer can be selective (FAANG, quant finance) seem to test for high IQ with interview "puzzles" (computer science puzzles of course).

Good employers, but who do not have more qualified candidates than they know what to do with, are already very happy with someone who simply has an interest in his job, as this is already rare enough. They pay attention to personal projects as signs that you actually belong in IT.

Government and, by extension, the consultancies that cater to them, pay attention to diplomas. Bureaucracies recognizing the stamp of approval of another bureaucracy, is one way of looking at it.

I had side project and nobody cared when I was looking for job. Like, it did not seemed to matter or do difference.

One hiring manager let me talk about it more, but in retrospect he was basically nice to me and let me talk about it because I wanted to.

If you're going for a bigger tech firm, they're more likely to ask you to do the interview puzzle format.

Learning how to do those is a useful skill in its own right, even if they're "toy problems", because what you're learning is a process to break a problem down, and then make a choice based on your knowledge of data structures and algorithms about how to approach it.

Getting good at those puzzles means you flex muscles related to:

- Problem breakdown into logical steps, or what I now call "the useful thing CS50 actually teaches"

- Data Structures

- Algorithms

- Communicating your thought process on all of the above

Those skills are going to help you in any developer job, but might also give you more confidence to take on side projects you wouldn't otherwise. You might look at something out there and think "woah, I want to go figure that out", and now your mental muscles are slightly better trained for it.

What I want when interviewing isn't necessarily a good guide, but typically the technical skills are a baseline and then I want:

- People who can be mentored and aren't know-it-alls. A touch of humility about them. Finds pairing whilst driving scary but will try it.

- People who want to mentor others. Finds pairing whilst not driving scary or frustrating, but will try it.

- Able to work within a team towards a common goal

- Will take ownership and accountability of their own individual tasks

These are things you're more likely find from previous work experience and maybe in side projects, at a push.

I agree with the people who answered before me. The smaller the startup the more important your side project could be. The bigger the company, the more streamlined the hiring process and the more likely that you would encounter puzzles etc.

I'd say if you're going for FAANG-type companies, definitely prepare for the puzzles and quizzes, but for a more smaller one (let's say sub-100 people) go for the side project approach.

Exceptions do apply obviously: I've had friends who got hired at FAANG because of a side project that grew and got the attention of the engineers at said company.

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