JordanDeep

> If you arrange your portfolio site as mostly completely professional and then have a "beer coding fun projects" category it should just show you have a sense of humor and like tech enough to do stuff outside of work.

That would be my hope. All of these side projects are done outside of work, so part of the goal is to demonstrate interest/drive. I have plenty of professional work examples I can show should the need arise.

I think you're talking about a different variety of side project than I am. I'm more looking at short little explorations of CSS/JS/design to (1) teach myself new skills, (2) have a little fun, and (3) maybe get some "internet points" (that can hopefully be redeemed for job hunting benefits in the future). The question is whether the "internet points" (exposure) for silly projects would actually be useful, or possibly even detrimental to finding a job.

As far as freelancing goes, its going to be harder to get extra income with anything but your real name. There might be a way, but it probably has some dubious tax implications (although maybe you could search with a pseudonym and give your real name once hired).

The "try not to say anything stupid" approach is the one I'm leaning toward at the moment. Like I said, some of the projects I'm talking about are silly (not all of them), and definitely not offensive.

In my mind the question is whether the technical chops would outweigh the silly/comedic image, and that might be something I can't know. I would hope that the impressive use of CSS would interest other developers, but a manager might be turned off by a "motherfucking website".

Interesting. The "silly" projects (again, not offensive) I've talked about are all ones I wouldn't mind talking about to strangers. Its more the image/impression I'm worried about. As you mentioned, there is a good chance nothing would happen, I'm just being extra cautious.

This would certainly be an effective strategy, but it would be harder. Maintaining a single "brand" (in addition to a full time job) will probably be a lot of work , more or less two. Then again, I suppose I could always put more work into the "fun" identity while merely keeping up appearances with the "professional" one.