I've heard other people say the same thing... It's interesting. My projects have definitely got me interviews, but I admit that it has generally happened when I met someone at another event. You get to talking about what you've been working on and I just pull out my laptop and show them. So maybe that's the difference. I know that when I've been hiring, I always look at people's side projects. If they have a nice project I might not even bother looking at their CV. I might be strange, though...