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Re:I have no side code projects to show you by crdb on Thursday October 26, 2017 @04:24AM (#15557224)
> I don't expect my surgeon to do surgery in his spare time.

I really like it when my specialist has a prominent public profile.

A recent case: tenure at a major university, had written or was quoted in many good journals and papers, and had a number of impressive accreditations (for example he was also head of his specialty's medical association for the country). This showed dedication and interest as well as some measure of intelligence.

I was accordingly confident he was on top of the latest developments in his field and would be able to deal with complications better than your run of the mill specialist. The care was great throughout.

Similarly, our lawyer has been quoted twice by the Supreme Court in Singapore, has written many articles in the Straits Times, and does great (and visible) pro bono work, all of which I could find off a quick Google for his name. Whilst I hired him based on a recommendation, it was comforting to see this public confirmation of his ability and interest in the field.

Re:I have no side code projects to show you by pell on Thursday October 26, 2017 @05:53AM (#15557566)
While these points may well be examples of this person's ability, certain credentials don't have to mean as much. As an example, the head of an association is not necessarily chosen for their merit.
Re:I have no side code projects to show you by protomyth on Thursday October 26, 2017 @06:14AM (#15557632)
I knew of at least one department Dean at a college that was chosen for that position so he would not teach anymore students.
Re:I have no side code projects to show you by purplezooey on Thursday October 26, 2017 @01:25PM (#15561045)
Not so sure about this. It would be OK for my surgeon to just be a badass surgeon and not a politician. Public confirmation doesn't add much because the skill of navigating that is (mostly) unrelated to the skill of achieving a great surgery outcome.
Re:I have no side code projects to show you by jventura on Thursday October 26, 2017 @03:05PM (#15561998)
I think the key to your answer is in the parent's text: "This showed dedication and interest as well as some measure of intelligence."

My reasoning is that if someone is very good in his line of work, some of that work starts to spill out to the public, either by research, teaching, articles, blog posts, etc.. If a person is not a pure introvert, working all by himself, and is quite good, invariably someone will notice it..