How to not waste time on a side project when trying to get a job

Re:How to not waste time on a side project when trying to ge... by fardo on Tuesday December 19, 2017 @03:17PM (#15963811)

Regardless of how impressive your side project is, unless it is a very special exception (e.g. you’re head maintainer of a linux distribution or open source tool the company hiring you is extensively using and needs your expertise on), it’s only getting you into the door to talk to people, and it’s not a route around the interview process.

So, ultimately that process is going to be whiteboard coding, because it (let’s be honest) basically always is. That whiteboard coding tends to draw its questions, most often, from question pools like those on Leetcode.

This means if you’re resume’s strong enough for someone to talk to you, you probably should be optimizing to pass the whiteboard section.

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Re:How to not waste time on a side project when trying to ge... by codingdave on Tuesday December 19, 2017 @06:29PM (#15965495)

Yes/No -- In my last job hunt, I talked to more than one employer who said they had declined people who rocked the whiteboarding, but had nothing else to show. People are building teams who can work together, communicate well, and dedicate their efforts to completing projects together. Good whiteboarding is a prerequisite to being part of a team... but not the entirety of a hiring decision.

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Re:How to not waste time on a side project when trying to ge... by vonmoltke on Tuesday December 19, 2017 @07:11PM (#15965799)

I have yet to be on a team where good white boarding was a prerequisite.

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Re:How to not waste time on a side project when trying to ge... by Scarbutt on Tuesday December 19, 2017 @07:00PM (#15965722)

Having side projects to show doesn't prove one can work together on a team, communicate well, nor dedicate their efforts to completing projects together.

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Re:How to not waste time on a side project when trying to ge... by ch4s3 on Tuesday December 19, 2017 @04:04PM (#15964239)

That makes a lot of sense.

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Re:How to not waste time on a side project when trying to ge... by er0l on Tuesday December 19, 2017 @03:40PM (#15964051)

Spot on.

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