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How will side projects enhance my skills as a software engineer on the job?
Entry-Level Software Engineer [SEP] at JPMorgan Chase2 years ago
For context, I mainly work on the web-side, building customer-facing surfaces. I don't want side projects to be something like DSA where it's good for interviews and that's it.
The concept of side projects makes me think of Flappy Bird when it came out. It seems like it started off as a side project, so this is all interesting to me and would love to learn more about the benefits.
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(1 comment)- 432 years agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
- Side projects mainly help with code velocity, especially if you work on the product side where you can build something very tangible and similar to what you build at work. As a junior engineer, coding velocity is extremely important, making it one of the best times in your career to build side projects.
- Side projects are a sort of "life hack" as it allows you to build up job muscles without just working extra hours and ruining your work-life balance.
- I never had problems with coding velocity in my performance reviews as an Android engineer. This is largely because I wrote so much Android code outside of work for fun, building side project apps.
- At a deeper level, building side projects will allow you to develop a deeper overall product sense as you get to wear many hats building a side project. You get to be a designer, customer experience representative, product manager, and more all at the same time! This will help you have a more meaningful voice as a product engineer at work.
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