[auvrw]

i did my last search in two milestones: build things, do interviews.

i did one "field of dreams" project using a stack that i was mostly familiar with already and several "effort" project to learn and demonstrate skills in a different language/stack (Clojure).

totally agree that once the interview screens started, that side-project time got scaled back to vanishing. however, i'm really thankful that i had enough time to do the side project milestone as well as the interview proper, because i wound up finding a role developing in Clojure. i don't think that would've been possible had i not invested the time in side projects before starting in on interviews.