[shard]

I think it depends on just how senior this position is. Senior developer, sure. VP of engineering, no. Team lead, maybe. If you list side projects, it needs to scale with your position. A VP's side project would scale up to a viable business of its own, which then is no longer a side project but a work experience entry in the CV.

[HeyLaughingBoy]

Not necessarily. At my last job, when I was being interviewed by the company President, he had a little hexapod robot on the desk. I asked him about it and it was a side project he had. His workday was so focused on managing the business, that he kept it around so he could do at least a little programming every week and keep his feet in the tech side of things.

[sime2009]

> it needs to scale with your position.

Does it? really?

> A VP's side project would scale up to a viable business of its own

Why? I don't follow your logic here, or we are using different definitions of side-project.

[dcolkitt]

I disagree. Even if I was hiring a VP of Engineering, I think it’s be cool to know that he had a silly little side project.

The more senior you get, the more the biggest hiring risk becomes sociopathy rather than incompetence. Most VPs of Engineering are basically decent at the skills required for their job. But a lot are duplicitous or machiavellian and aren’t going deploy those skills in a way that’s aligned with the broader organization.

Having a stupid little side project, one that has no tangible business or career upside, is a marker of sincerity. It shows that the person has genuine interests outside raw ambition.