[habitue]

> This has not been my experience.

The claim is that personal projects can help. You don't have any personal projects (so they haven't helped you) but that isn't evidence personal projects aren't helpful, only that they are not strictly necessary.

[ornornor]

I’ve been in this racket for a decade now. I change jobs every 18 months give or take. I’ve applied to hundreds of jobs over my career. I can count on my hands how many actually did click the link to my personal projects showcase (not a link to my GH although it’s also there, but an actual page in my website presenting the projects and linking to the code) and wanted to talk about any of the ten or so featured projects.

It’s a very very good filter for better culture (according to my personal criteria anyway), but it’s exceedingly rare as to be insignificant.

If you want a job you’re better off doing a couple projects if you’re a junior and then spending your time learning todays new hot framework + buzzwords instead of actual projects. If you’re more senior don’t even bother (unless you want to)

[ipaddr]

25 years in.. you are at this tipping point where those 18 month position look suspect and people will expect 5 years. Not having a personal project means you might have know how to code the modern wat.. having a popular project changes this. No one visits your website if they do only to see the design.

[ornornor]

I hope I’ll be out of the game well before I have 25 years of experience honestly.

[wnolens]

I'll concede it's a useful crutch for those 1-2y out of a bootcamp. I even used it to get internships in university. And it's the advice I give to my friends in that position. But not OPs situation here.