[ta12653421]

>projects as a completely separate activity, but I don't file that under improving your application skills. <

Absolutely NOT my experience!!! In my case, being able to put "sideprojects" on the tabe, which were somehow adjacent to the role, it always made huge plus.

Currently I'm interviewing for a role for which they rejected a second interview after the first one, when i showed them something i've developed during my recent sabbatical - instead they asked just for completing a 2-slide-ppt and will hire me without having ever met (the corp office is 3 miles away from me)

[Dylan16807]

I'll rephrase.

It's something that can help you get a job, but it's not "how do I get better at writing a resume?"

There's unlimited time you can put into side projects. But that's very different from figuring out what you did wrong when applying and trying to fix it.

And the time you put into side projects isn't based on how many job applications you're filling out.

[johnnyanmac]

It varies. Side projects are nice, until you have professional experience. Real experience will trump hobbyist ones 99.9% of the time.

Of course when the market gets rough, now they want both.

[ta12653421]

Very strong disagree: Showing interest for a distinct thing always helped me jump to the next adjacent square.

[johnnyanmac]

The modern job market disagrees with you, sadly.