[jt2190]

From the Quora answer [1]:

  > I do attend (and give) technical talks; and perhaps most
  > importantly, I pick my day job based on learning and 
  > growth opportunities: which company I’m working at, which 
  > team I’m on, and which projects I take on. I stumbled 
  > onto this a little bit by accident, but I discovered that 
  > responsibilities in your day job that require you to 
  > learn are a great forcing function for learning.

I think that this is the nuance of the article that the headline simplifies away. I think we often look for side-projects because they are an indicator of ongoing learning and they demonstrate expertise. They are by no means the only way to show these things to a prospective employer. Giving presentations, writing articles, being able to discuss industry trends intelligently... All of these things count too.

[1] https://www.quora.com/Software-Engineering/Are-you-a-bad-dev...

[lmartel]

I agree, you're dead on with the point the author is actually making (there are other ways to learn / build a portfolio in one's free time than side projects) vs the point many commenters seem to want the author to be making: software engineers should be able to do their jobs well, go home, and do something else for a couple hours. I'd like to see someone take that on, but this article--err, Quora post--doesn't quite do that.

[soundoflight]

I agree entirely and I think the author should have actually stuck that earlier in the article where people would actually read it.

[codezero]

If you add ?share=1 to the end of the Quora URL, folks daring enough to follow the link won't get any sign-up call to action.

[davidcuddeback]

That sounds like the sort of thing that could get someone in hot water under the CFAA these days.

[codezero]

It could if it weren't added explicitly for people to use in the way described: https://blog.quora.com/Making-Sharing-Better?share=1

[davidcuddeback]

Ah. I didn't know that. Thanks.