Let’s clarify first what is a pet project. A pet project is not necessarily a open-source project. Not everyone is capable of developing an ORM framework or a library that will be used on a commercial project.
A pet project, in most cases, is a simple application that tries to solve a problem at a small scale. The idea does not need to be original. For instance, if you want to develop a fictional store, go ahead.
About myself, I can tell that I need an application that gathers information from job announcements and tells me which are the most demanded skills. I also want to know what companies are posting the same job announcements over and over again, because there might be something off with those companies. If you’d like to know why I am so interested all the time about what’s on the job market please read this article.
OK, let’s enumerate the reasons why you should have a pet project:
- It shows that you have passion for programming. When you are a junior, it is very likely to get hired as a programmer but you will end up doing something completely different, that nobody whats to do. Been there, done that. You will not thrive. A pet project will help you overcome this obstacle.
- It’s your chance to do things that you think they should be done. At the office you might be constrained by the circumstances and you will have to solve problems as you are told to.
- You will learn more than you could do it by watching tutorials. Some tutorials are free some are not. Your project does not cost a thing. Tutorials are more ore less theory. Your project is practical. Practice makes it perfect.
- It doesn’t take that long. Yes, you need to document yourself first by following some tutorials, reading some books or whatever. You need to develop the software itself and that takes time. But after you will complete it, all you have to do is to maintain it. For example, you can upgrade the libraries every now and then but that’s all.
- It will boost your chances of getting a job offer. It boosts, not just increase them. It is not ethical, especially within the outsourcing context to show your previous commercial work. In most cases it is even illegal. Presenting your pet project, the way you think and do things is perfectly safe. Believe me, there are so few people that have pet projects, so you can easily stand out from the crowd.
- You can afford the luxury of choosing. As a continuation from 5. you can skip technical tests and show them your work. If the interviewer does not want to look at it, then I advise of moving on with the job searching. You cannot ask for any better from a candidate when she/he has a pet project.
- The repository you are pushing your work counts it. It will display your activity. Committing regularly and consistent, let’s say once in a week, every week, it will tell only good things about you as a future employee. Both from the technical and soft skills perspective.
So, the main advantage of a pet project is that it brings you a job offer. Of course, don’t rely just on this because:
- your interviewer might be so set on his interviewing policies and she/he will expect you to follow the predefined routine like answering to a list of technical questions
- your project might be too simplistic. Don’t try developing a real search engine, but don’t make a “hello world” application either.
- you are lacking other skills
- there might be someone else who had a better project than you.
- it was a fake interview. No matter who good you were, you will still not get the job since somebody else will get it or the interviewers just want to inspect the market or simply to have fun on somebody’s else time and feelings.
Conclusion
Based on my experience, in a large proportion of cases, the interviewers were interested in my pet project. They provided feedback and it was a pleasant experience for me. And they seemed to liked it too. I feel that pet project was the icing on the cake.
There were times when I didn’t believe in my work so I did not present that project. Those interviews were either so and so or pretty good, but not brilliant. In other words, I was close enough but not good enough.
Every time I presented my pet project, the interview went awesome and I had the feeling that I will get the offer. And it did. It is not about bragging, it’s about sharing my experience.
As a final note, I read this article, which is written in Romanian language — feel free to use Google translate. It explains some other advantages of having a pet project — like logistics of using those open-source libraries and adds.