I think the short answer is no, with a very large asterisk.
You can get a job without side projects, but they sure do help, especially since they're becoming such a huge part of tech hiring culture.
Side projects are like if you had to show your work on your resume. If an employer is looking for React proficiency and your portfolio is built with React, that's your skills speaking for themselves. Having clean repos with good commits shows some of those softer tech skills (we've all tried to decipher a teammate's bizarre commit message). These projects can also help you in your job when adding a new feature or tech - "I've worked with this before in my project, I can handle it!"
On the other hand, not having side projects doesn't make you any less of a developer. I don't have any side projects right now; I work full time as a developer! If anyone tried to tell me I'm not a real developer because of that, I'd scoff and send them back to 10X land. A mechanic is still a mechanic, even if they don't work on their own car.
Overall, I'd say side projects are important for those looking to break into the field as juniors, especially coming from nontraditional education backgrounds simply because there is so much weight being put on them right now. And if having a lush and green Github graph saves you from one interview whiteboard, then that's a win.
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I think the short answer is no, with a very large asterisk.
You can get a job without side projects, but they sure do help, especially since they're becoming such a huge part of tech hiring culture.
Side projects are like if you had to show your work on your resume. If an employer is looking for React proficiency and your portfolio is built with React, that's your skills speaking for themselves. Having clean repos with good commits shows some of those softer tech skills (we've all tried to decipher a teammate's bizarre commit message). These projects can also help you in your job when adding a new feature or tech - "I've worked with this before in my project, I can handle it!"
On the other hand, not having side projects doesn't make you any less of a developer. I don't have any side projects right now; I work full time as a developer! If anyone tried to tell me I'm not a real developer because of that, I'd scoff and send them back to 10X land. A mechanic is still a mechanic, even if they don't work on their own car.
Overall, I'd say side projects are important for those looking to break into the field as juniors, especially coming from nontraditional education backgrounds simply because there is so much weight being put on them right now. And if having a lush and green Github graph saves you from one interview whiteboard, then that's a win.