Showcase Projects vs Passion Projects

Arpit Mathur. — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 22:10:02 +0000

One of the most common pieces of advice you'll get as a newbie developer is to work on some projects to master your skills when looking for a job. The conventional wisdom is that 3 is a good number to show on your resume, which I generally agree with (we'll talk about which three the next time)

That said, people confuse 2 types of projects: showcase projects and passion projects. Let's see how they differ:

Showcase projects

Showcase projects are projects that you want to show a recruiter or an engineering lead. These projects should be familiar products (a bug organizer, a blog, etc). Showcase projects should not be around an idea unfamiliar to the reviewer, so the conversation you have around it is about the code and your technical skills, not the merit of the idea. It's also ok to adopt the design from a well-known project out there instead of trying to come up with a design yourself, especially if you aren't a designer.

Passion Projects

Passion projects are projects you are personally very excited about even though their implementation may not be very complicated or the user interaction may be very unusual. A simple listing of local keto restaurants may be a great passion project but doesn't highlight your technical skills.

Mixing it up

This division may feel a bit arbitrary, and if your passion project has technical merit, then definitely show it. But remember your primary goal in a technical interview is to discuss the technical underpinnings of your project. You will get more credit for a complex system implemented well than a novel idea with a simple execution 🙂

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Communicating when working remote

Arpit Mathur. — Tue, 12 Jan 2021 18:27:25 +0000

I was recently rewatching one of my favorite talks, Jonathan Rosenberg's Rules to Success and it just struck me how many of his points are even more important today than ever, especially on communication, which is really important when working from home. I shared my notes on that with my team at work but figured it would also be useful to others here.

Overcommunicate always all the time. You cant communcate enough
Openly share everything with your collegues. Trust your people and give them this info. Trust breeds loyalty.
Repetition does not spoil the prayer
Each word matters. Be crisp and direct and choose each word wisely
Great leaders are great teachers and great teachers are great storytellers. Narrative matters.

On Talking:

As leaders, you learn more by listening than talking. Listening makes you humble and smart. When you listen you learn how things work, when you talk, you echo how you think things work.
If you must talk, ask questions. People learn more about you from your questions
If you actually know the answer in a business situation, talk, but back up with data.
Try to respond instantly. If you don't respond instantly, everything stalls.

Thoughts are always welcome 😀

DEV Community: Arpit Mathur.

Showcase Projects vs Passion Projects