Original Summary

I recently analyzed 500 public career websites to see what people actually choose to show when presenting themselves professionally. Almost everyone listed the expected things: 95% had skills, 94% had work experience, and 94% had education. What surprised me was that only 34% showed projects . For people building side projects, that number feels especially strange. A project can reveal things a resume usually cannot: what you care enough about to work on without being asked, what kinds of problems catch your attention, how you make decisions, and whether you can turn an idea into something real. That does not have to mean launching a SaaS or building a polished startup. It can be a tiny tool, an experiment, a dataset you analyzed, a design exercise, a game, a newsletter, music, art, automation, or something weird that was interesting enough for you to spend a weekend on. I think this matters even more now because AI has lowered the barrier between having an idea and actually making something. You do not need to be equally good at coding, design, writing, research, and distribution before you can start. That makes projects an increasingly accessible way to demonstrate curiosity and initiative, especially for people trying to break into a new field or differentiate themselves from candidates with very similar resumes. The finding made me wonder whether a lot of people are underestimating the career value of the things they build on the side. Have any of your side projects ever directly helped you get a job, client, interview, or opportunity? Disclosure: I founded Self , the platform these 500 public career websites were published on. This is first-party platform data, so it describes this sample rather than all job seekers.   submitted by   /u/XmintMusic [link]   [comments]

  • 情报分类：工作与职业机会
  • 分类依据：内容涉及招聘、求职或职业发展
  • 信息来源：Reddit · SideProject
  • 发布时间：2026/9/29 20:34:38