He should be mad. The idea that what you are professionally capable of needs to be proven or accentuated with spare-time projects is nonsense and needs to die.

He should be mad. The idea that what you are professionally capable of needs to be proven or accentuated with spare-time projects is nonsense and needs to die. What someone does with their personal time should have no bearing on their professional life - if all of that spare-time coding sharpens their skills, that should be self-evident during the interviewing process and give them an advantage anyway.