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Are unfinished projects worth anything to an prospective employer? I have plenty of projects I attempted before getting busy with real life. Should I show those

Are unfinished projects worth anything to an prospective employer? I have plenty of projects I attempted before getting busy with real life. Should I show those when asked for a Github?

74ls00 7y ago
I do - assuming there’s actually something to show off then I put it up. I have static websites only half full of content, repositories with just an assortment of scripts and configs, libraries that are just enough to meet the use case, etc
wastedhours 7y ago
> unfinished projects Depends on the definition of "unfinished" - it's good to create something that's workable to some state (or at least demo something). If you're using a repo of unrunnable code as an example of your skills, you probably need to have a robust explanation of what needs to be done to get it working. However, I doubt lots of examples of half-complete projects will reflect too well, and might be more of a hindrance ("doesn't follow through, constantly jumping from thing to thing...") than a benefit. Pick one you're proud of and run with it, even if it's just a "this is the state, this is what I'd do to get it running...".
- james_s_tayler 7y ago
  Pick one you're proud of and have the rest of the unfinished stuff as private repos.
PaulRobinson 7y ago
YMMV, but when I interview as an employer is ask a candidate to talk me through a project they really enjoyed. It can be work-based or a side-project, doesn't matter as long as it's something they really enjoyed. We then use that to explore what it was that excited them, the technology decisions they made, etc.[1] If your answer was an unfinished project, I'd want to know why they were unfinished. Did you give up on them because of external pressures, you had a better idea, or because you often struggle to finish things you've started? That last one is not alway a pejorative statement, BTW. Some people are great at figuring out the big stuff and then need others to help them execute on the detail (think about architects or producers). Others however, just give up at the first obstacle they meet, and if I get that impression from a candidate I'd want to dig into it a bit as it's possibly a yellow flag. My advice then: think carefully about what they are likely to ask you about those unfinished projects, and what your answers are likely to be, before you offer them up. [1] The most interesting answer to this question I've had was "an OpenGL renderer for the X Window System written in Lisp". My follow-up questions were many...
- hackerbabz 7y ago
  Follow-up: Where do you think my time would be better spent preparing for a new job? Making a sideproject I can show off or doing interview puzzles?
  - throwaway92384 7y ago
    High-pay or high-reputation jobs where the employer can be selective (FAANG, quant finance) seem to test for high IQ with interview "puzzles" (computer science puzzles of course). Good employers, but who do not have more qualified candidates than they know what to do with, are already very happy with someone who simply has an interest in his job, as this is already rare enough. They pay attention to personal projects as signs that you actually belong in IT. Government and, by extension, the consultancies that cater to them, pay attention to diplomas. Bureaucracies recognizing the stamp of approval of another bureaucracy, is one way of looking at it.
  - watwut 7y ago
    I had side project and nobody cared when I was looking for job. Like, it did not seemed to matter or do difference. One hiring manager let me talk about it more, but in retrospect he was basically nice to me and let me talk about it because I wanted to.
  - PaulRobinson 7y ago
    If you're going for a bigger tech firm, they're more likely to ask you to do the interview puzzle format. Learning how to do those is a useful skill in its own right, even if they're "toy problems", because what you're learning is a process to break a problem down, and then make a choice based on your knowledge of data structures and algorithms about how to approach it. Getting good at those puzzles means you flex muscles related to: - Problem breakdown into logical steps, or what I now call "the useful thing CS50 actually teaches" - Data Structures - Algorithms - Communicating your thought process on all of the above Those skills are going to help you in any developer job, but might also give you more confidence to take on side projects you wouldn't otherwise. You might look at something out there and think "woah, I want to go figure that out", and now your mental muscles are slightly better trained for it. What I want when interviewing isn't necessarily a good guide, but typically the technical skills are a baseline and then I want: - People who can be mentored and aren't know-it-alls. A touch of humility about them. Finds pairing whilst driving scary but will try it. - People who want to mentor others. Finds pairing whilst not driving scary or frustrating, but will try it. - Able to work within a team towards a common goal - Will take ownership and accountability of their own individual tasks These are things you're more likely find from previous work experience and maybe in side projects, at a push.
matsemann 7y ago
> unfinished projects Just redefine the scope, or the success criteria! If the project's purpose was to learn or experiment with X, it doesn't matter that it's not a polished product, it still served its purpose and as such can be considered done.
- d0ugal 7y ago
  This. What is finished anyway? Are projects ever "finished"?

Are unfinished projects worth anything to an prospective employer? I have plenty of projects I attempted before getting busy with real life. Should I show those when asked for a Github?

74ls00 7y ago

I do - assuming there’s actually something to show off then I put it up. I have static websites only half full of content, repositories with just an assortment of scripts and configs, libraries that are just enough to meet the use case, etc

wastedhours 7y ago

> unfinished projects Depends on the definition of "unfinished" - it's good to create something that's workable to some state (or at least demo something). If you're using a repo of unrunnable code as an example of your skills, you probably need to have a robust explanation of what needs to be done to get it working. However, I doubt lots of examples of half-complete projects will reflect too well, and might be more of a hindrance ("doesn't follow through, constantly jumping from thing to thing...") than a benefit. Pick one you're proud of and run with it, even if it's just a "this is the state, this is what I'd do to get it running...".

james_s_tayler 7y ago
Pick one you're proud of and have the rest of the unfinished stuff as private repos.

PaulRobinson 7y ago

YMMV, but when I interview as an employer is ask a candidate to talk me through a project they really enjoyed. It can be work-based or a side-project, doesn't matter as long as it's something they really enjoyed. We then use that to explore what it was that excited them, the technology decisions they made, etc.[1] If your answer was an unfinished project, I'd want to know why they were unfinished. Did you give up on them because of external pressures, you had a better idea, or because you often struggle to finish things you've started? That last one is not alway a pejorative statement, BTW. Some people are great at figuring out the big stuff and then need others to help them execute on the detail (think about architects or producers). Others however, just give up at the first obstacle they meet, and if I get that impression from a candidate I'd want to dig into it a bit as it's possibly a yellow flag. My advice then: think carefully about what they are likely to ask you about those unfinished projects, and what your answers are likely to be, before you offer them up. [1] The most interesting answer to this question I've had was "an OpenGL renderer for the X Window System written in Lisp". My follow-up questions were many...

hackerbabz 7y ago
Follow-up: Where do you think my time would be better spent preparing for a new job? Making a sideproject I can show off or doing interview puzzles?
- throwaway92384 7y ago
  High-pay or high-reputation jobs where the employer can be selective (FAANG, quant finance) seem to test for high IQ with interview "puzzles" (computer science puzzles of course). Good employers, but who do not have more qualified candidates than they know what to do with, are already very happy with someone who simply has an interest in his job, as this is already rare enough. They pay attention to personal projects as signs that you actually belong in IT. Government and, by extension, the consultancies that cater to them, pay attention to diplomas. Bureaucracies recognizing the stamp of approval of another bureaucracy, is one way of looking at it.
- watwut 7y ago
  I had side project and nobody cared when I was looking for job. Like, it did not seemed to matter or do difference. One hiring manager let me talk about it more, but in retrospect he was basically nice to me and let me talk about it because I wanted to.
- PaulRobinson 7y ago
  If you're going for a bigger tech firm, they're more likely to ask you to do the interview puzzle format. Learning how to do those is a useful skill in its own right, even if they're "toy problems", because what you're learning is a process to break a problem down, and then make a choice based on your knowledge of data structures and algorithms about how to approach it. Getting good at those puzzles means you flex muscles related to: - Problem breakdown into logical steps, or what I now call "the useful thing CS50 actually teaches" - Data Structures - Algorithms - Communicating your thought process on all of the above Those skills are going to help you in any developer job, but might also give you more confidence to take on side projects you wouldn't otherwise. You might look at something out there and think "woah, I want to go figure that out", and now your mental muscles are slightly better trained for it. What I want when interviewing isn't necessarily a good guide, but typically the technical skills are a baseline and then I want: - People who can be mentored and aren't know-it-alls. A touch of humility about them. Finds pairing whilst driving scary but will try it. - People who want to mentor others. Finds pairing whilst not driving scary or frustrating, but will try it. - Able to work within a team towards a common goal - Will take ownership and accountability of their own individual tasks These are things you're more likely find from previous work experience and maybe in side projects, at a push.

matsemann 7y ago

> unfinished projects Just redefine the scope, or the success criteria! If the project's purpose was to learn or experiment with X, it doesn't matter that it's not a polished product, it still served its purpose and as such can be considered done.

d0ugal 7y ago
This. What is finished anyway? Are projects ever "finished"?