I did a very simple implementation of WebRTC for iOS. Somehow somebody found that project on GitHub, saw I was from the same country and hired me. Did like a fe

I did a very simple implementation of WebRTC for iOS. Somehow somebody found that project on GitHub, saw I was from the same country and hired me. Did like a few months of freelance work because of it. I did a (paid) side project for a macOS app and another one a few years later. The first one very small (but complex, digging through many layers) the second one small but substantial in scope. I got two job interviews because of those. Moral of the story: keep doing paid side projects whenever possible. You learn a lot from your customers.