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When I lost my job, I took some time for myself then immediately put up a landing page for a new idea. Then iterated on said landing page until it was a full ma

When I lost my job, I took some time for myself then immediately put up a landing page for a new idea. Then iterated on said landing page until it was a full marketing website for the idea. Everything else can be hidden behind a robots.txt or require signup for demo etc. having a marketing page that evolved over time allows recruiters to pop the website into archive.org and see your company evolving. Just saying you had a business is no longer sufficient. I like to also make merch and take video interviews while wearing say a branded shirt to show I was serious (I was not, it cost $20). I’m also not afraid to offer a screen share and walk through infrastructure diagrams or other intriguing IP to show something I have been working on instead of publishing everything to GitHub (unless it’s an OSS project) Mind you this has backfired on me. I took an interview with a series A startup and the ceo flat out rejected me upon hearing my startup. He wished me best luck but stated he needed someone who was 100% invested in his startup and not someone thinking about their side hustle. Couldn’t fault him on that and instead flipped the interview into a Q&A with a billionaire. YMMV

XCSme 3y ago
This is my experience now too. Whenever I try going back in the job market, I somehow seem to be "over-qualified". They don't want someone who can do anything needed or who is able to manage on their own, they want someone who does one thing and well. They want someone that is most likely to "need" the job forever, without posing any danger to the leadership positions.
cableshaft 3y ago
I've just worked on personal projects, not always even releasing them (because they tend not to be small projects), and put it as freelance development work in my resume for any gaps (it's true, I did work on those things). I don't think I've been asked about that once. Never been an issue as far as I know (maybe it pre-screened me out from a few places). Your idea is interesting but might be more elaborate than you even need.
- XCSme 3y ago
  I have the same issue, but in my case it's one (or more) start-ups/projects that have been going for years. What's weird is that most employers reject the application after going through all the interview phases successfully, without mentioning any reason, but it's pretty obvious that once the "upper man" has to give the ok, they are not fine with someone who has/had their own side-projects.
mcv 3y ago
That's putting a lot of effort into faking it. I did start my own company, originally to honestly make my own mobile games. A spent a year experimenting with all sorts of stuff, and then just started freelancing for others, and was a lot more successful at that. I probably still have some half-finished attempts at mobile games somewhere.

XCSme 3y ago

This is my experience now too. Whenever I try going back in the job market, I somehow seem to be "over-qualified". They don't want someone who can do anything needed or who is able to manage on their own, they want someone who does one thing and well. They want someone that is most likely to "need" the job forever, without posing any danger to the leadership positions.

cableshaft 3y ago

I've just worked on personal projects, not always even releasing them (because they tend not to be small projects), and put it as freelance development work in my resume for any gaps (it's true, I did work on those things). I don't think I've been asked about that once. Never been an issue as far as I know (maybe it pre-screened me out from a few places). Your idea is interesting but might be more elaborate than you even need.

XCSme 3y ago
I have the same issue, but in my case it's one (or more) start-ups/projects that have been going for years. What's weird is that most employers reject the application after going through all the interview phases successfully, without mentioning any reason, but it's pretty obvious that once the "upper man" has to give the ok, they are not fine with someone who has/had their own side-projects.

mcv 3y ago

That's putting a lot of effort into faking it. I did start my own company, originally to honestly make my own mobile games. A spent a year experimenting with all sorts of stuff, and then just started freelancing for others, and was a lot more successful at that. I probably still have some half-finished attempts at mobile games somewhere.