Personal Projects, Not LinkedIn Projects

I know this is going to sound corny, but everything is turning into a performance.

Most of us became programmers because we genuinely loved creating unique products that solve problems in our everyday lives. My first project was an app to help me solve chemistry equations because I was too bored to do them in class. I built projects for myself, not for college, and especially not for a résumé.

Nowadays, people are making projects for the sake of a résumé - building chess apps, finance calculators, or board games. Things that don't add value to them in any way, shape, or form. Sometimes people are scared to build original projects because they don't sound good to a recruiter.

Passion rubs off on people. If you become excited about something, people are more intrigued to hear what you built. Not only that, you will remember more about the project. You will want to share it with people, which will make interviews go smoother.

Making projects for a LinkedIn post or a résumé bullet point just destroys the inner child in us.

I have so many hobbies: gym, anime, soccer, philosophy, video games.

My projects reflect these interests: an NLP soccer chatbot, a gym exercise classifier, a Solo Leveling–inspired habit tracker.

Why not make something around these categories instead of building another maze game?