[tonyonodi]

My side project NumPad https://numpad.io got me my current job at Decipad https://www.decipad.com/ (the similar naming scheme is a coincidence!).

I came across Decipad while looking for a job, and messaged the founder, highlighting my work on NumPad. They were impressed enough that the hiring process ended up being just a few interviews, I've been there for almost a year now, and it's been pretty good!

If there's a moral to this story I think it's that you should aim for work that's highly relevant to your side project experience. In my case both NumPad and Decipad have a sort of programming language that can do calculations with units.

But ignore this advice if you can't find that work, or it doesn't seem good for whatever reason. You can still highlight your side project in an application, and they might be impressed anyway.

[jessehorne]

It's funny you say this. After struggling to find work (but mostly to find meaningful work), I've committed myself to pursuing jobs related to my curiosities/interests. I didn't really do that before. Over time, I've started to narrow down based off of what I'm genuinely interested in. That way I don't have to lie when I say I'm "passionate" about something I'm working on. :-)

[the_only_law]

> I've started to narrow down based off of what I'm genuinely interested in.

How do you do that if you’re past work is disconnected from what you’re interested in.