Interesting to see many comments here claiming that side projects don't matter when looking for a job. I've been actively applying for a full-time dev position for the past 3 months and the most common feedback I receive is "We need to see side projects, OSS contributions so we know how you code."

I have about 4+ years in DevOps and in support. I consider myself a programming generalist, which I thought would be enough to at least get a technical interview. Instead of working on a project that will most likely be left incomplete due to fatigue or loss of interest, I rather spend that time learning ways to improve my skills to make myself the best programmer I possibly can be.

I've been considering starting my own blog and write articles about lessons learned or an e-book to express my credibility. Does anyone have any opinions with developers who write blogs/publications in lieu of side projects or OSS contributions?

No hard data, but would just add I find quality writing of prose just as hard (or harder) than the creation of quality software.

I agree. I think it is partly because the quality of prose is more subjective than that of software. Not thought a lot about this point though. It is an interesting topic.

In my personal experience - side projects, blogging and technical articles all help; done all three, seen results from all three (for getting both jobs and consulting / training work), and intend to do more. Ebooks are pretty sure to help too. Obvious caveat is that all have to be at least reasonably good. Blogging can take more, time though, you have to keep doing it for some time before people notice it. Every little bit helps, though, IMO.

Fork a random GitHub and you'll be fine.

Then you can watch the GitHub stats and see that noone opened your link :D

If you're DevOps you should probably have an updated LinkedIn. Its getting crazy over there.

Thanks for the tip. This has actually been a bit difficult for me to accomplish. Most of the engineers are tight for time finishing their sprints, so all "mentoring" and feedback is usually done asynchronously via Slack or code reviews.

Thank you so much for replying! I actually have considered triplebyte, but I've read some mixed reviews about their coding challenges and interview process. The main thing that has discouraged me from applying is the 4-month wait to re-apply if you fail your first interview https://triplebyte.com/candidate_faq#scroll-link-14. Because of this constraint, I'm not sure my time is better spent working on a personal project that I can showcase my skills to a potential employer or study/practice to pass triplebyte's coding challenge.

Have you or someone you know used triplebyte? If so, what are your thoughts in their interviewing process?

Yes, I went through their process. I was impressed by their extreme focus on finding a good fit, and truly had a lot of fun interviewing with them.

I would just do the online screen without any preparation. So what if you have to wait 4 months to try again? There are plenty of other options in the mean time.

Oh wow interesting. Will definitely give it a shot then. Thanks again!