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Ask HN: What project should I build for my resume as a new grad?

by ratherlongname on 5/8/21, 10:11 PM with 5 comments

I'd like to get at least one respectable project under my belt before I begin grinding LC and sending out my resume.

Looking around I've found two schools of thought -- 1. build something new that you're passionate about; and 2. build a normal business application (think bugtracker) so that a recruiter can easily understand it.

What are your thoughts?

EDIT: I'll mostly be applying to core tech companies i.e. FAANG and similar.

  • by bluefirebrand on 5/8/21, 11:14 PM

    If you have an idea for something novel that you're passionate, then build it. Don't worry about recruiters not understanding it or whatever, ultimately if you somewhat match the job description you will get your resume in front of a hiring manager who will likely understand it more.

    If you don't have a novel idea or passion project, then build something that you would find useful. If you actually use the software you write you will be more likely to complete it and polish it into an impressive state. If it's really good and open source it might even draw attention from the larger community and wind up opening doors that no recruiter would.

    Good luck. I didn't take the FAANG path but sometimes look back and wish I had done that a bit, at least in my 20s.

  • by tomcam on 5/9/21, 3:28 PM

    This is a fun question, one I faced at your age a quarter century ago and I had an additional deficit, which was that I had no college degree. At the time the web was just heating up, so I chose to write a free Web server. It never went anywhere, but learning the basics helped me get a job at Microsoft, which was the one of the FAANGs of the time.

  • by bbody on 5/8/21, 10:31 PM

    I think it highly depends what kind of company you are looking for, FAANG? Tech startup? Finance? Average company?

    To more directly answer your question: 1. Like you said, a recruiter spending 5 seconds on your resume might not understand and move on. However in an interview your passion for this project will be an asset.

    2. How self driven are you? Can you spend X hours on something you find boring?