Side projects are one of the most reliable ways to accelerate a career when your day job cannot give you the growth you want. But most side projects stay exactly that — something you did on the side — rather than becoming genuine career assets. The difference is usually intentionality.

Start With What You Are Actually Trying to Demonstrate

The side projects that move careers are not necessarily the most ambitious or technically impressive. They are the ones that demonstrate something specific that is relevant to where you want to go.

Before you start (or as you are evaluating an existing project), be clear on: what career door am I hoping this opens? What skill or experience am I trying to prove I have? Who are the people I want to see this?

If you cannot answer those questions clearly, the project might be personally interesting but it will not do the career work you need it to do. Blomma’s Goals feature is useful here — building a goal around your side project that connects it explicitly to the career move you are working toward keeps the purpose visible as the project gets busy.

Choose the Right Project for Your Goal

Different career goals require different kinds of side projects:

• Career pivot: A project in the new field that produces real output — even if unpaid — demonstrates far more than any course certificate. Building something, consulting on something, contributing to something real.

• Promotion case: A project that addresses a problem your organization has but has not prioritized. Internal side projects can be among the strongest promotion signals because they are directly visible to the people who matter.

• Credibility building: Writing, speaking, or contributing to a professional community builds external credibility and often surfaces opportunities that passive job searching does not.

• Network building: A project that requires you to collaborate with people in the space you want to enter is also a relationship-building exercise wrapped in useful output.

Ship Something

The career value of a side project comes primarily from its completion and visibility, not from its existence as an ongoing effort. An unpublished article, an unfinished prototype, a half-built product — these are all invisible from the outside.

Set a scope that you can actually complete with the time you genuinely have, and ship it. A small, finished thing is worth far more than a large, incomplete one.

Make It Discoverable

A project that exists quietly is not doing career work. Make it findable: publish it, share it in relevant communities, write about what you built and what you learned. Do not rely on people stumbling across it — give it a reasonable chance of finding the right eyes.

This is not vanity. It is just basic distribution. The work was done; it deserves to be seen.

Know When to Evolve It

Some side projects find genuine traction and are worth investing in further. Most serve their purpose — building a skill, demonstrating a capability, opening a door — and then should be let go so you can deploy your energy on the next thing.

The test is whether this project is still actively serving your career goals, or whether it has completed its purpose and become a maintenance burden.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do employers actually care about side projects?

Depends on the industry and the role. In technology, product, design, and creative fields, side projects are frequently more compelling than formal credentials. In others, they are relevant primarily as supplementary evidence. Research what matters in the specific context you are targeting.

How do I find time for a side project?

The honest answer is usually: by treating it like a meeting rather than a vague intention. Blocking specific time — even two or three hours per week — is almost always more effective than relying on finding spare time opportunistically.

What if my side project is in the same space as my current employer’s business?

Check your employment contract. Many employment agreements have provisions about outside work in the same area. If there is any ambiguity, it is worth getting clarity before building something that creates a conflict.

Should I ask for feedback on my side project before finishing it?

Yes, especially from people in the space you want to enter. Feedback from relevant people early is far more useful than polished completion in isolation. It also starts the relationship-building that the project can enable.

How do I talk about a side project in a job interview?

Focus on what you built, what problem it solved, what you learned, and what happened — outcomes over process. If the project has real output (a live product, published work, demonstrable results), make that concrete and specific. Specificity beats ambition in how side projects land in interviews.