How do you work out which personal projects are CV worthy?

[Mechanical Menace]

Just an overly general question hoping for overly general advice.

EDIT: Sorry, I for some reason can't bring myself to put anything on my CV (or even mention it in interviews) if I didn't earn a wage doing it, I'm sure I'm not the only one.

[Smokey]

I just think about whether someone of the type of person I would be working for would consider my project interesting or novel.  The project obviously attracted your attention enough to do it.  It should elicit a similar response from someone else interested in similar things.  Pick the ones you were most excited about doing.

I think the most out there thing I ever listed was that I scratch built in my garage a huge 3foot x 3foot x 3foot fully functional Rubik's Cube and that I was able to solve it.  That started some good conversations even through it had nothing to do with electronics.  Every nerd has played with a Rubik's Cube, but at the time (it was a while ago) as far as I know I had the only HUGE one.

I don't see why getting paid has anything to do with listing a project on a resume.  People do kick-ass stuff all the time and don't get paid for it.  There are a TON of open source projects for which that applies.  Plus Einstein didn't get paid for his physics while he was a patent clerk.  I know that's a terrible example for this, but I'm sticking with it anyway.

[tggzzz]

Just an overly general question hoping for overly general advice.

EDIT: Sorry, I for some reason can't bring myself to put anything on my CV (or even mention it in interviews) if I didn't earn a wage doing it, I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Oh, that's easy - if you put yourself in the position of the interviewer. So, what do you think an interviewer is looking for? While all are different, here are some ideas in no particular order:

• demonstrable experience with skills relevent to their position
• demonstrable experience with skills that might be relevant to the position in a few years time
• evidence of flexibility and being able to adapt to whatever might happen next
• evidence of realistic goal-setting and planning
• evidence of carrying a plan through to completion
• evidence of continuous improvement: a desire to recognise and learn from past mistakes
• evidence of stretching skills and capabilities
• evidence of doing more than necessary, simply because you enjoy it (i.e. passion)
• something to talk about (seriously!)
• evidence of being able able to work on your own (i.e. self starter)

And they don't care what the source of that lot is!  HR-droids might, but if they rule the roost then the company is doomed.

Note the key words: "evidence" and "demonstrable", since they sort out the potential-employees from the buzzword-users.

Certainly when starting out, my homebrew stuff was a great source of conversation to the extent thaat I suspect it helped me get a job offer at HP (the real HP, not the current empty shell!).

[Psi]

Yes, i agree. Projects you have done on your own really help. Especially if you have sold them, doesn't matter how many.

I recommend taking 1-2 small hobby projects to a interview, the more interesting they are the better.
If that isn't practical take some photos and circuit diagrams of your projects and present them nicely in a folder.
It will get them asking you questions about something you know, which is better than them asking random stuff.

[eas]

In situations where your CV isn't expected to be comprehensive, it helps to think of it as telling a story. The purpose of the story is to get you an interview, to influence what is discussed in the interview, and ultimately, to get help get you the job.

Personal projects can suggest that you are more than your work history, or they can help people see a common theme in your work history that may not be obvious.

Personal projects can also be used to entice the interest of the reviewer. When reviewing a lot of applications, people will often do successive iterations to get to the short list of people to interview. The interviews themselves can be a chore. The chance to talk to you about an intriguing personal project might be enough to get you the interview over a slightly more (on paper) qualified candidate.

The idea that it doesn't count if you don't get paid is worth putting aside. An average employer just cares that its employees do what they are paid to do. A great employer knows that having employees who love, or at least like their work is good for both sides. At the very least, personal projects show that you don't just do electronics design because you get paid to do it, you do it because you like it.

So, what story do you want to tell? What is your audience going to be receptive to?

[Blofeld]

Yes, i agree. Projects you have done on your own really help. Especially if you have sold them, doesn't matter how many.

I recommend taking 1-2 small hobby projects to a interview, the more interesting they are the better.
If that isn't practical take some photos and circuit diagrams of your projects and present them nicely in a folder.
It will get them asking you questions about something you know, which is better than them asking random stuff.

I think it depends on the person who does the interview: If it's a lady from HR, and you suddenly put a gadget on the table, she might call security and tell them you want to blow up the building. It it's a technical competent person then yes. showing your project might be the most important thing.

It probably was the decisive factor for getting my first job: I had written a Pascal program for the statistical analysis of linear circuits for my diploma thesis. And my future boss wanted a Pascal programmer. So I sent the program on a floppy disk together with my application. We talked a lot about it during the interview, so I guess this got me the job. This and me being ready to work for a low wage.

[Psi]

Yes, i agree. Projects you have done on your own really help. Especially if you have sold them, doesn't matter how many.

I recommend taking 1-2 small hobby projects to a interview, the more interesting they are the better.
If that isn't practical take some photos and circuit diagrams of your projects and present them nicely in a folder.
It will get them asking you questions about something you know, which is better than them asking random stuff.

I think it depends on the person who does the interview: If it's a lady from HR, and you suddenly put a gadget on the table, she might call security and tell them you want to blow up the building. It it's a technical competent person then yes. showing your project might be the most important thing.

It probably was the decisive factor for getting my first job: I had written a Pascal program for the statistical analysis of linear circuits for my diploma thesis. And my future boss wanted a Pascal programmer. So I sent the program on a floppy disk together with my application. We talked a lot about it during the interview, so I guess this got me the job. This and me being ready to work for a low wage.

yep, there's obviously no point showing a non technical person something technical.