Leveraging Side Projects for Career Growth in Engineering

My Simple Framework to Turn Side Projects into Career Boosters

I'm one of those who gets quickly bored if they're not learning new things, and for this reason, I can't count how many hobbies I've had and still have today.

Cooking, 3D-printing, robotics, illusionism, lock-picking, woodworking, photography, mushroom hunting, hiking, skiing, snowboarding, and many, many more. Each hobby has opened up a new world of skills and insights, weaving into my life a rich amount of experiences and learnings.

This love for trying new things isn't just about having fun; it was a big part of growing in my career, and I believe it’s similar for many engineers and creative folks.

This need to learn and explore takes us to something really cool but often done in stealth mode: side projects.

They're born out of the same desire for exploration and growth that drives us to take up hobbies, but they come with an added layer of relevance to our careers and this is why today I decided to delve into this topic.

This is what I will cover:

• ❓ What is a Side Project

• 🔄 Benefits and caveats of building side projects

• 🛠️ My framework for Building side projects

• 💡 Some tips to make it work

Let’s begin!

❓What is a Side Project?

A side project is a personal project you work on outside of your regular job or main responsibilities. It's something you're passionate about and choose to pursue in your own time.

The startup culture has influenced us to think that a side project can only be a SaaS application that will generate passive income or that you can sell to investors after three months of work to become rich.

This is obviously a misconception, and from my point of view, if these are the reasons why you want to build a side project, it would probably be better to reflect a bit on your current job.

Are you happy with your salary, your team, your company culture?

Otherwise, why would you seek a second salary or a life-changing opportunity?

Don’t get me wrong, even if you have a good salary, it’s always nice to earn some extra money, but in my opinion, it shouldn’t be the main idea behind building side projects.

So what?

There could be plenty of better reasons, like:

• 📚 Learning New Things: embarking on a side project is a fantastic way to dive into areas outside your current expertise or explore emerging technologies and methodologies.

• 🚀 Improving your Existing Skills: sometimes, the best way to improve your skills is by applying them in new contexts. Side projects offer a great way to experiment, allowing you to improve your skills without the pressure of work-related consequences.

• 🥱 Avoid Boredom: engaging in side projects can be a stimulating escape from the monotony of daily routines.

• 🛍️ Improve Product Mindset: I already wrote about the importance of being “product-minded engineers”. Building something from scratch, from initial concept to finished product, can improve your understanding of the product development lifecycle, user experience, and market fit. For engineers, this is pure gold.

• 🛜 Networking: side projects can open doors to new professional connections. Sharing your work can attract like-minded people, potential collaborators, or mentors who can offer guidance, support, and opportunities for growth.

• 🏦 Creating an Asset for the Future: side projects can become valuable assets. They're not just about the potential financial gains but also about building something that can open new career paths or opportunities.

Caveats of Building a Side Project

While side projects can significantly enrich your professional and personal life, they also come with their share of challenges.

Here are some key caveats to consider:

• ⏳ Time Management: balancing a side project alongside your main job and personal life, can be challenging. It requires diligent scheduling to prevent it from affecting your productivity, well-being, and relationships.

• 🥊 Conflicts with Your Current Employer: there's a risk your side project might conflict with your employer's interests or violate contractual terms, potentially leading to legal issues.

• 🤝 Misunderstandings with Colleagues or People you Lead: a side project could lead to jealousy or misconceptions among peers, who may view it as a distraction or unfair advantage.

• 👀 Public Exposure: promoting your side project publicly can bring attention and criticism. Be prepared for feedback and understand how public perception could impact your professional reputation.

• 📉 Financial Risk: investing in a side project may involve upfront costs with no guaranteed return.

• 🛠️ Skill Mismatch: your side project might demand skills beyond your current expertise, leading to frustration and the possibility of giving up early.

• 💤 Burnout: dedicating extra hours to a side project after your regular job can lead to exhaustion, affecting both your health and job performance.

🛠️ How to Build a Side Project

In the early days of my career, I used to dive into side projects without much thought, and sometimes I'd start several at the same time. But over the years, I've gotten better at organizing this process and came up with a simple framework that I follow every time I want to kick off a new project.

The framework involves the following steps:

1. Understand the Why

2. Time Allocation

3. Choose the Right Project

4. Set Goals

5. Choose Technology/Tools

To make these steps clearer and help you understand my approach, I'll use this newsletter, which I consider a side project, as an example.

👉 1/5 Understand the Why

Knowing why you want to start a side project is crucial. It guides your choices on what to build, how much time to dedicate, and setting your goals.

The "why" is personal and can include various reasons that align with the benefits we've discussed, like:

• Learning new skills

• Building something useful for yourself

• Doing something fun and different from your day job

• Creating something that might benefit your future

• Meeting new people

Before I start any side project, I write down my expectations, diving deep to see if they're realistic or just a spur-of-the-moment enthusiasm.

💡 Before starting this newsletter, I felt the need to improve my consistency and writing skills. That's my "why" for this project.

👉 2/5 Time Allocation

One risk of side projects is they might take time away from your personal life and job. That's why it's important to figure out how much time you can really commit and stick to it.

A helpful step is to plan your schedule, even blocking out obvious things like family time or errands.

Once you've got your calendar sorted, it becomes clear how much time you can give to your project.

💡My calendar works as my to-do list, so it was easy to allocate time for this newsletter:

• 2 hours on Saturdays and Sundays for research, reading, gathering information, and note-taking.

• Early Wednesday mornings (3am to 9am), sleeping very early on Tuesday.

For some, waking up so early on Wednesday might seem extreme, but it fits my schedule without taking too much from family time.

👉 3/5 Choose the Right Project

With your "why" and available time in mind, you are now ready to pick your project. It doesn’t have to be a money-making SaaS. It can be anything, as long as it aligns with your why and time time at your disposal.

Here are some projects I've tackled in recent years:

• A Raspberry PI cluster for personal home use.

• An 8-bit CPU built from scratch following Ben Eater’s project to stay connected with the low-level side of technology.

• A six-node Kubernetes cluster on Hetzner for personal use and keeping my cloud skills sharp.

• A simple SaaS invoicing service to generate my monthly invoices and stay sharp with my coding skills.

• A web app for creating position profiles with AI, to experiment with ChatGPT APIs and streamline my hiring process.

A photo of my Raspberry PI Kubernetes cluster

Some ideas you might consider when thinking about side projects:

• Tools that improve your daily work or your team's efficiency

• Contributing to open-source projects

• Experiementing with IoT projects

• Creating educational content (tutorials, Youtube courses, etc)

💡 I chose to write a newsletter because it seemed like a good way to improve my consistency and writing skills, fitting well into the few hours I had available.

👉 4/5 Set Goals

Setting clear goals before starting a side project is a valuable practice. It promotes consistency and helps you track progress, which is vital for maintaining motivation.

I recommend adopting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) goals.

💡 When I began writing the newsletter in January 2023, my primary goals were:

• To write one post per week for at least one year.

• To have 1000 subscribers by the end of 2023.

👉 5/5 Choose your Tools

The tools you pick depend on your project, but here are some guidelines I follow:

• Stay focused on the "why": don't get distracted or over-engineer. Stick to what helps achieve your goals.

• Don't reinvent the wheel: use existing resources. For my invoicing system, I used a frontend boilerplate and did the same for the backend APIs.

• Consider No-Code tools: while I’m not a big fan of no-code movement, these tools are great for building side projects quickly, especially if improving coding skills isn't your primary goal.

💡 Though I considered a self-hosted newsletter system, given my time constraints and objectives, Substack was the obvious choice. It saved time and offered built-in networking tools that helped a lot with growing my subscriber base.

💡 Some More Tips

Building a side project the right way can really give your career a boost, but it's important to approach it correctly.

Here are some additional tips from my own experiences with side projects that you might find helpful if you're thinking about starting one:

• 🔍 Be Transparent: like I mentioned before, if not handled properly, side projects can be viewed as a distraction by both your employer and your colleagues, including those you manage. This is especially true for public projects. Don't hide it; be open, discuss it, and help others see that you're just making good use of your spare time.

• 💡 It’s Not a Startup: remember, it's a side project, not a startup. Some people start treating their side projects like full-blown businesses right away. While there's nothing wrong with earning some extra money, I believe that shouldn't be your main goal.

• 🌐 Build in Public: sharing your side project journey, whether through talking or writing about it and sharing it with others, is a fantastic way to learn a lot more, a lot faster.

• 🔄 Iterate Quickly: don't hesitate to pivot or tweak things based on new insights. Being able to quickly adapt is a huge benefit of side projects.

• 🧘 Maintain Work-Life-Project Balance: keep in mind, your side project shouldn't negatively impact your personal life or well-being. Strive for a balance that allows you to grow without leading to burnout.

• 📝 Document Your Journey: writing about your project's progress can be incredibly insightful for both you and others. It's also a great way to boost your project's profile and connect with people who share your interests.

• 🤝 Involve Other People in Your Project: working with others can inject new ideas, perspectives, and skills into your side project. Whether it’s getting advice, teaming up with peers, or incorporating contributions from the community, collaboration can greatly enhance your project.

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✌️ That’s all folks

That's all for today! As always, I would love to hear from my readers (and if you've made it this far, you're one of the bravest). Please don't hesitate to connect with me on LinkedIn or Twitter and send a message. I always respond to every one!