Build the Side Project. Don't Disappear While You Do It.

When the job search stalls, a lot of developers do the same thing: they build.

A side project. A new app. A new API. A new framework they’ve been meaning to learn.

It makes sense, and it isn’t a bad thing. Building is one of the few places where effort still gives you an immediate return. You have a problem to solve. You write the code. It compiles. Movement has been made.

The mistake developers tend to make is disappearing for three months while they do it.

Let me ask you something. Would you rather read a post that says “look what I built,” or one of these?

• “This is what I thought would work, and here’s why it didn’t.”
• “Here’s the architecture decision I made, and it turned out really well.”
• “I was up half the night chasing a bug and the problem turned out to be in the workflow.”

Those are the stories that resonate. Those are the posts that show how you think. Those are the ones that get the attention of people in your network who’d love for you to come work with them.

So absolutely, if the job search is beating you up and you want to go build something, build it.

Just don’t disappear while you do.