u/International-Bed413 wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
How are you supposed to get a job….? Projects are generally the main way we bootcampers get interviews
u/michaelnovati replied · · edited
Most people I know with zero experience don't rely on their projects at all to get jobs. My sample size is biased as the people are looking for top tier jobs that tend to rely on generic skills and fundamentals (DS&A).
The number of people that THINK they need projects is much higher and most of that feeling stems from having a blank resume otherwise and lack of confidence that comes with that.
I think some bootcamps work around this problem by spending fairly minimal time on a project and then writing it up on a resume to make it take up like half the page. And people feel more confident when they have that.
But in reality, top companies see right through this and it's why bootcamp grads have such a hard time getting interviews.
If you can find a way to get an interview there and show off strong fundamentals and live coding ability more than the projects to get the job.
The caveat here is that projects can help you learn and reinforce fundamentals in a critical way, so I'm not saying not to do them, but just that people tend to overemphasize the need for projects on your resume.