Ask HN: Did you personal website help you get hired? Tell about it
Context: I'm a senior dev, well-employed, and hopefully won't be looking for a job anytime soon. I'm just working on a blog/website as a hobby side-project, and really could use some external motivation to keep going (instead of scrolling through social media and watching TV). Also I can't decide what to write about, and whether to make it more nerdy or more professional.
109 comments
When I began as a junior web developer in 2014, I also started blogging [0] about React.js on the side. Despite hearing that "blogging is dead," I kept at it because I enjoyed sharing what I was learning as a junior dev.
Three years later, I began receiving job offers through my blog, which led me to try freelancing as a web developer. Fast forward seven years, and I've never had to actively seek out projects, because clients have consistently reached out to me via my website. In fact, blogging has allowed me to stay fully booked as a freelance web developer. I had freelance gigs at governments, at a DAO, at enterprise companies and startups which reached from code monkey positions to lead positions.
Would I do it again? Absolutely. But would I start blogging in 2024 just to get job offers? Probably not. The developer content landscape has changed significantly, with many more people now blogging. However, if your goal is personal growth and learning, a well-maintained blog can still be a valuable way to attract clients.
AMA :)
[0] https://www.robinwieruch.de/
Three years later, I began receiving job offers through my blog, which led me to try freelancing as a web developer. Fast forward seven years, and I've never had to actively seek out projects, because clients have consistently reached out to me via my website. In fact, blogging has allowed me to stay fully booked as a freelance web developer. I had freelance gigs at governments, at a DAO, at enterprise companies and startups which reached from code monkey positions to lead positions.
Would I do it again? Absolutely. But would I start blogging in 2024 just to get job offers? Probably not. The developer content landscape has changed significantly, with many more people now blogging. However, if your goal is personal growth and learning, a well-maintained blog can still be a valuable way to attract clients.
AMA :)
[0] https://www.robinwieruch.de/
I have no questions, but I want to say that you’re a gem, Robin. At (thankfully) rare times when I’ve questioned my sanity or needed a quick refresher on something in React I was stuck on, your blog popped up for me in SERP and cleared things up. You have a nice, uncluttered writing style. At least a time or two when I was working too much or too late, you managed to make me feel a little bit less alone by writing about things in a way that showed me someone else was reading the docs and figured it out too. Thank you. You’ve made the ecosystem a little brighter.
Wow, thank you! This made my morning. Thanks for taking the time to write here :) Wish you all the best!
Many years ago, I was basically an it guy in a rust belt city with a slightly inflated title and no cs degree. I started blogging about interactive web development as I was teaching myself. A year later I decided to look for a new job.
To my surprise, that website got me past pretty much every first round, and within 2 weeks of starting to send applications I had 5 job offers at 2-3 times my current salary.
I relocated to Chicago and the entire trajectory of my career changed. I will always recommend blogging or some form of content creation. Especially for someone thinking of a career pivot.
It keeps you focused on deliverable products from your learning and experience.
Helps keep you consistent if you have a posting schedule.
Creates tangible evidence of your skills and experience.
And perhaps most importantly. It really improves your communication skills around the problem space which is a huge benefit.
To my surprise, that website got me past pretty much every first round, and within 2 weeks of starting to send applications I had 5 job offers at 2-3 times my current salary.
I relocated to Chicago and the entire trajectory of my career changed. I will always recommend blogging or some form of content creation. Especially for someone thinking of a career pivot.
It keeps you focused on deliverable products from your learning and experience.
Helps keep you consistent if you have a posting schedule.
Creates tangible evidence of your skills and experience.
And perhaps most importantly. It really improves your communication skills around the problem space which is a huge benefit.
What blogging platform did you use?
That's an amazing story! I feel motivated to start blogging myself.
That's an amazing story! I feel motivated to start blogging myself.
Nearly every single professional opportunity that has come my way was through my blog.
A few months ago I wrote a post on the butterfly effect of having a blog for ~9 years, it covers some of the more interesting things: https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/the-butterfly-effect-of-havin...
A few months ago I wrote a post on the butterfly effect of having a blog for ~9 years, it covers some of the more interesting things: https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/the-butterfly-effect-of-havin...
I must say your blog has been really helpful. I remember learning about vim from your blog
How did you discover that blog? If not seen the vim article first, how did you came to it later?
Probably Googling for terms which led to a specific post but if you goto https://nickjanetakis.com/blog there is a list of tags at the top, Vim is one of them.
I discovered it through nick's youtube channel
Yes! Back in 2002, I made a web version of the Zebra Puzzle, in Portuguese. It went viral and 20 years later I still have a Zebra Puzzle website [1].
That game and, this "micro SaaS" [2] that I made in 2003, helped me get my first job, at IBM. I was 19 at that time.
[1]: https://www.zebrapuzzles.com/
[2]: https://web.archive.org/web/20030204164816/http://www.hipert...
That game and, this "micro SaaS" [2] that I made in 2003, helped me get my first job, at IBM. I was 19 at that time.
[1]: https://www.zebrapuzzles.com/
[2]: https://web.archive.org/web/20030204164816/http://www.hipert...
When I am hiring I always look at personal websites if they are available. They provide a more realistic picture of the person and their interests, the resume is too formal an optimized for marketing.
If you have a site, and it has content, and shows more about what you are interested in, it counts a lot for me. Extra points if it links to code in GitHub.
But not any website will do, if it feels like an 5-minute thoughtless effort, with an empty template and a single entry dated 4 years ago saying "TODO", then it will count against you.
If you have a site, and it has content, and shows more about what you are interested in, it counts a lot for me. Extra points if it links to code in GitHub.
But not any website will do, if it feels like an 5-minute thoughtless effort, with an empty template and a single entry dated 4 years ago saying "TODO", then it will count against you.
In my case it definitely didn't (so far).
I'm not a prolific writer and the subjects are just what interested me at that point in time and I feel should be public. Unfortunately, there aren't many companies looking for experts in palindromes.
Looking at the websites shared here, it seems like web development tutorials and tips are the way to go if you want to get hired.
I, however, recommend writing about whatever gets you excited and you want to share with the world. Especially since you're happy in your current place.
I'm not a prolific writer and the subjects are just what interested me at that point in time and I feel should be public. Unfortunately, there aren't many companies looking for experts in palindromes.
Looking at the websites shared here, it seems like web development tutorials and tips are the way to go if you want to get hired.
I, however, recommend writing about whatever gets you excited and you want to share with the world. Especially since you're happy in your current place.
Yes, it's been the reason I've been hired for the last 5 years: https://xeiaso.net It is now the reason I get consulting work.
I love your blog! Most blogs are clearly firewalled from the human that wrote them. But, yours almost feels like you take a bit of your lifeforce and somehow imbue it into the blog itself. Those posts are alive. I hope it isn't like a scene from the Dark Crystal where the Skeksis (your blog) are sucking your (urRu) life force from you. If so, I'll go find a landstrider and see what I can do.
Thanks! If I'm ever at a conference you are, tell me you like my blog for exclusive laptop stickers.
Amusingly enough, I actually have a bit of a unique problem with my blog: I have to avoid the urge to do bigger/better things constantly. I don't really know what this is called professionally, but I've been labeling it the Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann fallacy. There's this sincere temptation to make everything bigger and better than the last one, but when you get to the point where your mech battles are literally using galaxies as shuriken, you can't really get much bigger. I feel like I've hit that point with my blog and without a lot of extra work I don't know if I can make things much "better" per se.
I've wanted to do interactive articles or something, but that would need me to totally rewrite my blog's backend in Next.JS or something. I've thought about doing that (in fact https://techaro.lol started out as a proof of concept for doing exactly that), but I'd want to contract a designer or something to make my blog not look terrible. IDK, many things I need to think about. Web design has always been my weak suit.
Amusingly enough, I actually have a bit of a unique problem with my blog: I have to avoid the urge to do bigger/better things constantly. I don't really know what this is called professionally, but I've been labeling it the Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann fallacy. There's this sincere temptation to make everything bigger and better than the last one, but when you get to the point where your mech battles are literally using galaxies as shuriken, you can't really get much bigger. I feel like I've hit that point with my blog and without a lot of extra work I don't know if I can make things much "better" per se.
I've wanted to do interactive articles or something, but that would need me to totally rewrite my blog's backend in Next.JS or something. I've thought about doing that (in fact https://techaro.lol started out as a proof of concept for doing exactly that), but I'd want to contract a designer or something to make my blog not look terrible. IDK, many things I need to think about. Web design has always been my weak suit.
Hugely instrumental in my career. Landed me my first ever job (2008) and has been responsible for underpinning most of my consultancy career (2013–now): https://csswizardry.com/
As long as one sticks with it, I cannot overstate the power of a good personal website.
> Also I can't decide what to write about, and whether to make it more nerdy or more professional.
As with most decisions, just make one. You can always change your mind later.
As long as one sticks with it, I cannot overstate the power of a good personal website.
> Also I can't decide what to write about, and whether to make it more nerdy or more professional.
As with most decisions, just make one. You can always change your mind later.
I think this is one of those topics where most people will say post saying yes.
But I think blogs mostly help if you write about a very niche topic that might attract the attention of a potential employer. Else Github would be a better source of guidance for the interviewer.
These days you get technical challenges to test if they are what you expect (and many companies overdo this).
But I think blogs mostly help if you write about a very niche topic that might attract the attention of a potential employer. Else Github would be a better source of guidance for the interviewer.
These days you get technical challenges to test if they are what you expect (and many companies overdo this).
I have always held the position: the best design is as little design as possible
if you make a website - you need constant inspiration, and a theme that will be a constant companion, otherwise it will not be a website but just a stillborn plug. serious blogs are created when the author simply does not have a place inside himself, because the information itself spills out, and the blog is just a place where he puts it out. nothing more.
and if you ask for advice on what is best - most likely it is better not to do it. or is it just a rhetorical question to check - how many interesting answers will there be for creating new blog topics? )))
if you make a website - you need constant inspiration, and a theme that will be a constant companion, otherwise it will not be a website but just a stillborn plug. serious blogs are created when the author simply does not have a place inside himself, because the information itself spills out, and the blog is just a place where he puts it out. nothing more.
and if you ask for advice on what is best - most likely it is better not to do it. or is it just a rhetorical question to check - how many interesting answers will there be for creating new blog topics? )))
It kind of did. Back in 2008 or so I wrote a series of articles about multiplayer networking [1], which over time became suprisingly popular, but nothing much happened otherwise. Until 2014, when they directly led to Improbable [2] reaching out and ultimately poaching me from Google (at least for a few years).
[1] https://gabrielgambetta.com/client-server-game-architecture....
[2] https://improbable.io
[1] https://gabrielgambetta.com/client-server-game-architecture....
[2] https://improbable.io
It did not.
I have an actively maintained website [1], but it never got me anything. In fact, I even removed GA from it, because I don't care whether people read it or not, I do it for my own enjoyment.
Same for conference speaking, I never got a single good ping out of it (in that case, I stopped doing it, I hate flying).
[1] bytepawn.com
I have an actively maintained website [1], but it never got me anything. In fact, I even removed GA from it, because I don't care whether people read it or not, I do it for my own enjoyment.
Same for conference speaking, I never got a single good ping out of it (in that case, I stopped doing it, I hate flying).
[1] bytepawn.com
I really enjoy the mix of scientific, practical and personal notes on your blog.
I am 56 yo.
Well, we know how people are when technical people like me get more mature.
They could be afraid the guy might not be 'Up to date'...
My personnal project I do on WE ( https://free-visit.net ) always gets me a nice technical interview and the consulting job.
https://free-visit.net/fr/
In a way my personnal website sells myself.
In a way my personnal website sells myself.
Thank you - I am in my early fifties and have “that book” still not written and “those oss projects” sitting unloved. That “up to date” comment rings true and is just the right motivation to get things sorted
Plus I now want to make a virtual tour of some of my favourite places :-)
Plus I now want to make a virtual tour of some of my favourite places :-)
Ha ha ! When you want if you are in Europe (on WE)
Exactly, mention your age and everyone assumes you're a COBOL, Turbo pascal or whatever programmer.
Yes a bit true.
And also here at yc :
- Younger you are, More likelyhood you will believe a guy in his 50s comes from the dinausaurus times. :-)
Reminds me a little of Twain: “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”
Very good one I did not know ! :-))
Everything is in reading the classics
Back in 1999 I started a Geocites site just for fun, which led me to making various sites to either promote or sell things I found interesting (namely Fresnel lenses). From this I started and ran a few forums - just to see what would happen, but some that got fairly big for the time.
This totally got me my first job - I hadn't mentioned it at all on my CV, but I was able to talk at length about it once I realised it was relevant to the role.
Going forward I blogged and tried various things on social media, again just for fun - but I was regularly able to either apply learnings to my roles, or more likely just have interesting other examples to refer to in interviews. It meant I understood FTP, buying (and selling) domain names, DNS, basic coding and most importantly had a good handle of what could go wrong (e.g. people abusing image hosts and url shorteners that I played with).
Note I am non-technical - I was a moderator>researcher>producer>product owner>Chief Product Manager during this time - but the little amounts I learnt about web technologies in my own time, helped me to better talk with my technical colleagues and to my non-technical ones.
This totally got me my first job - I hadn't mentioned it at all on my CV, but I was able to talk at length about it once I realised it was relevant to the role.
Going forward I blogged and tried various things on social media, again just for fun - but I was regularly able to either apply learnings to my roles, or more likely just have interesting other examples to refer to in interviews. It meant I understood FTP, buying (and selling) domain names, DNS, basic coding and most importantly had a good handle of what could go wrong (e.g. people abusing image hosts and url shorteners that I played with).
Note I am non-technical - I was a moderator>researcher>producer>product owner>Chief Product Manager during this time - but the little amounts I learnt about web technologies in my own time, helped me to better talk with my technical colleagues and to my non-technical ones.
If we're going back to the 90's, I didn't get a job from my personal website but I did have a local newspaper article written about me in 1997 because I had a personal "home page". I waxed on and on about the web being an empowering force that allowed everybody to publish their thoughts and ideas to the masses, rather than having major media sources control the dialog. It was a nice, optimistic vision, even if it hasn't exactly turned out that way. The article made me a local celebrity for about a week, as everybody wanted to stop me in the street and know all about it.
As someone who just vaguely knew that I wanted to work 'in the media' when I got a job, getting my own webpage felt all those things and more. I'd dreamt of a radio show or being a reporter, and here I was putting my content out for everyone (no-one) to see.
And when I realised it could be a shop too... I must have sold a couple of thousand fresnel lenses before I got bored of that site - but I learnt so much.
And when I realised it could be a shop too... I must have sold a couple of thousand fresnel lenses before I got bored of that site - but I learnt so much.
So far everyone saying "yes" has anecdotes from the beginnings of a career that started a while ago. Website or not, it was easier to get hired then. Has anyone's website gotten them hired in the last 1-2 years?
It’s a good point. I haven’t scrolled around much either but there’s going to be selection bias here.
I made a portfolio website and had some projects on it. The projects got me hired but the portfolio website itself didn’t. Again, this was for my first post-college job. I shouldn’t have needed portfolio projects but even ten years ago - hiring for new grads was incredibly hard. It took me about nine months to land my first post grad job and another nine months to land my second. I had done 15 onsites to get my second offer! It has never been easy to get a job in this field in the last decade.
I made a portfolio website and had some projects on it. The projects got me hired but the portfolio website itself didn’t. Again, this was for my first post-college job. I shouldn’t have needed portfolio projects but even ten years ago - hiring for new grads was incredibly hard. It took me about nine months to land my first post grad job and another nine months to land my second. I had done 15 onsites to get my second offer! It has never been easy to get a job in this field in the last decade.
Yes, I started a new job in March and my various marketing efforts in multiple channels contributed, but two of my personal websites, and basically the C.V. website, is brought up in conversation by other people more than any of my other public websites.
I run several sites but 2 of them tend to come up more in interviews and are all linked from my GitHub profile:
https://sfc.fm - A website to listen to Super Nintendo music in the browser. Folks usually find this more cool, talk about WASM and covers several common things we can skip over talking about items like RESTful APIs and random JavaScript questions.
https://wiki.superfamicom.org - A website for all things programming the Super Nintendo. This tends to be more interesting to management folk (which is interesting on its own) but tends to be a point in an interview where the "can this person actually program" questions end and culture questions start getting more specific. Recruiters also tend to latch onto this one as well.
No one ever mentions my blog, but I don't post all that much and the content is technical, but usually very niche.
https://sfc.fm - A website to listen to Super Nintendo music in the browser. Folks usually find this more cool, talk about WASM and covers several common things we can skip over talking about items like RESTful APIs and random JavaScript questions.
https://wiki.superfamicom.org - A website for all things programming the Super Nintendo. This tends to be more interesting to management folk (which is interesting on its own) but tends to be a point in an interview where the "can this person actually program" questions end and culture questions start getting more specific. Recruiters also tend to latch onto this one as well.
No one ever mentions my blog, but I don't post all that much and the content is technical, but usually very niche.
I once got a job as an IT Director in a media company because I was running a popular forum on the same software they used.
But my personal website probably hurt me more than helped.
But my personal website probably hurt me more than helped.
That sounds like a story!
I transitioned to being a professional software developer in 2012 and a hobby SPA website[0] essentially acted as a portfolio which I used to demonstrate I knew what I was doing to get my first software development job.
During the interview they asked me lots of technical questions around the website, like why I chose particular solutions, what the trade-offs I made were and how I did certain things. Essentially, I just had to be able to show them I could technically discuss the website in detail and I guess also proving that it was I who did the work.
What I also only realized a bit into the new job was that merely "releasing" a working project is in itself a bit of an accomplishment.
[0]: https://mordritch.com/mc_rss/
During the interview they asked me lots of technical questions around the website, like why I chose particular solutions, what the trade-offs I made were and how I did certain things. Essentially, I just had to be able to show them I could technically discuss the website in detail and I guess also proving that it was I who did the work.
What I also only realized a bit into the new job was that merely "releasing" a working project is in itself a bit of an accomplishment.
[0]: https://mordritch.com/mc_rss/
Once, only once, my blog got me hired. It was a lifestyle blog that I kept while working a non-tech job. The editor of a local newspaper followed it actively and I had no idea. I got fired from my job and posted about it. The editor saw the post and reached out a few days later. I interviewed and was offered me a full-time tech job a week later.
On a side note, I have a photography site that I have rebuilt many times since 1998. Each time I experimented with new design approaches and the underlying tech. Those experiments served as learning experiments I put on my resume. Multiple times I have been hired for languages or frameworks I only learned from using in my photography website.
On a side note, I have a photography site that I have rebuilt many times since 1998. Each time I experimented with new design approaches and the underlying tech. Those experiments served as learning experiments I put on my resume. Multiple times I have been hired for languages or frameworks I only learned from using in my photography website.
After +5 years working for companies building their own geospatial platform, I felt like I needed a portfolio for showcasing my skills to get a new job, without spending more than a few bucks.
So I created https://car-viewer.streamlit.app/ and a few others that you may find in contacts link at top.
The idea was to show and keep updated a massive (+250Gb) dataset on map on my own end to end using open source and proprietary tools within free tier limits.
After releasing it I got interview invitations that led me to a new job.
So I created https://car-viewer.streamlit.app/ and a few others that you may find in contacts link at top.
The idea was to show and keep updated a massive (+250Gb) dataset on map on my own end to end using open source and proprietary tools within free tier limits.
After releasing it I got interview invitations that led me to a new job.
My personal website definitely helped me get hired. Here's how.
Whenever I create something, either for work or personal, I add it to a "Featured" section on my website's homepage. Over time, it became such a nice and comprehensive list that I now use it every time when talking about past projects or whenever a "Can we see some examples of your past work or appearances?" comes up.
It has different types of work and is exhaustive enough that whoever asks, can find what they're looking for. I had a lot of positive comments from prospective employers about it.
What started as a mini project for me to collect all the scattered links for myself so that I don't forget or lose anything, became a great asset that keeps on giving.
Here's the link that I send when asked about "examples of your work": https://www.velvetshark.com/#featured It's an anchor link of my homepage that scrolls straight to the Featured section.
Oh, just to clarify: the "Featured" section is not the only thing that people find interesting. Once they're on the page, they can browse around and find articles that are of interest to them. That helps too.
Whenever I create something, either for work or personal, I add it to a "Featured" section on my website's homepage. Over time, it became such a nice and comprehensive list that I now use it every time when talking about past projects or whenever a "Can we see some examples of your past work or appearances?" comes up.
It has different types of work and is exhaustive enough that whoever asks, can find what they're looking for. I had a lot of positive comments from prospective employers about it.
What started as a mini project for me to collect all the scattered links for myself so that I don't forget or lose anything, became a great asset that keeps on giving.
Here's the link that I send when asked about "examples of your work": https://www.velvetshark.com/#featured It's an anchor link of my homepage that scrolls straight to the Featured section.
Oh, just to clarify: the "Featured" section is not the only thing that people find interesting. Once they're on the page, they can browse around and find articles that are of interest to them. That helps too.
Mine did, but as a junior as with probably many others. The react based website was a demo in itself and it also was a portfolio demoing my other projects.
It landed me my first part-time job in the field after I had been in university for around 6 months. At that time I had been really productive with kinda clever and cute projects - for example a desktop app that could search powerpoints and pdf files with keywords and present you the resulting pages in a nice-ish UI. (edit: java to parse the files and an Electron app to orchestrate it and provide an UI. It was shitty but it worked.)
After I had been at uni for 1,5 years and a part-timer for a year I got several offers from some pretty cool IT companies when on job search. I’m sure the site with a decently sized portfolio helped then too: I had some nice-ish projects considering my junioirity and could demo them on the site. I took up one of the offers and still remain there.
Haven’t updated the site once after I got this job, since I haven’t found that much motivation for personal projects anymore. :(
It landed me my first part-time job in the field after I had been in university for around 6 months. At that time I had been really productive with kinda clever and cute projects - for example a desktop app that could search powerpoints and pdf files with keywords and present you the resulting pages in a nice-ish UI. (edit: java to parse the files and an Electron app to orchestrate it and provide an UI. It was shitty but it worked.)
After I had been at uni for 1,5 years and a part-timer for a year I got several offers from some pretty cool IT companies when on job search. I’m sure the site with a decently sized portfolio helped then too: I had some nice-ish projects considering my junioirity and could demo them on the site. I took up one of the offers and still remain there.
Haven’t updated the site once after I got this job, since I haven’t found that much motivation for personal projects anymore. :(
I can't say for sure that it directly led to jobs, but my website has been brought up in a positive light during the recruitment process more than a few times.
Because I write about technical things a lot, it's often been viewed as "evidence" that I'm an experienced technical writer as well as an engineer.
But, it (and my github account) have also been flagged as "risks" by a recruitment agency though: I can be a bit sweary at times and they felt that having a project called F*ckAMP might put off potential employers. No-one else has cared though.
But, to echo the advice that others are giving you - the "power" of my blog lies more in it being stuff that I want to write, rather than stuff that I'm writing because I think that it'll help my career.
Deciding what to write about can be hard, and sometimes you'll find you hit a block and don't write about anything at all. Those are both fine, just write about stuff when you want to and don't pressure yourself to write "just because".
Because I write about technical things a lot, it's often been viewed as "evidence" that I'm an experienced technical writer as well as an engineer.
But, it (and my github account) have also been flagged as "risks" by a recruitment agency though: I can be a bit sweary at times and they felt that having a project called F*ckAMP might put off potential employers. No-one else has cared though.
But, to echo the advice that others are giving you - the "power" of my blog lies more in it being stuff that I want to write, rather than stuff that I'm writing because I think that it'll help my career.
Deciding what to write about can be hard, and sometimes you'll find you hit a block and don't write about anything at all. Those are both fine, just write about stuff when you want to and don't pressure yourself to write "just because".
> they felt that having a project called F*ckAMP might put off potential employers.
Do you really want to work with an employer who cares about this? Works both ways
Do you really want to work with an employer who cares about this? Works both ways
Yep, that's exactly my view on it.
Wait, your telling me I should be worried about my “jizztastic” repo on GitHub?
Yes, and no. So I am the author of https://hostmeinca.com/
It did help me get an internship in Hawaii in 2019 for which I am eternally grateful. The website was #1 on YC HN and opened many doors. You can read the entire story here: https://medium.com/startup-frontier/7-686-miles-from-slovaki...
On the other hand, my personal website, https://www.marekdlugos.com/ doesn't have much traffic. It all boils down to standing out from the crowd and having something to offer.
In 2025, I'd like to start blogging. I believe other people could benefit from some of my experiences.
It did help me get an internship in Hawaii in 2019 for which I am eternally grateful. The website was #1 on YC HN and opened many doors. You can read the entire story here: https://medium.com/startup-frontier/7-686-miles-from-slovaki...
On the other hand, my personal website, https://www.marekdlugos.com/ doesn't have much traffic. It all boils down to standing out from the crowd and having something to offer.
In 2025, I'd like to start blogging. I believe other people could benefit from some of my experiences.
If you need motivation and you're looking for inspiration/direction about topics for blogging maybe you shouldn't blog at all.
Blogging is a call one has for sharing his own ideas with the world.
Blogging is where you can share what YOU care about, in the writing and detail style that you like.
That's the only way you have to make it interesting and unique.
Blogging is a call one has for sharing his own ideas with the world.
Blogging is where you can share what YOU care about, in the writing and detail style that you like.
That's the only way you have to make it interesting and unique.
Making a game and publishing it got me hired at my current job. Its not a gamedev job, but an enterprise SAAS.
Yes! Also, there's no need for a blog unless you have a passion for writing. You can just post past projects and make it like a more engaging CV.
- Making your website more unconventional will result in more variance of opinion. This can be really good if some people especially like it (ofc, others may especially dislike it!).
- I consider my website as controlling the top Google result for my name. Also, my email uses my domain. So people I email will also likely visit my website, which hopefully leaves a better impression than LinkedIn would.
- If I apply to something I care about, I can see in the logs that someone from there likely looked at it. So from that I can say it likely helped with grad school admissions, and certainly most clients have looked at it before hiring me (in fact many have mentioned it positively).
- Making your website more unconventional will result in more variance of opinion. This can be really good if some people especially like it (ofc, others may especially dislike it!).
- I consider my website as controlling the top Google result for my name. Also, my email uses my domain. So people I email will also likely visit my website, which hopefully leaves a better impression than LinkedIn would.
- If I apply to something I care about, I can see in the logs that someone from there likely looked at it. So from that I can say it likely helped with grad school admissions, and certainly most clients have looked at it before hiring me (in fact many have mentioned it positively).
https://prabhanjan.dev
Close, got tech interview at least, but they had a req for higher experience.
Nothing fancy, but it's a "terminal" with xterm. Helps keeping "Do you know REST and git?" type of recruiters away at least.
Close, got tech interview at least, but they had a req for higher experience.
Nothing fancy, but it's a "terminal" with xterm. Helps keeping "Do you know REST and git?" type of recruiters away at least.
It's terrific. I love it.
Well I know for a fact that it did help me get noticed, a couple of recruiters reached out to me after reading some of my blogposts.
Other than that, I think that in general it implicitly helped me because I’m definitely better at writing technical docs and that’s a nice perk for a software engineer.
Other than that, I think that in general it implicitly helped me because I’m definitely better at writing technical docs and that’s a nice perk for a software engineer.
Blogs/personal websites can lead to some amazing serendipitous outcomes. Especially true if you're into consulting of any kind.
Browse blogs here https://www.personalwebsites.xyz/
Browse blogs here https://www.personalwebsites.xyz/
Not quite directly through my website, but indirectly via my newsletter, that points to my website. It happened on two occasions, the most interesting of which was on a commission to do a piece of research on data uses in a sector that wasn't directly mine back then.
The person who contacted me was a subscriber and I didn't know them personally. I had written a short paragraph in my newsletter about a recent piece of data research I had carried out; something must have caught their attention as they went looking for it on my website, then contacting me saying "I'd like you to do the same thing for my organisation, can we talk?".
If a candidate has a personal website or blog that can articulate to me their interests in the field or otherwise, I add points to them being a communicator and someone who can probably present or put together something that requires critical thinking.
https://andrew-quinn.me isn't anything particularly special itself, except for https://andrew-quinn.me/fzf which probably permanently improved thousands of people's shell experiences with a very small additional increase in the complexity of their setup.
But my overall web presence has been hugely helpful in generating leads of both the personal and the professional sort. Plus, I kind of like being "that guy" who shows up in 7 different Internet niches because he's just always doing things.
Do it!
But my overall web presence has been hugely helpful in generating leads of both the personal and the professional sort. Plus, I kind of like being "that guy" who shows up in 7 different Internet niches because he's just always doing things.
Do it!
Mind did, but I am a technical writer not a dev so take that with a grain of salt.
During my job search, it was nice to have a portfolio to point to because I didn't have any "official" writing samples from my previous jobs (gov't). I wrote tutorials on some simple tech stuff - e.g., "How to install [this tool] on [whatever OS]" - as well as some thoughts on trying to learn computer science fundamentals as technical writer.
It really helped in the interviews to be able to talk candidly about all the fun I had learning different things, and the process had given me a deeper understanding of the tech related to the job.
During my job search, it was nice to have a portfolio to point to because I didn't have any "official" writing samples from my previous jobs (gov't). I wrote tutorials on some simple tech stuff - e.g., "How to install [this tool] on [whatever OS]" - as well as some thoughts on trying to learn computer science fundamentals as technical writer.
It really helped in the interviews to be able to talk candidly about all the fun I had learning different things, and the process had given me a deeper understanding of the tech related to the job.
For myself, my blog and GitHub activity were key points in my interviews that heavily influenced my previous two hires.
> Also I can't decide what to write about, and whether to make it more nerdy or more professional.
Personally, I use my blog to write about:
- Niche things I run into that I want to document for myself
- Things I’m working on that I think are cool
- Opinions on why I do things a certain way
I love reading other blogs that orbit around this type of content. One suggestion I would make is to focus on writing your blog for yourself instead of a fictional audience. That way your blog’s value is self-contained, rather than worrying about the value other people get out of it.
Good luck!
> Also I can't decide what to write about, and whether to make it more nerdy or more professional.
Personally, I use my blog to write about:
- Niche things I run into that I want to document for myself
- Things I’m working on that I think are cool
- Opinions on why I do things a certain way
I love reading other blogs that orbit around this type of content. One suggestion I would make is to focus on writing your blog for yourself instead of a fictional audience. That way your blog’s value is self-contained, rather than worrying about the value other people get out of it.
Good luck!
Double whammy - I was found via a 6-year old HN "who wants to be hired" post (much to my disbelief) and in my initial reply, I suggested they view my blog site. Not long after, I was a member of the team!
I got involved in the oracle forum in 2005. I was just tired to answer always the same questions. I posted them online and got first for whatever reason on Google Search.
That’s how datacadamia has started.
I got my second job because of the forum, my third one because of my website. Not that they contacted me directly but during the technical interview, my interviewer was a reader and pretty excited to get me on the team. With an Ai era, it would have been more difficult I guess. The good side is that writing allows you to make connection in your brain and in the outside world.
All the best
I got my second job because of the forum, my third one because of my website. Not that they contacted me directly but during the technical interview, my interviewer was a reader and pretty excited to get me on the team. With an Ai era, it would have been more difficult I guess. The good side is that writing allows you to make connection in your brain and in the outside world.
All the best
Not entirely "hired", but my site helped me to land a writing job. I've been writing interactive pieces on https://wordsandbuttons.online/ since 2017, and in 2021 Manning asked me if I wanted to write https://www.manning.com/books/geometry-for-programmers and, well, two years after it went to print.
I didn't had a degree, didn't had formal education.
But heck, had my software on the cover of paper magazines and was a recognized expert for a niche field of technology.
Smart companies hire for talent more than academic credentials or "years of experience". If you are unable to show your work portfolio from those years, there is really no evidence for people to judge your work quality in development.
This helps to distinguish between those who are developing software only as a 9 to 5 job, or those who love it and develop code on their free time as well.
But heck, had my software on the cover of paper magazines and was a recognized expert for a niche field of technology.
Smart companies hire for talent more than academic credentials or "years of experience". If you are unable to show your work portfolio from those years, there is really no evidence for people to judge your work quality in development.
This helps to distinguish between those who are developing software only as a 9 to 5 job, or those who love it and develop code on their free time as well.
i posted a blog (server's now offline though) on a technical topic and it sat on the frontpage of hacker news for about half a day, totaling about 100 points on HN; within a week i noticed a surge of messages from recruiters. most were, of course, useless bulk mailers but i did end up following through with one promising lead and made a good step up for my career. in my case i wouldn't say it opened new doors, per se, just made some doorways bigger.
regarding your final question, about whether or not to maintain a professional tone -- in my case, i didn't try very hard to seem professional. i used my all-lowercase style, informal constructions, mild humor. but the content was deeply technical.
Yes. On my personal webistite I talk a lot about making forum posts -- things like typoes in what you enter into textboxes on websites, and also I had a bad habit if clicking "submit" to comments early so only a partial comment would go through. I had a blog that talked about these things and various solutions. Well lo and behold a small startup looking for a CTO comes in and decides to bring me in, actually turned out tha
When I was interviewing at my last company, during the raising bar interview, the interviewer said that he looked at my personal website, liked it, and was really impressed by it. Then we spent one hour chatting about our experiences. So, I can say that it definitely helped me get hired.
https://andlukyane.com/blog/
Yup, back when I was studying, every business wanted to be "on the net", and i made a little bit of money for work that I only got after showing people my web site. It had my name on it, so they knew I could make something similar for them :)
I keep mine updated more to have a place to track progress than a portfolio these days https://jarek.lupin.ski
I keep mine updated more to have a place to track progress than a portfolio these days https://jarek.lupin.ski
I started and maintained this software tool for about a decade. It was a code beautifier and diff tool. It got me hired multiple times.
As a JavaScript developer writing open source applications eventually became a problem in regard to hiring. I could easily spin up an original application that does wonderful things, but other JavaScript developers can’t. I was no longer compatible to the employment.
As a JavaScript developer writing open source applications eventually became a problem in regard to hiring. I could easily spin up an original application that does wonderful things, but other JavaScript developers can’t. I was no longer compatible to the employment.
Earlier in my career, my gaming site actually got me hired for my first web development related role. And I had a recent interview revolve around said site for at least one stage, with said topic probably one of the key reasons I got to the next stage.
The YouTube channel seems to have helped quite a bit there too. Some companies see the sub count and are instantly intrigued lol.
The YouTube channel seems to have helped quite a bit there too. Some companies see the sub count and are instantly intrigued lol.
For traditional jobs, my LinkedIn profile and traded credentials helped more.
For freelancing, my good old website, https://srirangan.net - which has seen several incarnations, has been a tremendous asset.
I stopped blogging, writing essays. Rather, it's a statement for who I am, my values and work-ethic.
Website born in 2003. :)
For freelancing, my good old website, https://srirangan.net - which has seen several incarnations, has been a tremendous asset.
I stopped blogging, writing essays. Rather, it's a statement for who I am, my values and work-ethic.
Website born in 2003. :)
Just write. It might come up. My personal blog came up in several of my interviews as they will likely at least Google your name.
I've also been wondering about this question. It feels like society is increasingly valuing thinking in public, which hasn't really been my style. I've always preferred to think, debate and learn in smaller, almost always private chat groups and forums — yet I suspect this might end up hurting my career.
I don't think it's much a matter of society valuing rather than simple exposure and networking.
If I blog about say, Clojure, and my articles are read by people in the Clojure community, it's likely that over time I may receive some emails about my availability for a Clojure role.
If I blog about say, Clojure, and my articles are read by people in the Clojure community, it's likely that over time I may receive some emails about my availability for a Clojure role.
My technical website never got me a permanent position, but did get me several interesting contract jobs over the years. That isn't a blog, though, so there's little in the way of narrative. It's mostly a collection of the source code to various projects I've done.
I started my blog thehighestcritic.com in 2018 and have put everything I want on it since then.
I know many of the opportunities I have today are a direct result of starting that blog.
My tip is to lean nerdy. At the end of the day you’re going to have a better time with a group of attracted nerds than professionals.
I know many of the opportunities I have today are a direct result of starting that blog.
My tip is to lean nerdy. At the end of the day you’re going to have a better time with a group of attracted nerds than professionals.
I had a brochure like consulting site after I quit my last job. Despite only ever having one small client, that site convinced a big tech recruiter to tap me for an interview. I passed, took the job and moved. Completely changed the course of my life for the better.
That's a great question - older and more of a writer than a video maker, it didn't get me directly hired, but it enabled me to refine my knowledge and skills which in turn may have given me a better chance when exchanging with others.
I guess it was a great learning tool.
I guess it was a great learning tool.
Does anyone remember another HN post that has same topic(about personal project/blog/open source contribution) a few months ago? I wanted to save the link but forgot what it is. Can anyone share it if you remember? thank you in advance
Yes, I think so!
In one of my interviews for a job I will start soon, I mentioned a side project and one interviewer pulled up my site there and then to look at it.
I don't know that it made the difference, but I'm sure it helped!
In one of my interviews for a job I will start soon, I mentioned a side project and one interviewer pulled up my site there and then to look at it.
I don't know that it made the difference, but I'm sure it helped!
Genuinely curious on how blog helped you get a job. Is it because of the specific content on your blog.
I myself blog as well but haven't had any opportunities that led to hiring
I myself blog as well but haven't had any opportunities that led to hiring
In 2005, I used to blog about PHP, Linux, and web development. I got my first software job right out of college because the senior manager liked my blog.
100%
As an argentinean a way to stand out and have US companies look at me is through my dev blog
https://mikealche.com
As an argentinean a way to stand out and have US companies look at me is through my dev blog
https://mikealche.com
I got 2 projects through my personal website. I can tell that because the email on my website is unique and not mentioned anywhere else. patwoz.dev :)
My personal blog certainly has, it's good to show you actually do security research if you want a job that offers some time for that
Not a personal website, but putting my Free Software contributions and own projects on my CV helped me get my current job.
Absolutely not.
Out of the 3 jobs i have had all of them claimed they didn't look at my portfolio page.
Hell no, my personal website is intentionally made to be kitsch . It uses marquee and blink everywhere
Yes, it got me a full time job out of the blue. I am an operations type person and got thrown into using K8s at work in 2017 and Istio in 2021. I blogged about my struggles with both and the guy who would eventually hire me found my blog and liked what he read. He reached out saying he was developing an Istio training program and would I be interested in helping? I eventually took over as lead instructor for his small consultancy.
Turns out I like teaching MUCH more than I like fixing prod.
Edit: it is perhaps worth mentioning that my blog looks like absolute shit. It is literally a stock ghost.org blog with the vanilla theme and fuckall customization.
Turns out I like teaching MUCH more than I like fixing prod.
Edit: it is perhaps worth mentioning that my blog looks like absolute shit. It is literally a stock ghost.org blog with the vanilla theme and fuckall customization.
At least two of my interviewers this year referenced my website as being why they were interested in me
Not really, but perhaps I did not do it right.
As a solo consultant back in the 2010's, I created a website and blog for personal branding purpose.
* Blog articles about engineering, got well indexed on Google, getting me thousands of monthly visitors. * Articles about business / functional aspects never really got any visibility nor engagement.
So in the end my content has been mostly helpful to peer developers (mostly in India and the US), and did not reach my potential clients / employers in Western Europe where I am located...
I do not know how much effect the website had to recruiters, perhaps it still gave me extra points sometimes...
As a solo consultant back in the 2010's, I created a website and blog for personal branding purpose.
* Blog articles about engineering, got well indexed on Google, getting me thousands of monthly visitors. * Articles about business / functional aspects never really got any visibility nor engagement.
So in the end my content has been mostly helpful to peer developers (mostly in India and the US), and did not reach my potential clients / employers in Western Europe where I am located...
I do not know how much effect the website had to recruiters, perhaps it still gave me extra points sometimes...
higher ROI than anything else I've ever done for my career, by a long shot
with my website [1] I found investors, I was contacted by a highly sought after silicon valley startup, moved to the US and got my visa sponsored, I even found friends here to get my network going and a professional network much more significant than anything I could ever have on linkedin
the only downside is that writing on your blog takes a long time to become clearly worth it (read: years), so most people don't stick to it and never find out -- do it!
[1] https://giansegato.com/essays
with my website [1] I found investors, I was contacted by a highly sought after silicon valley startup, moved to the US and got my visa sponsored, I even found friends here to get my network going and a professional network much more significant than anything I could ever have on linkedin
the only downside is that writing on your blog takes a long time to become clearly worth it (read: years), so most people don't stick to it and never find out -- do it!
[1] https://giansegato.com/essays
Over 10 years ago (wow did time fly), I had a Rails-based site that could convert any YouTube channel to an RSS feed with audio streamed as MP3. This wouldn't be necessary today, but back then I couldn't afford an unlimited data plan, which is why I created this thing mostly for myself.
I demo'd it while being interviewed for a software role at an NPR station. They were impressed because my project added pre-roll audio to every clip and supported scrubbing, which are features they worked on for their site and app.
So yeah, I'm pretty sure that helped me get hired.
I demo'd it while being interviewed for a software role at an NPR station. They were impressed because my project added pre-roll audio to every clip and supported scrubbing, which are features they worked on for their site and app.
So yeah, I'm pretty sure that helped me get hired.
Yes. 100% Several times. Though it's just another marketing vehicle, and with marketing, it is an amalgam of all of your marketing efforts in all channels. And a personal site doesn't have to be a blog.
TLDR: Yes, do this.
Back in 2006, I started my own little consultancy - I focused on Ruby on Rails (I was very early in that game - to my knowledge the first in the UK to specialise in it as a tech stack), had a lot of opinions on the Web 2.0 and tech scene more broadly, and very little cash to spend on marketing or any serious sales efforts. In short, my only option really was blogging.
My company website was basically my tech blog. Whenever people googled me or my company name (I had business cards, I did a lot of free networking events too), the blog would come up. Every piece of work I got came from that blog or word of mouth. Kept me going for 4 years until it was time to go do something else.
I think having a "personal website" in the form of a portfolio you add to and just link to from your CV might help more if you're a designer.
A blog, or at least a set of articles/editorials/deeper thinking pieces, will help if you want to showcase you're not just another monkey in a seat at a future employer as a senior developer. It will pay a lot more dividends if you want to go free-lance.
In terms of finding topics to write about, well, that's simpler than a lot of people make it. Whenever you're coding a side project, reading something on HN or elsewhere or watching a dev YT or whatever, ask yourself "what do I think about this?" and make a note in a dedicated note for ideas on your phone or in a notepad you keep nearby. If you consistently do this, after a week you'll have a list of lots of things you have thoughts about. Spot a pattern or theme? Cool, go write a blog post. Or two. Or five.
A slightly more formal method for this is called a Zettelkasten. A lot of nonsense has been written about this (and as a method, it's produced some awful writing from people who didn't understand how to use it well), but I think a good primer for this is Bob Doto's "A System for Writing" - it breaks down how to capture ideas, thread them together into something to write about, and how to then produce some good writing. It's quite lightweight once you make it a small habit, and I've been reading this recently and found it a lot more helpful than other books on the method.
In terms of tone - nerdy or professional - I would suggest you need to keep it authentic. Be you. However, be you in the context of you wanting to get hired, not you in the context of being out on a Saturday night with your friends.
The tone should not be interview formal where you're trying to be the most professional you that you can ever be, but the you where you are in the office talking about the thing you're talking about to a colleague. In fact, just imagine you're talking to some of your existing colleagues: what would you say to them about this idea? Perhaps get some of them to proof read your drafts before you post. Try not to be too negative, cynical or sarcastic (not just on your blog, in life in general), and you'll find people out there thinking "hmmm, maybe I'd like to work with this person some day".
Back in 2006, I started my own little consultancy - I focused on Ruby on Rails (I was very early in that game - to my knowledge the first in the UK to specialise in it as a tech stack), had a lot of opinions on the Web 2.0 and tech scene more broadly, and very little cash to spend on marketing or any serious sales efforts. In short, my only option really was blogging.
My company website was basically my tech blog. Whenever people googled me or my company name (I had business cards, I did a lot of free networking events too), the blog would come up. Every piece of work I got came from that blog or word of mouth. Kept me going for 4 years until it was time to go do something else.
I think having a "personal website" in the form of a portfolio you add to and just link to from your CV might help more if you're a designer.
A blog, or at least a set of articles/editorials/deeper thinking pieces, will help if you want to showcase you're not just another monkey in a seat at a future employer as a senior developer. It will pay a lot more dividends if you want to go free-lance.
In terms of finding topics to write about, well, that's simpler than a lot of people make it. Whenever you're coding a side project, reading something on HN or elsewhere or watching a dev YT or whatever, ask yourself "what do I think about this?" and make a note in a dedicated note for ideas on your phone or in a notepad you keep nearby. If you consistently do this, after a week you'll have a list of lots of things you have thoughts about. Spot a pattern or theme? Cool, go write a blog post. Or two. Or five.
A slightly more formal method for this is called a Zettelkasten. A lot of nonsense has been written about this (and as a method, it's produced some awful writing from people who didn't understand how to use it well), but I think a good primer for this is Bob Doto's "A System for Writing" - it breaks down how to capture ideas, thread them together into something to write about, and how to then produce some good writing. It's quite lightweight once you make it a small habit, and I've been reading this recently and found it a lot more helpful than other books on the method.
In terms of tone - nerdy or professional - I would suggest you need to keep it authentic. Be you. However, be you in the context of you wanting to get hired, not you in the context of being out on a Saturday night with your friends.
The tone should not be interview formal where you're trying to be the most professional you that you can ever be, but the you where you are in the office talking about the thing you're talking about to a colleague. In fact, just imagine you're talking to some of your existing colleagues: what would you say to them about this idea? Perhaps get some of them to proof read your drafts before you post. Try not to be too negative, cynical or sarcastic (not just on your blog, in life in general), and you'll find people out there thinking "hmmm, maybe I'd like to work with this person some day".
yeah https://aakash.io is pretty solid
I originally did this simple layout in 2012 (simple white, grid of projects) - https://www.bennyschmidt.com/ and have several times tried to more exciting things with Three.js, or the ole make my site look like an OS to showcase my UI skills thing, etc. but no matter how impressive these experiments are I get the most compliments on this one.
Nothing over the top just "I took a look at your site and loved X" "Nice portfolio!" "You have a good eye for design"
But I never got any comments on anything super creative and flashy. When I was exclusively looking for work in games my site was a game, but nobody cared. To game people it wasn't AAA and to tech people it wasn't Apple.
Seems like simple and easy is best.
When I have hired designers or FE devs I don't even interview them if they don't have a personal site.
Nothing over the top just "I took a look at your site and loved X" "Nice portfolio!" "You have a good eye for design"
But I never got any comments on anything super creative and flashy. When I was exclusively looking for work in games my site was a game, but nobody cared. To game people it wasn't AAA and to tech people it wasn't Apple.
Seems like simple and easy is best.
When I have hired designers or FE devs I don't even interview them if they don't have a personal site.