In today’s competitive software industry, it takes more than just a solid CV and a list of programming languages to stand out. Employers are increasingly looking for engineers who demonstrate passion, initiative, and real-world problem-solving ability. One of the most effective ways to showcase these qualities is through technical blogs and side projects.
Whether you’re early in your career or a seasoned developer looking to step into a new role, investing time in writing and building outside of your day job can open doors you didn’t even know existed. In this blog, we’ll explore why technical blogs and side projects matter, what they say about you as an engineer, and how they can positively impact your career.
Demonstrating Real-World Skills
Many CVs list skills like “proficient in Python” or “experienced with React”, but without context, these claims can be hard for hiring managers to evaluate. Side projects and blog posts provide evidence of how you've applied your knowledge in real scenarios.
For example:
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A GitHub repository showing a web application you built from scratch proves you can take an idea from concept to deployment.
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A blog post explaining how you optimised a database query shows not just your technical skill, but also your communication and teaching ability.
Why this matters: Employers value candidates who can both do the work and articulate their thinking clearly. These real-world artefacts are far more compelling than a bullet point on a CV.
Standing Out in the Job Market
With hundreds of applicants often competing for the same roles, especially at junior or mid-level, technical blogs and personal projects can give you a serious edge. They show initiative, curiosity, and a willingness to go beyond the job description.
Even if your side project isn’t groundbreaking, it shows:
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You’re self-motivated
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You enjoy problem-solving outside of work
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You take ownership of your learning
For more senior roles, side projects often reflect leadership potential—especially if they involve mentoring others, open-source contributions, or creating tools that help other developers.
Tip for candidates: Include links to your GitHub, blog, or portfolio site on your CV and LinkedIn. Make it easy for employers to explore your work.
Continuous Learning and Experimentation
Technology evolves quickly. Frameworks, languages, and best practices change constantly, and engineers who don’t keep up risk falling behind. Side projects offer a low-risk environment for experimentation—whether it’s testing a new front-end framework, working with cloud platforms, or building something using AI.
Technical blogging, too, can reinforce learning. Writing forces you to organise your thoughts, explain concepts clearly, and identify gaps in your understanding. It’s one of the best ways to solidify new knowledge.
Real-world benefit: Candidates who show they're learning continuously tend to adapt faster in new roles and are better equipped for long-term growth within a company.
Building a Personal Brand
In the digital age, your online presence can be just as influential as your CV. A well-written blog or popular open-source project can establish you as a thought leader within your niche.
This doesn't mean you need thousands of followers or a viral post. Even a handful of clear, helpful articles can create a strong impression. Hiring managers and recruiters do their research—if they Google your name and find content that demonstrates technical insight and professionalism, that’s a big plus.
Career advantage: A strong personal brand can lead to job offers, speaking invitations, and networking opportunities that aren’t available through traditional channels.
Showing Soft Skills That Employers Value
Technical ability is crucial, but employers also care deeply about soft skills—especially communication, problem-solving, and initiative.
Side projects often involve:
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Planning and time management
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Collaborating with others (if it’s a team or open-source effort)
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Creativity in identifying and solving problems
Writing technical blogs shows:
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You can explain complex topics in accessible ways
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You can think critically about your work
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You’re willing to share knowledge with the community
All of these are qualities that make you more hireable, promotable, and trustworthy as part of a development team.
Preparing for Interviews
Many engineers struggle in interviews—not because they lack skills, but because they can’t clearly explain what they’ve done. Having side projects or blogs gives you stories to draw from when answering behavioural or technical questions.
For instance:
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“Tell me about a time you debugged a difficult issue” becomes easier when you’ve written a blog post about it.
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“How do you approach learning new technologies?” is easier to answer when you can point to a recent project where you used something unfamiliar.
Practical tip: Before interviews, review your own blog posts or project READMEs. They’ll help you recall technical details and key decision points.
Opening the Door to Freelance and Entrepreneurial Work
Many freelance clients or early-stage startups look at GitHub and blogs to gauge whether an engineer is suitable. If you’re considering branching out into freelance work or building a product of your own, having a strong online presence can be the deciding factor in winning clients or securing investment.
Even if you’re not actively pursuing those paths, side projects show that you think like a builder—and that mindset is valuable in startups, product teams, and innovation-focused companies.
Getting Started: No Need for Perfection
A common misconception is that you need to be an expert or build something revolutionary to start blogging or working on side projects. That’s simply not true.
Start with:
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A simple tool you built to automate a task
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A “how-to” guide for something you recently learned
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A write-up of a bug you solved and what you learned
You don’t need to publish weekly. Consistency matters more than frequency. One quality blog post or project every few months can still be incredibly valuable.
Platform suggestions:
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Blog on Medium, Dev.to, or your own site
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Share code on GitHub or GitLab
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Join communities like Hashnode, Indie Hackers, or Reddit’s programming forums
Final Thoughts
In a competitive and rapidly evolving industry, software engineers need more than just qualifications - they need to show what they can do. Technical blogs and side projects are powerful tools for demonstrating initiative, deepening your expertise, and standing out to employers.
They’re also a chance to enjoy the craft of engineering outside of commercial deadlines - to build, learn, and share simply because you enjoy it. And that enthusiasm, more than anything, is what top companies are looking for.
At First Achieve, we connect passionate engineers with forward-thinking employers. If you’re building interesting things and looking for your next challenge, or if you’re hiring developers who go the extra mile, our specialist recruitment team is here to help.
