I've been a professional C, Perl, PHP and Python developer.
I'm an ex-sysadmin from the late 20th century.
These days I do more Javascript and CSS and whatnot, and promote UX and accessibility.
Absolutely not. In fact, I think people put too much weight on them when talking about applying for jobs.
I think they can help, career-wise, when you don't have much professional experience, but most companies are going to see that you did a year here, a couple of years there and so on and talk to you in an interview anyway. Side projects "for show" run the risk of making people overly critical of you before they even get to the interview stage. People love to pick holes :)
On the other hand, if they're projects you genuinely want to do, and you have the time (i.e. they're a hobby) then go for it. Challenge yourself. But don't let failure in your personal projects make you question your professional ability... or vice versa.
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Do you need to?
Absolutely not. In fact, I think people put too much weight on them when talking about applying for jobs.
I think they can help, career-wise, when you don't have much professional experience, but most companies are going to see that you did a year here, a couple of years there and so on and talk to you in an interview anyway. Side projects "for show" run the risk of making people overly critical of you before they even get to the interview stage. People love to pick holes :)
On the other hand, if they're projects you genuinely want to do, and you have the time (i.e. they're a hobby) then go for it. Challenge yourself. But don't let failure in your personal projects make you question your professional ability... or vice versa.