The importance of having a side gig as a Software Engineer.
Tags: webdev, beginners, programming, career
Published: 2023-01-06 20:57:41

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Side gigs are referred to as side hustle in Software Engineering. To be honest, I don’t know if it’s called that in every profession but you will hear that expression a lot when you start working as a Software Engineer. So why don’t we just discuss a few points that might be helpful in case you hear of it.


### Side gigs are not only about money.
The primary reason someone would take on side gigs should not be because of money only but for growth. Don’t get me wrong, you should be paid to work but think about it this way. You have a job in which you do really great but most of the time you already know what you are going to do for the entire day. Like we will mostly say, you sleep, eat code and repeat. That  routine is ok but it can get really boring at some point and that’s when side gigs can come in handy. With a side gig you can work on something completely different from what you do at your 9 to 5. You could work with different tools and technologies, and solve different problems all together. I hope you can feel the excitement in this article that will help you take on side gigs more often to spice up your life when the routine becomes boring.


### Side gigs for growth.
Alright, that heading reads more like a commercial ad but it is the truth. Side gigs help us grow in terms of skillset, let me explain. All tutorials for beginners out there will teach you how to work and build applications that the entire world has already built, from the almighty JavaScript Clock to the unbeaten Todo List application in JavaScript. But side gigs on the other end are usually applications that people use, in other terms you are literally applying your problem solving skills and that is the way you improve on the job. The tech industry is a never ending learning field - that’s how I call it - but it is also very necessary to understand that the best way to learn is by doing. So having to work on side gigs is by far the best way to learn and master your craft.

### Side gigs help you have leverage. 
Now imagine having two aspiring developers who graduated the same year and applying for an entry level position at the same company. They both took that tutorial online that has lots of stars and they finished all the capstone projects, exercises and eventually got their certificates. But one of them decides to also start freelancing without charging their clients and add these projects to their portfolio. Now, the other one decides to just apply with the projects they built from the tutorial and not freelancing. Who do you think can easily land that job knowing that the interview is based on portfolio projects? I bet it’s the one with side gigs added to their portfolio. They stand a high chance because they went the extra mile with the little they knew, to any interviewer, they wanted more than what a tutorial had to offer and therefore stand out from the crowd. 

I understand side gigs are hard to come by so there is only one thing I can advise you to do, be authentic, by that I mean build applications that reflect who you are or the kind of engineer you aspire to be. Do you and good luck on your journey.