How to Pick a Coding Project

For most people, getting your first software internship will be pretty tough. You have to somehow show recruiters and interviewers that you can code, but you can’t do that with relevant work experience (because you have none, in most cases). So how can you demonstrate your abilities?

Simple: with coding projects.

A lot of people already know this. But even if you do know that this is what you’re “supposed” to do, it can be difficult to pick one and get started. Some common barriers to starting include:

If you think about these issues, it can become apparent that tackling these issues is the main purpose of doing a personal coding project! Here’s why:

I don’t know skill/technology XYZ, so I can’t do this project.

Programming requires constant learning, and this will be especially true if you decide to do a personal project. It’s possible that you can build something that’s pretty cool using entirely things you already know, and that’s fine. However, most people don’t know everything, so chances are you’ll need to learn something new to be able to complete your idea. This is a great skill to have and it shows people that you’re able to handle new challenges and apply new knowledge to something concrete. Be willing to try new things, and just see what happens instead of overthinking it too much (easier said than done, but still!).

This project is too difficult for me to do.

Honestly, there’s a chance that this could even be true. Even though it may be too difficult right now, that does not mean that you cannot improve your skills so that you are actually able to do your project idea. In fact, that’s exactly what you should do! Most projects seem intimidating at the start, but doing it piece by piece and starting with the things you know how to do can make it a much more feasible task to complete.

I haven’t had any good ideas for a personal project.

This can be tough to deal with, since it can seem like a lot of things have been done already or you think your idea just isn’t very interesting. If you’re trying to think of the next big business idea and make millions, then originality is definitely important. However, a coding project isn’t nearly that intense. For the projects I’ve done in the past, my main way of generating ideas has been to think about which products I would actually use myself. As a musician and college student, these are some of the things I’ve worked on:

• An iPhone app that helps users configure their music/audio recording setup
• An iPhone app that allows the user to keep track of their workout exercises, and how much weight they currently do for each exercise
• A web app that allows roommates to keep track of shared expenses and how much everyone owes each other

Now I’m not saying that these are amazing projects or anything, since there are a lot of way cooler and more impressive things that other people have worked on. However, these are all things that I would actually use in my day-to-day life, and this also makes the projects more meaningful to me. This can really make a project stand out, and your passion for the project will come naturally as well. If you’re thinking of ways to pick a coding project to do, try thinking about what you would personally use, and then build it!