Hey Reader,

Let's talk projects.

These beauties are essential for landing interviews if you lack real-world experience.

But, I am begging you, stop asking me for exact project ideas.

This is not because I don't want to help you, but any project I suggest to you will immediately be a "bad" project.

Let me explain.

I have interviewed dozens of candidates at this point, and the projects that stand out are the deeply personal ones.

The reason this works is that there is some "romanticism" to these projects. There is storytelling, personal connection, and they are most likely very unique.

Building a personal project will keep you more motivated, and that passion will also show through in the interview when you are asked to talk about it.

Don't be that guy who has the Titanic, Iris and the MNIST datasets on their resume.

Actually, if you do have any of those, this is what you do with them to help you get hired.

• Print out the resume in PDF format.
• Get some lovely highlighters.
• Lay it out nicely, ideally outside.
• Get a lighter.
• Burn the resume.
• Put the ashes in the bin.

Voila!

What you have just done is create both physical and mental space for projects that will actually get you interviews.

You might now be wondering, but how do I come up with "good" personal projects, Egor?

Fear not, I have developed this top-of-the-line brand-spanking-new framework using Blockchain, Quantum computing, AI and Projects-as-a-Service (PaaS) that you can follow:

• List at least five things you are interested in outside of work.
• For each thing, write down at least five questions you want the answer to or an idea to explore.
• Think about how you could apply machine learning or data science to answer those questions.
• Pick the one that excites you the most and is slightly outside your comfort zone.

Spend 10 minutes on this, and then bish bash bosh —you have a great personal project idea.

It's unbelievably easy, there is no fathomable excuse not to do it.

To keep you even more accountable, I would love for you to reply to this email with your lists and the project you are working on. Happy to share my feedback as well!

Speak soon,
Egor

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PS: If you want further help with your projects, feel free to book a call with me here.

PPS: Had my first Greggs coffee yesterday and for ~£2, it's pretty decent. It did get me thinking about the price-to-quality trade-offs of coffee houses though, and how I'd rank them. Below is my draft list so far (will append as time goes on).

1. Gails: Absolutely unreal, god tier status.
2. Watchhouse: Close second, but size and price is what let's it down.
3. Greggs: Can't beat the price.
4. Costa: Just alright.
5. Starbucks: dogwater.
6. Pret: dogwater.

Sorry, not sorry.

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