As a hiring manager, I can say that we don't want to hire the mythical 'rock stars', the kind of know-it-alls that do-it-all. We want people who will be great team players and help build a collaborative culture. Not that 'rock stars' cannot be team players, but there is certainly that risk.

One of the things I always have to explain when applying for a new job is about the substantial number of years I've run my own software businesses.

The interviewer's fear is always the same: that if I take the position, I'll be leaving shortly in order to start another venture. I explain (and point out in my work history) that isn't the case. I don't take permanent positions with the idea that they're temporary. If I wanted a temporary position, I'd do contract work instead.

I don't know if this aspect of my work history has ever cost me a job, but if so, it doesn't matter. I land jobs anyway.

Hiring managers want reliable results. If a candidate does not have the look for months and months and months of consistent output (that's soft slang for years), it really doesn't matter how good they are.

Real programmers hiring more team members see side developments as a strength, they only want their work to get done.

When you're interviewing with companies, try and give them the impression that the thing you want to be doing now is the thing they're looking to have done.

Assuming you're like the rest of us and have material needs and bills to pay, it's not even a lie. :)

Yes, some companies avoid hiring programmers who prefer indie work. They worry these programmers might not fully commit to their job or could develop competing products. Others fear they might prioritize their indie projects over company work.

In my experience, companies won’t google you (hell, sometimes they barely will read your cv), so if you don’t explicitly say that you do indie dev, they won’t ever find out (what you do in your private time is not their business anyway)

If I hire someone who wants to be an indie dev, how much of their side projects are they going to do instead of the work I need them to do?

I have been on 2 teams where a member had a 'tech' side business. They spent each seemed to spend 4 to 8 hours a week on their side hustle, while supposedly working at their job.

I currently have a co-worker (we do not work on a team together), who has a side business with his family doing indie games, but I have never seen him work on it at work.

Many companies don't really have the luxury of picking.

A full time programmer, even one who sticks around for 8 months or so, is far better than a contractor. There's also the possibility they hang around for years.

Someone who's doing indie work on the side, well, they're upskilling themselves at least. And they're more likely to be incentivized by more time off or less work than they are by more money, so it's not always bad.

Don't tell. Just apply for job.

It's how I got my programming job with no school or employment background. I built popular software used in my prev community (flight sched and training). Now have a software job.

Some people are afraid of (what they perceive as) mavericks. Some embrace us. Embrace yourself.

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