How to List Side Projects That Weren't for an Employer

Plenty of people do meaningful work that no employer ever paid them for. A side project building a small website for a local charity. A script that automates something tedious. An online community grown from nothing. None of this fits neatly into a CV built around job titles and employers, so most people leave it off entirely, even when it is some of their strongest evidence of initiative and skill.

That is a mistake, but the fix is not to dress the project up as something it was not. It is to describe it plainly, in a way that lets the reader see exactly what you did and why it is relevant.

Why these projects are worth including

Side projects show things a job history often cannot. That you take initiative without being asked. That you can finish something with no manager chasing you. That you are genuinely interested in the field rather than just qualified for it. For career changers especially, a side project can be the only concrete evidence you have that you can actually do the new thing.

The risk is overclaiming. A weekend project is not 'founded and scaled a software company'. Be precise about scale and status. It protects your credibility and, honestly, it is more persuasive. A recruiter who senses inflation on one line starts doubting the rest of the CV.

Where to put it

• Early career or career change: give it its own section, 'Projects', placed near the top, close to your summary and skills.
• Established career with a relevant project: fold it into a Projects section lower down, after your work history.
• Minor or one-off project: a single line under a Skills and Interests section is enough, it does not need its own heading.

How to describe one well

Treat it like any other achievement: what you did, how, and what came of it. The format does not need to be fancy.

1. Name it clearly. 'Volunteer scheduling tool' tells the reader more than 'Personal project'.
2. Say what it is in one line. What it does, who it is for, what it is built with if relevant.
3. State your role precisely. Solo project, built with one other person, contributed to an existing open-source tool, say which.
4. Give a real outcome if there is one. Used by a certain number of people, saved a specific amount of time, still running, or simply completed and shipped.
5. Skip the outcome if there is not one. 'Built to learn X' is a legitimate reason for a project to exist.

A side project described honestly, with its real scale, is more convincing than one dressed up to sound bigger than it was.

An example

Weak: 'Developed a market-leading application used by thousands.' If it was a personal app with a few dozen downloads, say that. 'Built and published a budgeting app as a personal project to learn mobile development, around 40 active users via word of mouth.' That is specific, honest, and tells a recruiter exactly what kind of thing you are capable of starting and finishing.

When to leave it off

Not every hobby belongs on a CV. If a project is unfinished, has nothing to show for it, or has no connection to the role you are applying for, it is probably better as an interview anecdote than a CV line. Use the job description as the filter. If the project demonstrates a skill the employer is actually asking for, include it. If it is just something you are proud of with no relevance, save it for conversation.

FixMyCV reads the job description alongside your CV, flags where a side project might genuinely strengthen your case, and helps you describe it in the employer's language without ever inflating what it actually was.