SourcingSpider

Mine “Side Projects” to Find Hidden Talent

🎯 Many high-quality candidates may not hold big job titles yet—but they prove their capability through side projects, freelancing, hackathons, and volunteer work.

Where to look:🔍👇

LinkedIn Featured section
GitHub, Kaggle, Behance
Personal websites & portfolios
Community forums and tech groups

Search examples:🕵️

LinkedIn / Job Portals:
(“side project” OR “freelance” OR “personal project”) AND (“Python” OR “SQL”)

Google X-ray:
site:linkedin.com/in “side project” “data analysis”
GitHub:
topic:automation language:python

Real-world example:🚦

A candidate may not be a “Data Analyst” by title, but a profile showing 3 self-built dashboards, a GitHub repo, and a freelance project often indicates stronger hands-on skills than someone with only role-based experience.

Why this works:
✔ Identifies self-driven learners
✔ Surfaces career switchers & hidden gems
✔ Improves quality of shortlist
Don’t just hire experience—hire evidence.