How a "Useless" Android Library Landed Me a Job
Let me start by saying this: “useless” is a relative term. And also the title is 50% clickbait. What might seem “useless” to the world turned out to be one of the best things I ever did for my career. And, well, here’s how it all went down.
As an Android developer, I’ve had my fair share of failed app projects. And by “fair share,” I mean a lot. Every time I started a new app, I found myself rewriting the same utility functions over and over again — helper methods for Firebase, string manipulation, UI abstractions… It was tedious, frustrating, and just not fun.
At one point, I thought, “What if I just bundle all these utility functions into a library? Then I could reuse them for my next project and save myself the headache.”
So, I did exactly that.
I named the library Anhance, a mashup of “Android” and “enhance”. It’s basically a collection of utility functions, common abstractions, and boilerplate code that I’d written over the years. Think of it as my Swiss Army knife for Android development.
Here’s the thing though: I didn’t really think anyone else would find it useful. It’s super tailored to my workflow, and some of the abstractions are so niche that they’re practically inside jokes. But for me, Anhance was a game changer. It made building apps faster, easier, and a little less soul-crushing.
I decided to make Anhance public. I cleaned up the code, added some basic documentation, and published it as an open-source library on GitHub and Jitpack. Now the library is published on MavenCentral. Not because I thought it would go viral or anything, but because… well, I can access it in any projects. At the very least, it’d be a nice addition to my portfolio.
Spoiler alert: Anhance didn’t blow up. No one forked it, it got three stars(thank you), as far as I know no one use it. And that was fine! I wasn’t expecting it to.
Fast forward a few months, and I was in the middle of job hunting. I’d landed an interview with a company I really liked, and during the technical round, the interviewer asked me, “Do you have any projects you’re particularly proud of?”
At first, I hesitated. Anhance wasn’t exactly “impressive” in the traditional sense. But hey, it was a library I’d poured my heart into, so I decided to talk about it.
I walked the interviewer through:
- Why I created Anhance (to save myself time and headaches).
- How it’s structured and the problems it solves.
- Some of the unique abstractions I’d built (even if they were quirky).
To my surprise, the interviewer seemed to love it. Or maybe they were just being polite. Either way, they didn’t care that Anhance wasn’t popular; they cared about the mindset and skills it showcased. And I was hired.
Here’s what I took away from this experience:
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Your “useless” projects aren’t actually useless. For example, when I was working on Anhance, I realized how much I improved at designing reusable components and writing clean documentation—skills that ended up being invaluable during interviews and on the job. Even if no one else uses them, they’re proof of your creativity, problem-solving skills, and passion for coding.
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Personal projects make great interview talking points. Recruiters and hiring managers love to see that you’re proactive and resourceful. A personal library like Anhance shows that you don’t just code to meet deadlines—you code to improve your craft.
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It’s okay to start small. You don’t need to build the next big thing to stand out. Sometimes, the smallest, most niche tools can leave the biggest impression.
Conclusion
Anhance might not have revolutionized the Android development world, but it significantly shaped my career path by opening unexpected opportunities. Creating that “useless” library helped me gain skill to land a job, made me a better developer, and taught me that even so-called failed projects can have unexpected rewards.
So, to anyone reading this who feels like their side projects don’t matter—trust me, they do. Keep building, keep learning, and who knows? Your next “useless” project might just change your life.
PS. Now I even have more useless libraries: