When a degree isn’t enough: Why side projects and self-study are the new career catalysts

'A degree may open a door, but it’s no longer a guarantee of success. Today, the learners who grow fastest and go furthest are those who take ownership of their learning beyond the classroom.'

Written by Guest

Updated: June 30, 2025 21:49 IST

When a degree isn’t enough: Why side projects and self-study are the new career catalysts. (Image: Pixaby)

By Deepu S Nath

India is facing an employability crisis. While over one crore students graduate every year, only a fraction are truly job-ready. The India Skills Report 2024 places the employability rate at just 48.7%, meaning more than half of all graduates lack the skills employers are looking for. Even more striking, only a small percentage manage to land what they consider their dream job. The gap between academic achievement and meaningful employment has never been more evident.

Across campuses, students invest years pursuing degrees with the expectation that formal education will prepare them for the real world. But too often, they step out of classrooms only to find themselves unprepared for the demands of a rapidly evolving job market. They may have secured good marks and cleared examinations, but they struggle when asked to solve real problems, collaborate in teams, or adapt to shifting roles and technologies. The issue isn’t a lack of intelligence or effort—it is a fundamental mismatch between how we teach and what the world now requires.

What is a side project?

A side project might be a small app, a blog, a research initiative, or even organising a local event. What it shows is that the individual can work independently, make decisions, and apply what they know to real-world situations. It’s where learning becomes lived. These projects help learners build confidence and skill, and just as importantly, they provide a track record; something potential employers or collaborators can see and evaluate.

Industry leaders are taking notice. Increasingly, hiring managers and tech recruiters are bypassing traditional résumés in favour of scouting platforms like GitHub, Kaggle, and open-source communities, where real contributions can be seen in action. A well-documented code repository, a ranked machine learning solution, or a meaningful pull request speaks louder than a line on a CV. This shift is fundamentally reshaping hiring pipelines—prioritising demonstrable skill over academic pedigree, and practical impact over paper qualifications. It means that learners who actively build and contribute in public are more likely to be discovered, assessed, and offered opportunities—regardless of where they studied or what they scored.

This shift toward learner-led growth is not just anecdotal. It’s taking shape in structured, scalable ways across India. One such example is μLearn, – a peer-driven learning ecosystem built to empower young people to take charge of their own development. Instead of relying on top-down instruction, μLearn encourages learners to join or form “Learning Circles”, where knowledge is shared among peers, projects are co-created, and progress is tracked through practical outputs rather than test scores.

μLearn replaces rank-based pressure with proof-of-work recognition. They earn Karma Points for completing real tasks and solving challenges, which in turn become visible proof of their growth. These points are not just gamification – they represent a learner’s journey, skill by skill, and are increasingly being recognised by hiring partners and mentors. With over 40,000 students engaged, this movement is already transforming how young people think about education, especially in parts of the country where exposure and access have traditionally been limited.

Building on this foundation, the Purple Movement extends the idea to a national scale. It’s an initiative that seeks to reimagine learning as a form of public infrastructure—accessible, community-led, and constantly evolving. Much like how India’s UPI changed how we pay, the Purple Movement envisions a system that changes how we learn—decentralised, purpose-driven, and open to all.

The Purple Movement doesn’t aim to replace traditional education but to fill its gaps. It’s about building real-time, domain-specific communities – whether in AI, cybersecurity, design, or entrepreneurship – where learners can grow by doing, connect directly with practitioners, and gain recognition through work, not just credentials. It’s a response to the growing realisation that knowledge shouldn’t be locked behind gatekeepers or limited by curriculum cycles. It should be shared, practised, and constantly evolving.

At its core, this shift from institution-led to learner-led models acknowledges a simple truth: the world is changing too fast for education to remain static. If students are to succeed, they need systems that empower them to take charge, not just comply. They need spaces where curiosity is rewarded, where failure is seen as part of the process, and where learning never stops.

This doesn’t mean we abandon structure entirely. Formal education still plays a role. But it must be complemented with ecosystems that encourage exploration, creation, and reflection. Learners need to see themselves not just as students but as contributors—people who can shape their paths, their skills, and their futures.