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Building a Portfolio That Gets You Hired

CareerPortfolio

Your portfolio is your technical resume. Here’s how to build one that stands out.

What Hiring Managers Look For

  1. Can you build things? - Working projects
  2. Can you explain things? - Clear documentation
  3. Do you care about quality? - Clean code, tests
  4. Are you passionate? - Personal projects beyond work

Project Selection

Quality > Quantity

Bad: 20 tutorial projects Good: 3 original projects that solve real problems

The Portfolio Formula

  1. Full-stack app - Shows end-to-end skills
  2. Systems project - Shows low-level understanding
  3. Open source contribution - Shows collaboration

Example Projects

1. Full-Stack: Task Manager

Tech: React + Spring Boot + PostgreSQL Features:

  • User authentication (JWT)
  • Real-time updates (WebSockets)
  • Responsive design
  • Deployed to AWS

Why it works:

  • Demonstrates common stack
  • Shows deployment skills
  • Real-world use case

2. Systems: Custom Database

Tech: C++, B-trees, WAL Features:

  • Key-value store
  • ACID transactions
  • Crash recovery

Why it works:

  • Shows deep technical knowledge
  • Differentiates from web devs
  • Great conversation starter

3. Open Source: Contribute to Qt

Contribution: Fixed memory leak in QNetworkAccessManager Impact: Used by thousands of applications

Why it works:

  • Shows you can work with large codebases
  • Demonstrates collaboration
  • Adds credibility

Documentation Matters

README Template

# Project Name

Brief description (1-2 sentences)

## Features
- Feature 1
- Feature 2

## Tech Stack
- Frontend: React, TypeScript
- Backend: Spring Boot, PostgreSQL
- Infrastructure: Docker, AWS

## Demo
[Live Demo](https://example.com) | [Video](https://youtube.com/...)

## Screenshots
![Screenshot](screenshot.png)

## Running Locally
```bash
docker-compose up

Architecture

[Diagram of system design]

Challenges & Solutions

Challenge: Handling 10K concurrent users Solution: Implemented Redis caching, reduced DB calls by 80%


## Code Quality

### Show Your Best Work

```cpp
// Bad: No comments, unclear names
int f(int* a, int n) {
    int s = 0;
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) s += a[i];
    return s;
}

// Good: Clear, documented
/**
 * Calculates the sum of an integer array.
 * @param array The input array
 * @param size Number of elements
 * @return Sum of all elements
 */
int calculateSum(const int* array, size_t size) {
    int sum = 0;
    for (size_t i = 0; i < size; i++) {
        sum += array[i];
    }
    return sum;
}

Include Tests

@Test
public void testUserRegistration() {
    User user = new User("john@example.com", "password123");
    userService.register(user);
    
    User retrieved = userService.findByEmail("john@example.com");
    assertEquals("john@example.com", retrieved.getEmail());
}

Deployment

Don’t just show code - show it running.

  • Frontend: Vercel, Netlify, GitHub Pages
  • Backend: Heroku, Railway, AWS Free Tier
  • Database: ElephantSQL, MongoDB Atlas

Your Website

Essential Pages

  1. Home: Brief intro + featured projects
  2. Projects: Detailed project showcases
  3. About: Your story, skills, experience
  4. Blog: Technical articles (like this one!)
  5. Contact: Email, GitHub, LinkedIn

This Website

This very site is built with:

  • Jekyll (static site generator)
  • GitHub Pages (free hosting)
  • Custom SCSS (responsive design)

View source on GitHub

Common Mistakes

  1. No live demos - Always deploy
  2. Poor README - First impression matters
  3. Incomplete projects - Finish what you start
  4. No tests - Shows you care about quality
  5. Outdated tech - Use modern tools

Conclusion

Your portfolio should:

  • Showcase 3-5 quality projects
  • Include live demos
  • Have excellent documentation
  • Demonstrate diverse skills
  • Tell your story

Action Items:

  1. Pick 3 project ideas
  2. Build and deploy them
  3. Write great READMEs
  4. Create a personal website
  5. Share on LinkedIn/Twitter

What’s in your portfolio? Share your projects!

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