When it comes to full-stack developer jobs, your portfolio is (arguably) more important than your resume. While a resume provides recruiters with an idea of your career path, your portfolio demonstrates your skills. A portfolio is the quickest way for a recruiter to determine whether you’re the right fit for the role and how proficient you are in the skills listed on your resume.
Knowing that so much is riding on this single document can be intimidating. That is why we have created this guide. We’ll go over how to showcase your best work and land your dream job.
What Is a Full-Stack Developer Portfolio?
A full-stack developer portfolio is a document or webpage that details your previous projects. The goal is to demonstrate to hiring managers your full-stack development skills and how you’ve used them to solve various problems by learning coding online.
Technical recruiters may look at your Github repositories and scan the code you’ve written in some cases. However, your portfolio must also be understandable to HRs that come from a non-tech background, which means you must describe your projects in simple terms.
What should a portfolio of software developers include?
Your portfolio does not have to be a full website; it can simply be a single page. Indeed, it should be. Recruiters and hiring managers are reviewing a large number of portfolios and only have so much time to devote to yours.Make sure that your portfolio doesn’t contain too much information. Here are some specifics you should include.
- Personal information
We’ll begin with what you should include in your About section. This is your portfolio’s non-technical section. It’s where you’ll tell visitors and recruiters about yourself, share some high-level experience, and tell people how to contact you. Here are some suggestions for this section.
- Bio
You should describe certain aspects of your personality. Perhaps you could explain how you got to learn coding online or some other way. You can also include any hobbies or activities that you enjoy. There’s no need to go overboard, but this is where you can express yourself.
- Contact Information
This is the most crucial part. Make it easy for people to contact you from your portfolio page. Include at least your email address. Many recruiters prefer to contact candidates by phone, but making your phone number public may result in unwanted calls, so you must make that decision.
- Relevant abilities
You should include a list of your technical skills. List only the skills you are proficient in and want to work with again. If you’re currently looking for work, make sure your skills section is up to date. Do you have anything else to add to this section? You can learn a new language or skill From Geekster’s full stack developer course, you can learn a new language or skill.
- Related social media profiles
Your Github, Bitbucket, Gitlab, and LinkedIn profiles are obvious places to include links. You might also want to add other profiles. If you frequently answer questions on Stack Overflow, Quora, or Reddit, you should include links to your profiles on those sites. Of course, you should only include links to those if you have a good reputation and specialise in technology.
- Awards, competitions, or other forms of recognition
Include links to any articles or books you’ve written. If you won a coding contest, include it. If you have a large bug bounty, include it as well.
- A link to your resume
Recruiters and HR are always looking for a hard copy, so include a link to your resume so they can print it.
2. Your work: project links and source code
What project types should you include in your portfolio? Depending on where you are in your professional journey, you can include a mix of professional and personal projects.
While screenshots or website links may suffice in the early stages of the hiring process, you will also need to “show your work” (i.e. your source code) to impress the technical people involved. Add your source code to a free software repository such as Github, Bitbucket, or Gitlab. Make sure to include documentation in your projects that explains what they are and how to use them.
- Professionals project
If you have more experience, you will most likely have worked on a variety of projects for others, whether for a client, a job, or a programming course. Include links to your projects so that recruiters can see your work in action.
Include projects that use technologies that you’d like to work on again. Include any relevant project details, such as screenshots, who the project was for, and when you completed it. If the project has a live website, include a link to it.
- Personal projects
If you’re new to programming and looking for your first development job, you might not have any related experience aside from course projects. That’s fine! If your projects section is lacking, it is acceptable to include personal projects to supplement your portfolio.
Where should your developer portfolio be hosted?
The first thing you should think about when creating your portfolio is where you will host it. The location of your software developer portfolio is determined by your current skills and budget. There are numerous free options.
If you are a back-end or full-stack developer, hosting your portfolio on your own domain is the best option. After all, configuring a server, creating your own portfolio site, and deploying it are all examples of back-end and full-stack skills. The website will be included in your portfolio. This method should also be used by front-end developers who know how to deploy a website. When you host your own portfolio on your own domain, the portfolio serves as both a portfolio project and an example of your work!
Another option is to use the free hosting provided by Github, Bitbucket, or Gitlab. All of these sites offer free code repository hosting as well as the ability to create static websites for describing your code projects or for any other purpose you desire. It makes perfect sense to use one for a software developer portfolio.
Dribble, a website that hosts web designer portfolios, is another option.
In terms of functionality, you should first ensure that your portfolio is simple to navigate. Include a simple navigation bar with a few options. Simplicity is essential. Many portfolios only have “about me,” “portfolio,” and “contact” pages or sections.
In conclusion you should also make certain that your portfolio looks good and functions properly on a computer, tablet, and smartphone.
