Projects or Portfolio?

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So I have recently moved to Arizona in the midst of learning full stack web development. I completed my front-end cert from FCC along with a ReactJS course on Udemy, and was half way through a Node.js course when I moved.

I now find myself applying for lots of jobs with no return calls, and i have a feeling it has to do with not having a true portfolio page, but I also feel I need a major refresh of my skills since i have not been coding daily for the past apx. 3-3 1/2 months due to the move, etc.

Now I DO need to find a job, and I really would like it to be in the web development field. Should continue trying to refresh my skills and continue on with more new projects? Or should I create a solid portfolio page then move on? (Problem with the portfolio page is I keep changing my design!)

Thanks you all in advance!

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I am working for a very large telecoms software company as a UI engineer and got the interview directly as a result of my portfolio. It was interesting enough to merit me getting the interview to be able to tell them about all the things I was working on and why I deserve the job.

Another great option would be to host all the projects you created in the tutorials and be able to show off what you learned. Highlight your github account if that’s where you are uploading your code from the tutorials.

I struggled for 6 months not getting interviews and once I had my portfolio, codepen and github updated with some projects I got phone calls weekly.

I haven’t updated my site since I got the job: www.NiallJoeMaher.com

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Thank you for your input and a link to your site. I have been struggling for a while now on a design for a portfolio page, and now I need one as I actually was contacted. So i’m going to attempt to go with a straight foward design and not over think it (next to impossible for me, but i will be trying!).

When i’m all done i’ll post a link would love to have some feedback!

Thanks again!

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My email address is on the site as well so if you ever want advice just send a quick mail.
I’d love to give some feedback so keep me in the loop, good luck in the job hunt!

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I have the same struggle myself. I’ve been trying to figure out what I’m doing wrong for the past month. I wasn’t sure what action to take and really clouded my mind.

Great info lesniall! I’m now more certain of what to do. Thank you!

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I’ve been in the same swamp for a couple of years now. I’ve actually given up quite a few times and have been coming back to front end development over and over. I have a slew of ‘unused’ skills if that makes any sense. I’m doing the FCC front end again and Colt Steeles Front End Course from Udemy all at the same time. I have to say, looking at your portfolio was pretty inspiring, especially your resume…Super clean! Thanks for the advice you’ve put out there!

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Persistence is key! I failed countless amounts of interviews (no really I have literally lost count). If you give up you definitely won’t succeed, if you keep trying you only need to get lucky once. Once you’re in the industry your experience will get you even better opportunities.

I always took note in interviews/coding tests where I failed and learned directly after what I didn’t know to make sure I wouldn’t be stumped in the same way again.

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A portfolio is a project and all of your projects should be your best since people will judge you based on your worst.

I do not have a dev job and I have not done webdev in 6 months or something but after looking through your code I do not think lacking a portfolio is your problem. I think your code is not very clean which is normal since most udemy courses are taught in a way that the teacher would never actually code in a real job and freecodecamp does not teach clean code at all. I also have read people will think you are not ready if you are listing tutorial projects. They also do not even display your actual skill.

After these 5 courses I think you will be far more capable of getting a job. If you would prefer a quicker version it would be just doing the 2nd (clean code) course and the 4th (react redux) course.

  1. https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/principles-oo-design/table-of-contents - This course introduces foundational principles of creating well-crafted code and is appropriate for anyone hoping to improve as a developer - Its 4 hours long and not in javascript and it probably will be difficult to follow along but I think just watching through it will prepare you for the other stuff. I didn’t write the code my self or anything like that but still it helped changed my thinking A LOT.

  2. https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/writing-clean-code-humans/table-of-contents - Anyone can write code a computer can understand, but professional developers write code humans can understand. Clean code is a reader-focused development style that produces software that’s easy to write, read and maintai - Amazing course by Cory House which I think every single person on freecodecamp should do.

  3. https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/react-flux-building-applications/table-of-contents - Get started with React, React Router, and Flux by building a fast, data-driven single page application. - Maybe you can skip this one since the react redux version recreates a very similar project. The problem with the redux version is it pretty much assumes you have most of the knowledge from this course so it speeds through some things making it very difficult for some people. When I first tried this course I knew far less than you though so maybe you can skip it.

  4. https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/react-redux-react-router-es6/table-of-contents - Learn how to use Redux, React Router, and ES6 to build a real world app with React. Use Webpack, Babel, ESLint, npm scripts, Mocha, Enzyme, and more to build a rich, one step, custom React development environment and build process from the ground up. - Another absolutely amazing course by Cory House. This is an updated less beginner friendly version of the flux course. I think every single person learning react or redux should do this course. It is taught with a realistic dev environment, uses a high quality coding standard, and it teaches testing. In this course you should aim to understand every line of code he writes since there is so much to learn from it.

  5. https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/javascript-development-environment/table-of-contents Starting a new JavaScript project from scratch is overwhelming. This course provides a playbook outlining the key decisions you need to make. Build a robust development environment that handles bundling, linting, transpiling, testing, and much more. - I have not actually done this course because I am focusing on gamedev in another language right now but these are important topics and its taught by Cory House so it must be good. It looks like it has a 5/5 rating so I am pretty sure people are liking it.

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Thank you for your honest reply, i’ll be looking at these, right now money is beyond tight so i’ll continue with what i have to practice. These are bookmarked and will be done in time, i always like a course that someone highly recommends.

Thanks again!

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Have you checked out P1xt’s Guide? Get Job ready with 1 FCC cert, 3 projects, 2 courses, and 10 books

All of the resources are free… Im going through it now and.its very intense but seems really comprehensive. Just in case you hadn’t come across it before…check it out.

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You can get a free pluralsight account by making a free microsoft visual dev essentials account.

These are some helpful links for writing better code also.

FreeCodeCamp’s youtube channel recently added these clean code youtube videos now but still its harder to understand without seeing things in a full project.

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Sweet thanks! I’ll be starting the free 3 mo trial! And my current code is a little cleaner I just havent had a chance to finish anything due to moving, but im sure it’s not professional clean yet! I’ll be looking into all of this, thanks again!

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@cndragn this link is broken, I will look for it though, it sounds like something i would like! Thanks!

The freeCodeCamp Forum

Oops! That page doesn’t exist or is private.

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So strange! I must be doing something wrong lol I havnt linked to a post within the forum before, but should be pretty straightforward… Lets try this again!

https://forum.freecodecamp.com/t/computer-guide-get-job-ready-with-1-fcc-cert-3-projects-2-courses-and-10-books/64027

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Working now thanks! This looks great, i’ll have to focus on one thing at a time but this is def. a nice layout i like!

Thanks again to everyone and your awesome resources!

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Hey @Gmunker

I would try composing a really sincere cover letter and sending it with your resume to team leaders in the companies you’re interested in (if you can track down their e-mail). Tell them your story, your abilities and why you want to work for their company. Tell them you’re looking for an experience to cut your teeth as a web developer!

I think the process of developing a portfolio page kills two birds with one stone, A) Because you will refresh your skills as your develop it, and B) Because it is a valuable asset that you can send to employers, it presents your experience, but it also speaks to your style, and is a tangible piece of evidence that you are capable of creating impressive pages for the web!

But I find the tricky thing about a portfolio page is that you will deliberate over it because it is this piece of work that is supposed to represent you: your ability, your style, your personality, your core being!! (No pressure). I’ve been deliberating over mine for the past month.

However! In my deliberation I’ve got some good resources, which I can share with you!

Firstly, check this out, it’s a sweet portfolio template made by the guys behind Bootstrap:

https://freelancer-theme.glitch.me/ (Check out what it looks like live here)
https://glitch.com/edit/#!/freelancer-theme?path=README.md:1:0 (Editable source code, hosted on Glitch)
https://startbootstrap.com/template-overviews/freelancer/ (More information on the Bootstrap website, including forkable source code)

This might get you started with something that looks professional, and doesn’t take too long to put together.

Glitch is awesome, people post up project like this one and you can essentially ‘Remix’ it, forking the source code and making your own modifications. It’s an online coding environment, and the changes you make to the code instantly are deployed to live url where you project lives on. It’s simple and seamless. Though it is a Node.JS web app, so some of this might be unfamiliar if you haven’t touched any backend stuff.

Other than that, here are some impressive portfolios that I’ve bookmarked while perusing the web (I think I’ve dumped these before on this forum, apologies). Maybe they’ll provide you with some inspiration for your final portfolio.

Best of luck buddy!

http://www.chadagate.com/
http://garlucynations.com/lucy/


http://www.czk.fr/
http://www.kaisersosa.com/
http://evanhahn.com/about/ (Incredibly simple, yet incredibly effective!)
http://www.luluspice.com/
http://antfreda.com/

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@AllanPooley Kickass, thanks for all the feedback and all these links! I think my biggest problem right now with my portfolio is not the actual coding but like you said :slight_smile:

But I find the tricky thing about a portfolio page is that you will deliberate over it because it is this piece of work that is supposed to represent you: your ability, your style, your personality, your core being!! (No pressure).

I keep thinking of how i should put the content together, how much content i should put in, if i leave that one thing out would it be the turning factor, or if i put too much in will they just leave my site and forget about me. What should my landing page look like, how much animation if any should i put in!! These are the things that keep me up at night.

I think i’m going to take advice from everyone to start and watch some and read up on some clean code, i think thats a great foundation to start with, then i might just reup my react / redux / router4 a little since i havent really coded in weeks because of moving cross country. Then I’ll make a portfolio page.

The links of your top bookmarked portfolio pages is an amazing resource and i’ve been trying to find some on my own, just to get an idea of what content people are putting in them.

I cannot say it enough thank you all so much for your amazing feedback, resources, and time to reply. The FCC Community really is amazing!

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Oh and I forgot to say in here, every cover letter i have written is always very sincere and complete, and i have cold applied to one company here in AZ. Hopefully they will consider me in the future. I do wish my resume was a little better, one day i’ll have to really work on that.