Hey self taught programmers of reddit,
Long story short, just a guy who is trying to break into the world of code and programming and have learned the fundamentals of html/css, Javascript, and Python.
Now I'm at a point where I can confidently start working on projects for my portfolio, but... I have no idea where to start, the world of code and programming is so large an overwhelming.
What projects in you guys portfolios landed you guys a job? Just looking for inspiration.
Thanks in advance.
Are my portfolio projects worth it?
Which react/JS project should I build for my first job portfolio? - Get Started - SitePoint Forums | Web Development & Design Community
Portfolio projects (Front End Developer)
Recruiters are asking me for a JavaScript portfolio. What do I do? - The Workplace Stack Exchange
What projects can you build with JavaScript?
- Simple Calculator
- To-do List
- Quiz App
- Real-time Data Visualization Dashboard
- Multiplayer Game
- Artificial Intelligence Platform
What is the best project to learn JavaScript?
How to run a project made with JavaScript?
Videos
That's a rather unusual career shift from a strongly typed programming language to something that is client side web code to drive UI presentation such as ajax, or events. Are you planning to try nodejs or something within that field or just "javascript" in general?
In any event, as with Java, it's always nice to have sample code to give to employers. With JavaScript the quality of code is vastly different and someone with little programming knowledge can write "code" to drive simple things on the webpage such as expanding divs or the likes. If you are into nodejs, I would imagine a company has learnt the vast differences in talent for JavaScript developer and would want to see what sort of talent you have with JavaScript before bringing you in for a interview. They wouldn't want to waste time with someone who has very little programming knowledge.
Why do the minimum?
Applying for work is a competition of skills, background and work ethic. Doing whatever you can to stand above other candidates is how you win the offer.
Is they're asking for a portfolio then chances are that a great deal of people applying for these roles are doing this, if they weren't then this employer asking for it means that they likely are now.
What does the recruiter expect from me?
In this case the person requesting your portfolio is a recruiter so it's likely they've been asked to do so by the company in question. Since you don't know whether they're expecting a summary of projects or a code based portfolio then I would produce both as you can always re-use these in future interviews.
How do you actually do this with JavaScript?
I've interviewed a number of JavaScript programmers who have provided a portfolio of work. Typically they will send me a Github account to look at their work however it's also not unusual for front end designers to bring me a printed portfolio of their work to an interview. I remember this, and react to it quite positively.
How to produce a printed portfolio as a backend developer?
Understandably you are more of a backend than front end guy so it's difficult for you to produce a very visual portfolio for interviews. To overcome this I would write a summary of the projects that you've worked on and some of the design decisions you've made.
Basically a timeline of projects that you have worked on along the general lines of:
Project: Article Summaries for example website
Language(s) and framework(s) used: AngularJS
Description: Created a responsive article listing for example website. I designed this using the awesomo design pattern to allow future developers to quickly understand the code base and allow it to be changed quickly and easily as the need arises. This project also exposed me to exampleX and exampleY which I now have a strong working knowledge of.