Beginner’s Guide to the Programming Portfolio
Fitri Aulia Permatasari
I recently decided it was time to invest in my portfolio. I’ve had a portfolio for some time, but hadn’t really stepped back and researched how I could maximize it’s effectiveness. I spent weeks pouring over portfolios online and researching the best material to include on my site. What you’ll find in this post is a summary of everything I’ve researched and created to help you publish a stunning programming portfolio of your own. At the same time I was working to improve my own portfolio, I had the opportunity to spend time interviewing candidates for an open position at my workplace. We were in the process of hiring a new intern on my team who I’d be working directly with frequently. Obviously, I wanted to hire the best candidate and someone who I’d enjoy working with. As I dove into the pile of hundreds of resumes, I found that maybe 20% of the candidates had a portfolio link included and only a handful of the portfolios were well done. This was extremely surprising to me, and is part of the reason I was motivated to write this blog post. It doesn’t matter what stage of employment you’re in. You might still be in school, recently graduated, or looking to make a career shift. I can tell you with confidence, the best time to invest in yourself is now. You never know when your dream job will be available, and you’ll want to have your online footprint established when that time comes. ## Why Do You Need A Portfolio? One of my main takeaways from researching the programming portfolio was the resistance of creating one. A lot of programmers feel it’s unnecessary, extra work they don’t need to do. What they’re missing (and what becomes your opportunity) is the most important thing. You have the chance to stand out. Let’s use this example. As of their 2015 filing with the SEC, there were over 23,000 employees in R&D at Google. One source states that on average, Google hires 1 employee out of every 130 applicants, or about 0.7%. In his book titled Work Rules, Google’s SVP (Senior Vice President) of People Operations (basically Human Resources) states: > “We receive more than two million applications every year. [...] Of these, Google hires only several thousand per year, making Google twenty-five times more selective than Harvard, Yale, or Princeton.” Based on that example, the acceptance rate is even lower - around 0.2 - 0.3%. This just reinstates the fact you need to stand out as much as possible. Taking initiative tends to be a trait employers appreciate in their employees, and creating a portfolio and distinguishing yourself from your peers is a step in the right direction. Creating a portfolio allows you to achieve a variety of things that don’t translate to the typical resume: - Show your code off! If you’re trying to achieve a sought after job, you probably have spent some time creating projects to learn how to code. Whether that was for fun or for school work, hopefully you have a few examples of your coding ability in existence. - Express your personality. Your life and body of work is more than just a piece of paper. For a hiring manager to really get a good feel for you, they want to know the most fundamental question: would I enjoy working with this person? Your personality doesn’t always shine through your resume and ideally you want it to be an asset that gets you an interview. Your portfolio can help the employer get a better idea of how well you’ll fit in at their company, which also helps ensure you don’t take a job you’re not a good fit for. - Improve your online footprint. A lot of employers judge your initial application based on the quality of your online footprint. Essentially, this just means what they find when they Google your name. They want to see relevant information about you. They don’t want to find your old MySpace profile filled with pictures of your cat. Regularly checking and working to improve your online footprint is a critical requirement for the software industry. Having a portfolio helps to ensure your best content is shown first. The positive effects of a portfolio aren’t a newfound discovery, either. In her 2012 article in the New York Times, Eilene Zimmerman states: