A portfolio is a self build tool, where you can show and expose your completed projects and works. It does not focus on educational titles or jobs previous experience, but on showing, with evidence, what the developer can really do.
Do not confuse the portfolio with the resume: The full stack developer resume (or CV) is the place to showcase academic achievements, certifications and diplomas that support your learning, experience in previous companies, etc.
The format and layout for a developer portfolio
There are professionals who opt for developing a personal website, others create a repository in the cloud, make infographics or there are even professionals who create a YouTube channel to show their projects or share live how they develop a facet of their professional life. The limit is the imagination and the format is up to you.
If you want to be a front end developer portfolio, the layout and UI/UX must be great!
A good piece of advice before starting to plan a portfolio is to know that it must speak for itself, that the employer at the moment of entering the page is quickly convinced that the applicant is very capable and knows what he is doing. It will be the letter of introduction, that is, it doesn't matter if you have a great academic background, if you are not capable of making a consistent code that you can show, then you have to review that.
Elements of a Strong Full Stack Developer Portfolio
As we mentioned earlier, the portfolio should speak for itself and be consistent. Here we leave you some tips for a good portfolio and certain things that cannot be missing for a strong portfolio.
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Personal projects: Publish one post for each project in which you can explain what the project does, show screenshots, explain the architecture and engineering challenges, etc. Make sure to point people to a live demo (recomended) or github repostiory.
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Curriculum vitae:Although in the world of technology, titles and experience are not the most important thing, as in other fields, it is always good to have a solid and well-presented CV, because a good resume also speaks of your good professionalism.
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Contact information: Obviously, like any presentation element, contact details cannot be missing, they are essential for the employer to reach and contact you.
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Github or Gitlab repository URL's: Although it may sound a bit technical, in the world of technology development a repository is a daily occurrence. A repository is an element, generally online, where many people can work simultaneously to put together a larger project.
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Training certificates: Just like those offered by 4Geeks Academy, the training courses, although they do not speak of your net ability, do certify certain training and instruction in a certain subject, that is why we call them certifications and they are also material that, if you have them, cannot be missing in your portfolio. It is an important part of your presentation.
Important skills to show on a Full Stack Developer Portfolio
Because full stack development includes both, front-end and back-end, it is necessary for a portfolio to demonstrate proficiency in both areas. If you do not have experience, you can still expose the languages and tools that you learned in the course(s) that you have taken in your learning, whether they are paid or free.
Mention which frameworks you are familiar with, which ones you use and what you managed to do with that knowledge. This with both disciplines (front and back). The largest frameworks and tools for developers are easy to find in the study plans of certain coding academies built to cover the entire Full Stack spectrum like this full stack coding bootcamp program.
Tips for Building an Effective Full Stack Developer Portfolio
We already know what should go in a good portfolio, characteristics that it should have, and where to acquire those skills that all employers around the world are looking for in their future workers. Now, when putting your hands on the keyboard, we give you some tips that will be very useful:
Focus on your main projects
It is not good to fill with content, put unimportant projects that do not make you proud. It is always better to expose well finished projects paying special attention to the quality and elegance of the code. The content must have a good presence and be very professional, which is why it is counterproductive to expose too many projects that are unfinished or have bad practices.
Quality is better than quantity
Your portfolio should reflect your level of knowledge and be consistent with your professional profile. For example, if you are looking for a job and you have some experience in projects using some programming language, like JavaScript, focus on putting in this type of experience and don't enlarge your range of knowledge.
Inexperience in not is a limiting factor
If you do not have experience, you can also have a portfolio. In it may be practices of your formative period, personal projects, including participating in the improvement of projects such as OpenSource, contributing your improvements through Pull Request in the repository.
Examples of Great Full Stack Developer Portfolios
Here we leave you links to amazing full stack developers portfolios that can serve as inspiration to create your own. All of them apply all the techniques mentioned above in addition to a very well worked aesthetic finish.
He introduces himself and where he resides, talks shortly about himself and his passions. It shows his skills and languages that he uses, projects and links to the pages already developed and your contact information.
It can be a good idea to put a self photo of you on the landing page, it shows confidence in yourself and if it is a well taken photo with a good finish it also speaks of your professionalism and ability to do a good job.
Websites and tools for building a portfolio
If at this point you have felt overwhelmed with everything a portfolio should have and how it should be presented, don't worry, the internet exists for this. On the web there are many pages and platforms that help you create a portfolio in a creative, beautiful and professional way that will make you look like a great developer with enormous potential.
Allows you to create a customizable website with an all-in.one solution. You can choose a website template developed by great designers that will make your portfolio look fancy, professional and estetic.
Portfoliobox is a “create a site” webpage very inspirational because of all the ideas settled in it. You have templates and a lot of tools that will allow you to create a very good looking website that, with your talent, will help you to get your first full stack developer job.
Using platforms like this (and not doing it "from scratch") does not show low ability, on the contrary, it shows that when a certain tool is not your strong skill, you are able to handle it searching on your own for the tools to deal with problems that cost you more. A good developer knows how to search for information and has the ability to find the necessary help so that no project is out of reach.
I hope that with this article you have learned about how to apply for jobs as a full stack developer, what aspects companies pay special attention to, and how you too can be at the level of a good developer with a good personal presentation.
All these techniques and tools are changing and modifying over time, so in this world it is essential to keep updated with the new techniques and tools that emerge every day to make this internet world amazing.
Full Stack Developer vs Software Engineer portfolio
Software Engineers are seen as a more capable version of the full stack developer, with better architectural and abstraction skills, if you are software engineer, I recommend following a different strategy.
If you are looking for a software engineer portfolio, make sure to checkout this article.
If you can certify yourself as a software engineer, we recommend enrolling in our software engineer bootcamps.