Why 3 projects beats 30
Hiring managers spend 90 seconds on a portfolio. Three well-shipped projects — each with a problem statement, the trade-offs you made, and a live demo — beat 30 tutorial clones every time.
Project 1: A real tool you use
Build something you actually need (a habit tracker, a focused-work timer, a meal planner). Ship it. Get 5 real users. Write up what broke. This proves you can finish.
Project 2: Re-implement something famous
Build a slimmed-down clone of a known product (a tiny Twitter, a tiny Discord channel, a 100-line jobs board). The point isn’t the clone — it’s your README explaining what you simplified and why.
Project 3: Contribute to open source
Find a real OSS project. Fix a "good first issue". Get the PR merged. Link to it. This proves you can work in a real codebase under review.
How to present
A simple portfolio site (Notion or Astro) with: each project’s problem, your role, screenshots, GitHub link, live demo. Don’t list every language you’ve touched — list the 3 things you’re actually good at.