Ask HN: How can I build a portfolio being unemployed?

6 points by slinger ↗ HN
Hi HN! I've 9 years of working experience as a full stack developer and this month I decided to take a step back to study zand try to get a remote job. The problem is that I can't showcase most of the jobs that I did and I didn't contribute to open source. How can I start to build a portfolio being unemployed, perfectionist (most of the time stuck at analysis paralysis) and not very good at english?

5 comments

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pick one project.

so you have an answer to what your doing now.

find one technically challenging part of it. do that. so you have something to ramble on about for a second or two about the project.

try for an interview. fail. do more stuff to your project. repeat until someone hires you.

don't talk about the business side of it when you interview.

being unemployed is the most easy way to build portfolio. i am employed and if i want to build a portfolio i just could't find any time at all.

you said u r a full stack developer.

simple pick 5 bleeding edge technology which u think u can figure out and build 5 simple applications, it can be anything website, app, github project... whatever that is presentable/ demoable to anyone. u can try to cover as many techniques in those 5 technologies slowly u can build more as u can...

if u would like to team up ... u can share ur email id with people here in case any wants to connect with u they can also join... as people here are always making one prototype or other.

1) If you are not employed then your website is effectively just a CV. If you do not have work to put on there tailor it to show your skills. You can add work as you come along.

2) contribute to open source stuff, find some freelance clients, write a blog about relevant topics and share your ideas and thoughts on design/development etc...

Have a look around at other portfolios of freelance web developers and see what they are doing :)