How do CS students choose portfolio projects that actually get noticed by recruiters?
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As a CS student, I’m trying to avoid building generic clone apps that everyone has on their resume. I want my portfolio to feature a tool that solves a real problem for real users.
My current idea is a web platform where people can use their spare time to earn extra income via affiliate links.
For those who hire junior devs, does a project like this demonstrate good real-world software building skills, or is the scope too focused on the business side?
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My advice would be to find 5-10 job descriptions relative to your current KSAOs, spend the weekend building a custom model or MVP, and write a article highlighting your work, the issue, and what your approach resolves.
For example: I was recently contacted for a Senior Software Engineer GenAI role, focusing on RAG and Agentic frameworks, and although my developed product contains those elements, the underlying process is not visible to end users. So, I built a prototype that would highlight the engineering behind the process Enterprise GenAI Lab. I have not met with anyone other than the recruiters this week, but at least I have a touchpoint for the conversation, and a project to add to my portfolio for similar roles.