Portfolio projects: building one strong proof-point repo
Why one well-built, deployed, blog-backed portfolio project beats five half-done ones — how to pick it, scope it, and ship it as the single repo every recruiter clicks first.
Portfolio projects: building one strong proof-point repo
Status: Outline — full guide coming soon. Get notified when it ships →
What this covers
- The "one repo wins" rule: why a single deployed, documented project outperforms 5 abandoned ones
- How to pick a project topic that signals the role you want (not the role you have)
- The 6 artifacts each project must ship: code, README, deploy, demo, blog post, screenshot/loom
- How to scope it so you finish in 3-4 weekends
Why this matters for Indian devs going remote
Recruiters skim. They click the top-pinned repo on your GitHub and decide in 90 seconds. For Indian devs without recognizable employer brands, that one repo is the proxy for the years of experience the recruiter can't otherwise verify. Five half-done forks signal junior; one polished proof-point signals senior.
Outline
The "one repo wins" rule
TODO — why concentration beats spread, what recruiters actually open.
Picking a topic that signals the next role
TODO — heuristic: pick the project that the JD describes solving; AI-eng targets MCP/RAG, backend targets payments/realtime, etc.
The 6 artifacts per project
TODO — code, README that opens with a 1-line "what / why", deployed URL, 60-sec demo loom, blog post, hero screenshot.
Scoping for 3-4 weekends
TODO — the cut-list trick: write the full feature spec, then cut to 30%.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Picking a topic you don't care about — you'll abandon it
- Skipping deployment because "the code is on GitHub" — recruiters never run code
- A README that opens with stack badges instead of what the project does
Templates / examples
TODO — a README template (the 6-section structure), a project-scope cut-list worksheet, and 3 example repos that work.
Related guides
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