You have a developer portfolio. It has a dark theme, a hero section that says "Hi, I'm [Name], a Full-Stack Developer," a grid of project cards, and a contact form. You and approximately ten thousand other developers on the internet. The problem is not that your portfolio is bad. The problem is that it is indistinguishable from every other developer portfolio out there.
"Another developer portfolio with a dark theme, a typewriter animation, and a projects section called 'My Work.' Groundbreaking. -- Sally"
What Hiring Managers Actually Look For
Let us start with what matters. Hiring managers and tech leads reviewing developer portfolios are trying to answer three questions: Can this person build real things? Can they solve real problems? Would they be effective on our team? Your portfolio needs to answer all three. A grid of todo apps and weather dashboards answers none of them.
Problem 1: Tutorial Projects Everywhere
A calculator, a todo app, a weather dashboard, and an e-commerce clone from a Udemy course. These projects prove you can follow instructions. They do not prove you can think. Every hiring manager has seen these exact projects hundreds of times. They are the developer equivalent of listing Microsoft Word on your resume.
Projects that actually impress:
- Something that solves a real problem you personally had
- A tool that other developers actually use (even if it is small)
- An open source contribution to a real project
- A project with real users, even if it is just ten of them
- Something with a non-trivial technical challenge you can explain
Problem 2: No Technical Depth
"Built with React, Node.js, and MongoDB." Great. So is every other project. What is interesting is the why and the how. Why did you choose MongoDB over PostgreSQL for this particular use case? How did you handle authentication? What was the hardest technical challenge and how did you solve it? The tech stack list is the least interesting thing about your project. The decisions behind it are the most interesting.
Write a short technical breakdown for your top two or three projects. Explain one interesting architectural decision, one challenge you overcame, and one thing you would do differently. This signals engineering maturity and self-awareness, two things hiring managers care about deeply.
Problem 3: No Live Demos
If your project is not deployed, it might as well not exist. A link to a GitHub repo is not a demo. Most reviewers will not clone your repo, install dependencies, and run it locally just to see what you built. Deploy it. Vercel, Netlify, Railway, Fly.io, whatever works. Make it one click from your portfolio to a working application. If the project requires a backend, deploy that too or create a demo mode with mock data.
"Three projects, zero live demos, and a GitHub link that leads to a repo last updated eight months ago. Are you sure you want me to review this? -- Sally"
Problem 4: The About Section Nobody Reads
"I am a passionate developer who loves building things with modern technologies. I am always learning and growing. In my free time I enjoy hiking and playing guitar." Nobody has ever been hired because of this paragraph. Your About section should tell the reader what kind of problems you solve, what technologies you are strongest in, and what kind of role you are looking for. Be specific and be direct. "I build performant frontend applications with React and TypeScript, with a focus on design systems and accessibility" tells a hiring manager infinitely more than "passionate developer."
Problem 5: Ignoring Performance and Mobile
Your developer portfolio is itself a demonstration of your skills. If it takes four seconds to load, is not responsive on mobile, has layout shifts, or throws console errors, you are actively arguing against yourself. Run Lighthouse on your own portfolio. Fix anything below 90. Make sure it works on every screen size. This is literally your job, and your portfolio is the proof.
What a Strong Developer Portfolio Looks Like
The elements that separate the best from the rest:
- Clear positioning: what kind of developer you are and what you specialize in
- Three to five curated projects with live demos
- Technical write-ups that show decision-making and problem-solving
- Metrics or outcomes where possible (users, performance, etc.)
- Clean, fast, accessible, and mobile-friendly design
- A way to contact you that actually works
- Links to GitHub, LinkedIn, or wherever your work lives
How Sally Reviews Developer Portfolios
Developer portfolios are one of Sally's favorite things to review because the gap between effort and impact is usually enormous. Small changes in how you present your projects can dramatically change how hiring managers perceive you. A Level 1 free roast will point out the most glaring issues with Sally's trademark directness. A Level 2 SuperClub scorecard gives you a detailed breakdown covering project quality, technical depth, presentation, performance, and specific steps to make your portfolio actually competitive.
Your portfolio is not a checkbox on your job search. It is the single most controllable piece of your application. Make it count.