Building a portfolio that survives a recruiter's 30 seconds

A recruiter gives your portfolio roughly half a minute before deciding to open your resume properly. That is not unfair - it is volume. Your job is to make the first screen do the work.

Lead with outcomes

Every project needs one line at the top that states the problem and the result. 'Cut checkout drop-off by 18% in a redesign for a 4,000-user store' beats 'An e-commerce site built with React'.

Three projects, three shapes

Variety signals range without padding the page.

• One depth project you can talk about for twenty minutes
• One collaboration project showing you can work in someone else's codebase
• One small, polished piece that loads instantly and looks finished

Remove everything else

Tutorial clones, half-finished experiments and 2019 coursework dilute the signal. If you would not defend it in an interview, take it down.