New Developer's First Resume: How Many Projects Should I Include? (Long Post, Seeking Advice)
After completing a non-CS bootcamp and spending over a year on self-improvement, I'm finally writing my resume.
I've made a total of 3 projects.
1. Shopping Mall CRUD Board (Spring Boot + JPA) - Built by following an online course, with basic functionality
2. Meal Management API (Node.js + Express + MongoDB) - Integrated with a public data API to look up nutritional information
3. Chatbot-based Job Information Site (React + FastAPI + OpenAI API) - The project I'm most proud of, user-tested by 10 real users
Some say it's better to focus on just one project and show it in depth, while others say it's better to show all three to strengthen your portfolio.
I'd like to hear from working professionals who are familiar with current hiring trends. Also, I've been told a lot that when writing project descriptions, I should emphasize "how I solved a problem" rather than "what I built," but it feels forced to write things that aren't in the code. Please give me some advice.
7 answers
Yeah. I put in 3 too, but in the end they only dug into one at the interview lol
Well, that's a bit... showing all three might make it seem less focused, don't you think? I think two is just right.
I'm curious about practitioners' opinions these days. I'll listen too.
I'm from a non-CS bootcamp too. At first I wrote all three projects up in a huge, flashy way—I got past the resume screening but got torn apart in every interview. After that, I picked just one and went deep, writing about 10 pages on it, and I got accepted right away. Especially, writing a single project in the order 'the problem I faced -> how I struggled with it -> the result' really helped. But wait, your chatbot did actual user testing with 10 people? That's already a solid strength, so I'd recommend going all-in on that one. Forcing a problem-solving narrative can get called out in interviews.
Everyone says to emphasize 'problem solving,' but forcing in content that isn't in your code can only hurt your credibility. If you actually solved that problem, you should write it with concrete evidence. If not, it's better to honestly frame it as 'what I learned during implementation.' A resume is evidence, not advertising.
Just include all three, but put the standout project (the chatbot) at the top and add a one-line summary for the others. Also, adding figures like 'user count / test participants / response time' for each project makes it much more persuasive. As for problem solving, writing it in a three-line structure—'Issue -> Attempt -> Applied'—might help you avoid forcing it.
Oh this is totally about me lol. After finishing bootcamp, I was also taking a break for over a year, but in the end I decided to focus on just one project—the one I liked the most out of the three. But I think the important thing isn't 'how many' but 'how well I understand it.' Since you built the chatbot project yourself and tested it, going with that makes sense. Rather than writing about things that aren't in the code, it worked better to write about something like 'what surprised me during this process.'