How Far Should a Junior Backend Developer's Portfolio Go?
Hello. I'm preparing to become a backend developer as a non-CS major. I'm trying to build a portfolio, but I have no idea how much I need to prepare to get past the resume screening.
What I've built so far is a simple CRUD bulletin board, and I'm planning to add login/JWT, Redis caching, and Docker deployment to it. Would that be enough, or would it be better to start a new, more meaningful project? I'd appreciate your advice.
3 answers
OK, login/JWT is a must. If you have Redis as well, that should be appealing for now.
First of all, CRUD alone isn't enough. Login and JWT are almost essential, and it's good if you can explain why you used Redis cache. Docker deployment is also fine, but I'd recommend going deep into one project instead. To stand out on your resume, you need things like troubleshooting experience or performance improvements—just listing features is at the level of a shopping cart. 'I solved this problem in this way' is the key.
Well, these days everyone builds them that way, so there's no differentiation. JWT for login is the absolute basics, and anyone can follow along with Redis or Docker. Passing the document screening is largely luck, and if you're making a portfolio just for that, it just ends up feeling like a copy of what everyone else does. Rather, I'd say it's better to start a new project in a domain you're actually interested in, or one that could have real users. I can see from your question that the direction is already shaky — before worrying about the portfolio, wouldn't it be better to first sort out why you want to do backend in the first place?