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Your Portfolio Is Your Resume

Recruiters see hundreds of to-do apps and weather widgets. Build real products that solve real problems—and actually understand AI, the skill everyone wants.

The Reality

Here's what you're up against—and why this path gives you an edge:

  • Most CS grads have the same projects. Recruiters have seen thousands of to-do apps, calculator apps, and weather widgets. These projects don't differentiate you.
  • AI skills are the #1 thing companies want. Every company is trying to figure out AI. Candidates who already know how to build with AI jump to the top of the pile.
  • Building with AI shows you can learn fast and ship. Companies want developers who can pick up new tools quickly and deliver working software—AI coding proves both.
  • Your projects should make recruiters say "wait, a student built this?" That's the reaction that gets you interviews.

Your Learning Journey

This path takes you from zero AI experience to a portfolio that stands out. Each step builds on the last, and by the end, you'll have real projects that demonstrate real skills.

Master Your Main Tool 1 hour

Claude Code Guide

What you'll learn: How to use Claude Code like a pro—prompting, context management, iterative development.

Why it matters: This becomes your pair programmer for everything. Master it once, use it for every project that follows.

Build Something Business-Aware 3 hours

Professional Proposal Generator

Why this one: Shows you understand business problems, not just code. Recruiters love seeing candidates who think about the "why" behind software.

What you'll build: An AI-powered proposal automation tool that takes inputs and generates professional business documents.

Add AI to a Product 4-5 hours

SaaS AI Feature Builder

Why this one: Shows you can integrate AI into existing products—the skill every company actually needs. This isn't "build a chatbot from scratch," it's "add AI capabilities to real software."

What you'll build: AI features with streaming responses, intelligent caching, and rate limiting. Production-ready patterns that show you understand real engineering constraints.

Your Portfolio Piece 4-6 hours

Choose a project based on your interests. This becomes the headline project on your resume—pick something you're genuinely excited about.

Finance Interest
Fintech AI Dashboard
Health/Wellness
HealthTech Patient Portal
E-commerce
AI Product Recommender

Deploy it. A live URL beats a GitHub link every time.

Document it. Write a README that explains your technical decisions.

Put it on your resume. Lead with this project—it's your differentiator.

What Makes a Strong Portfolio

After completing this path, you'll have exactly what recruiters are looking for:

  • 2-3 deployed projects (not just GitHub repos—live, working applications)
  • Each project solves a real problem (not "I followed a tutorial")
  • You can explain the technical decisions (why you chose these tools, how you handled edge cases)
  • Shows progression in complexity (from learning AI tools to building production features)

Interview Talking Points

When recruiters ask about your projects, you'll have genuine answers. Here's what you'll be able to say with confidence:

"I used Claude Code to accelerate development, but I understand every line. Let me walk you through how the authentication flow works..."

"Here's how I integrated AI APIs with proper error handling and rate limiting. I learned that production AI features need retry logic because APIs aren't always available..."

"I chose this tech stack because [specific reason]. For example, I used streaming responses instead of waiting for the full response because it significantly improves perceived performance..."

The difference between a student who built with AI and one who didn't? The AI-skilled student can talk about trade-offs, production concerns, and technical decisions at a level that impresses interviewers.