Show your projects: portfolio, GitHub, CV, case studies and interviews

Building a project is half the job. The other half is making sure the right people see it and understand it in under a minute. Recruiters and clients are busy: they skim. This lesson turns your projects into job offers and clients.

1. Choose your best 3–5 projects

Quality beats quantity. Pick projects that:

• match the job you want (a data analyst shows analyses and dashboards, not a to-do app);
• are finished and live (or have a demo video);
• show different skills (front-end, database, payments, an API, a mobile app);
• solve a believable problem, ideally a Kenyan one (M-Pesa, schools, SACCOs, shops, bookings).

Move unfinished experiments to a "Learning" section or leave them unpinned on GitHub.

2. Write a case study for each project

On your portfolio site, each project gets a short page or section:

3. Make your GitHub profile work for you

• Profile README: create a repository with the same name as your username; its README shows on your profile. Include: one line about you, what you're focused on, your tech, and links to your portfolio and LinkedIn.
• Pin your 4–6 best repositories.
• Each repository: a clear name (salon-booking-system, not project2-final-final), a description, topics/tags, a README with screenshots and live link (template in How to build projects), and a licence.
• Commit history: small, meaningful commits over weeks look far better than one giant upload (good commits).
• No secrets in any repository, ever. Check old commits too.
• A green contribution graph is nice but not essential; quality matters more than daily streaks.

4. The one-page tech CV

Use CVs and letters in Word for formatting. For a tech CV:

1. Header: name, town, phone, email, portfolio link, GitHub, LinkedIn.
2. Summary (2–3 lines): "Junior full-stack developer building PHP/MySQL and M-Pesa-integrated web apps. Looking for a junior developer or attachment role in Nairobi or remote."
3. Skills (grouped, only what you can use): Languages: JavaScript, PHP, SQL · Tools: Git, VS Code, cPanel · Other: Daraja API, responsive design.
4. Projects (before education if you have little work experience): 3–4 projects, each with one line of description, tech, and a link. Use action verbs and specifics: "Built an inventory system with stock movements and transactional sales; deployed on cPanel."
5. Experience: attachments, freelance work, IT roles, even non-tech jobs (customer service, sales) briefly, since they show reliability.
6. Education and certificates.

Tailor the CV to each advert: mirror its keywords (if it says "REST APIs" and you built one, use those words). Many companies use applicant tracking systems that filter by keywords. Save as PDF named Firstname-Lastname-CV.pdf.

5. LinkedIn

• Headline: "Junior Web Developer | PHP, JavaScript, M-Pesa integrations" beats "Student at …".
• Featured section: your best 3 projects with links.
• Post when you finish a project: the problem, a screenshot or short video, one thing you learned. These posts get you noticed by recruiters and potential clients.
• Connect with developers, recruiters and tech communities in Kenya; comment thoughtfully.

6. Demo videos

A 60–90 second screen recording (free tools: OBS Studio, or the phone's screen recorder for apps) showing the main flow, with your voice explaining it, is powerful, especially when a project can't stay online (e.g. the M-Pesa sandbox or a free host that sleeps). Upload to YouTube as "unlisted" and link it in the README.

7. Talking about projects in interviews

Prepare to answer these for every project on your CV:

Use the STAR method for stories: Situation, Task, Action, Result. Practise aloud. Many companies also give a practical test or a take-home task; your projects are the best preparation for those.

8. Getting your first client with your portfolio

• Start with people who already trust you: family businesses, your church, school or chama, friends' shops.
• Use a finished project as proof: "I built a booking system for salons; here's a demo. I can set one up for you."
• Agree scope, price, deposit (e.g. 50%) and timeline in writing before starting.
• Deliver, ask for a testimonial and permission to show the work, then ask for referrals.

See profile and proposals, pricing, web design business and getting paid in Kenya.

9. Keep it updated

Once a month: add new projects, remove weak ones, check every link still works, update your CV and LinkedIn. A portfolio with broken links tells a recruiter you don't maintain your work.

Final checklist

• 3–5 finished projects with live links or demo videos
• Each has a case study: problem, solution, role, tech, challenges, honest results
• GitHub profile README; best repositories pinned; READMEs with screenshots; no secrets
• One-page CV with projects, links and keywords from the advert, saved as PDF
• LinkedIn headline, featured projects, a post per project
• You can explain every project, including its security, in 2 minutes

Summary

• Show your best few projects, finished and live, with honest case studies.
• Make GitHub, CV and LinkedIn point to the same strong projects.
• Prepare to explain and defend every project in interviews; practise with STAR.
• Use your portfolio to win first clients from people who already trust you.

Check yourself

1. How many projects should you highlight? Write a range like 3-5.

   Show answer

   3-5

2. What does the S in the STAR interview method stand for?

   Show answer

   Situation

3. What do you name a GitHub repository so its README appears on your profile? (the same as your ___)

   Show answer

   username

4. True or false: you should describe a practice project as client work to look more experienced.

   Show answer

   false