Career signal & proof
Publish a portfolio employers can verify
2–3 deployed projects with READMEs, demo links and architecture notes on GitHub; LinkedIn that mirrors it.
~10 focused hours·beginner
Tools: GitHub, a deployed demo host (Vercel/HF Spaces/Streamlit Cloud), LinkedIn
Market relevance — share of job ads asking for this
Prerequisite capability — not asked for directly, but needed for others.
What employers mean
You should be able to…
- Publish 2-3 deployed projects with READMEs a recruiter can understand in under 2 minutes
- Write a README that shows architecture and results, not just setup instructions
- Deploy projects to a live demo link, not just source code
- Keep a LinkedIn profile that mirrors and links to the portfolio
- Use commit history that shows real, incremental work rather than one giant commit
- Write architecture notes explaining key decisions, not just what the code does
Needs first: Collaborate with Git and GitHub
Learn — free, link-checked
The few resources that matter
Read · beginner · 15 min · docs.github.com
About READMEs
Official reference for what a README needs (badges, sections, rendering) so recruiters can actually evaluate your repo. — GitHub Docs
Read · beginner · 20 min · freecodecamp.org
How to Write a Good README File
A concrete template and before/after examples — turns 'add a README' into an actual checklist. — freeCodeCamp
Course · beginner · 60 min · skills.github.com
GitHub Skills
Interactive, in-repo exercises for the Git workflow (branches, PRs) your portfolio repos should visibly demonstrate. — GitHub
Practice
Portfolio audit and rebuild: 2 deployed AI/automation projects
Take two of your existing projects (or two from earlier practice projects in this plan) and bring them to a portfolio-ready bar: deploy both to live URLs, rewrite both READMEs to include architecture diagrams, results/eval numbers, and a demo GIF or video, and update your LinkedIn 'Featured' section to link to both with a one-line description each.
Done when
- Both projects are deployed and reachable via a live URL
- Both READMEs include an architecture diagram or clear component list, plus results/metrics
- Both READMEs include a demo GIF, screenshot sequence, or linked video
- LinkedIn Featured section links to both projects with a one-line description each
Prove it
Evidence a recruiter can check
- Two live project URLs
- Two GitHub repos with portfolio-quality READMEs
- LinkedIn profile link showing the Featured section
Interview
Questions you'll get asked
- Walk me through one of your portfolio projects as if I've never seen it.
- What would I see if I opened your GitHub profile right now?
- How do you decide what goes in a README vs what's just in the code?
- Tell me about a project you deployed live — what was the hardest part of getting it running end to end?
- How does your LinkedIn reflect the work in your portfolio?