The Portfolio Project Everyone Ignores (...and so they fail)
The BS
"Build portfolio projects to showcase your skills."
This sounds logical—employers want to see what you can build, right? Every career change guide, coding bootcamp, and transition story focuses on the same thing: impressive GitHub repositories that prove your technical abilities.
Except how many experienced devs do you know that do this?
What screams "I'm a total noob" more than a portfolio site? Nothing.
And just how wrong is this advice for people who are already mid career with busy jobs, families and not enough time?
Very, very wrong.
And the solution to all this?
It's you. More on that in 30 seconds.
First let's talk about...
The Bull that makes the BS
This advice comes from people selling you courses on "10 Portfolio Projects That Will Get You Hired" and recent bootcamp grads who had 16 weeks of uninterrupted focus.
They need you to believe success is about learning MORE code because that's what they can teach and sell.
It also comes from hiring managers who've never made a career change themselves, and have not been a newbie for 10 years.
They haven't competed in the current market. They were trained in CS school. They've never changed career. They never learned to code while they were in their 30s, and holding down a full time job,
But they've read the same blogs you've read. So they give you the same BS advice. Because they're trying to be helpful.
The Stinking Mess
You're frantically building to-do apps and weather widgets while your actual life falls apart.
You code for two hours after work, then spend the weekend "catching up" on projects while your family resents your absence.
You have three half-finished projects, zero completed ones, and a growing sense that you're not "technical enough."
Meanwhile, you're burning out because nobody told you that the hardest part isn't learning JavaScript.
It's finding time, and the shortest path to success before you run out of time.
The Disinfectant
Ok here it is straight up.
You cannot change your career without first changing yourself.
Everyone obsesses over portfolio projects, but there's one portfolio project that actually determines your success: you.
The person who started this journey—scattered, reactive, trying to squeeze learning into life's leftovers—that person cannot become a developer.
You need to build a new version of yourself first: someone with systems for focus, boundaries with distractions, and the ability to make consistent progress with limited time.
The Poop Scooper
Stop building apps and start building yourself as your primary project:
-
Redesign your energy architecture - Most people code when they're already depleted. As I work with Inner Circle members on, you need to identify your actual peak energy windows and fiercely protect them for learning, not use them for email and meetings.
This is especially important when you've got very little time. -
Build your attention span like a muscle - Here's what's startling: most career changers can't focus for more than 12 minutes without reaching for their phone. We train deeply on progressive attention building in the Inner Circle because this single skill determines everything else.
Not gonna lie - it's a LOT easier to do this when you have a clear, structured plan designed for your life. -
Create force multipliers that eliminate choice - Willpower is finite, but systems are infinite machines.
Instead of relying on motivation, engineer your environment so the right choices become automatic and the wrong ones become difficult. You don't need will power when friction is low. You just naturally build momentum.
If you become the kind of person who can think deeply for 90 minutes straight, resist the urge to switch languages every week, and maintain steady momentum despite a demanding job, that person will inevitably build impressive things.
You don't need to quit your job to do a bootcamp. You don't need a fancy CS degree. You just need time, consistency, and focused energy.
The most successful career changers I work with spend their first 45 days building themselves, not building apps.
Then they spend the next 30 days, fine tuning their plan and adjusting it to make sure "life doesn't get in the way."
Once you have the right internal operating system, success as a coder s inevitable.
It's just physics.
Four ways we can help you:
1. Wondering what learning to code actually means?
Becoming a coder is much more than just "learning to code" some languages. When I was hired at Google, for example, I didn't know three out of the four languages I had to write every day.
If you're still wondering if coding is right for you, then I recommend:
👉 My FreeCodeCamp Course --> Before You Learn To Code (Video).
👉 Updated version (including Google and other big tech experiences)
2. Inner Circle (Free Preview Included)
Our personalized, intensive mentorship program is designed to help career changers go from zero to software developer—and get hired. It’s not for everyone, but if you’re ready to commit, we’ll walk with you every step.
👉Preview the Inner Circle Program -> free preview.
👉Apply for Inner Circle → parsity.io/inner-circle
3. Career Change To Code Podcast
Driving? At the gym? Hiding in the bathroom? Perfect time to inject the best techniques for a career change to code directly into your brain via
👉 Follow the podcast here: YouTube | Spotify
4. Weekly Tips In Your Inbox
👉 Subscribe to this newsletter (it’s free). I try and keep it to 3 minutes or less so you can read in the elevator, waiting in lines, in the bathroom...😝
