Software Engineering — Project Ideas to Get You Hired!
There is so much a new developer can build. When you get started it feels like you can do it all. The worldwide web is your oyster. Now of course you need to be building these projects for a reason. Remember you are a new developer that is looking to get hired. You need to show off your skills. You need to stand out, or at the very least show that you can confidentially code. For that reason, I’ve put together my top 5 projects that I would do right off the start to show you know what you’re doing and to get you that first job. Let’s not waste any time and get right into it!
1) Real Estate Website
For a real estate website, there are a lot of different things in the UI so it shows off your range of skills. Things like different forms and filters. You show multiple listings with details on each. You show your understanding of filters with price and rooms, as well as your understanding of location with your ability to code location filters.
The bottom line is you show you understand a lot of JavaScript and it shows to a future employer that you can come in and hit the ground running. Start with a real estate website because I believe it shows a lot of essential skills that every company is looking for in an engineering candidate.
2) Restaurant Website
My number two project is to complete is a restaurant website. Why a restaurant? A restaurant website shows you can build any type of website. It could be a simple Chinese restaurant around the corner or it could be the fancy Mexican restaurant that you go to with your family once a month. It doesn’t matter if it’s a real restaurant or it’s just a fictional restaurant, all that matters is you create a realistic representation of a restaurant’s website. One that is complete with online ordering and everything you would imagine a live site to have. The ability to create a restaurant website shows your ability to code and engineer a website for a business.
The customer will have the ability to select items and even edit items. They will be able to search by category and again filter by specific criteria (notice we have an emphasis on filters again. Filters are important, remember that). A Restaurant app is also like taking one step into an e-commerce site, which leads us to number 3.
3) E-commerce Site
It doesn’t matter if you’re selling tee shirts or bubble gum, all that matters is that you are selling something. Why is this ability so important to display? Remember, you are looking to get a job, and 99% of the time you’re gonna get hired by a company that’s going to sell things online. Showing that you can code the entire consumer process from start to finish is a huge plus.
As you get started you may fall in love with creating web pages that don’t serve much of a purpose other than your own personal enjoyment, or possibly the enjoyment of many. But these projects aren’t meant to create revenue. At the end of the day, the type of engineering that you will get paid for revolves around some aspect of the customer’s lifecycle on your webpage. Building your own e-commerce site shows that you understand the different steps the customer goes through, and what the engineer is responsible for during these online steps.
4) Your Portfolio Website
Okay so right now we have three websites that we’ve created so far. My number 4 would have to be your portfolio page. As soon as you start to complete projects and build websites you have to show them off to other people right? Otherwise, what’s the point!? Your portfolio page is like your business card in 2021 for a software engineer. It’s a direct link to your work and what you can provide. Your portfolio is a big deal and it should be.
Some key things to remember and have when building your portfolio site would be; up to date contact information, previous work that you’ve done, and projects that you’ve completed outside work. As well as, a brief synopsis of you and your skills. Be specific when going over your background as well. If you consider yourself to be very well versed in React, say that. If you love CSS and the frontend, make that a focus of your site. Show your ability to create captivating web pages. Whatever it is, and it’s different for everyone, just be sure to showcase it in your portfolio.
5) Design and Animation
Number 5 is a fun one. This is a website that shows off your creative side. A digital animation site that shows your ability on the frontend side. It showcases the artistry of your code. For the majority of us, we will start off working for an e-commerce site creating and fixing backend code. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t jobs out there for engineers to create logo animations and website layout designs. These frontend ideas aren’t thought about or gone over as much as their backend counterparts, but they are just as important.
Building a website that shows off your skills with CSS, animation, and design allows you to show prospective employers what you can do on the frontend. Simply showing employers that you understand color theory is in itself another bullet point on your resume. This of course may not be a website or project that everyone needs to do. If you’re a backend engineer and you know it, don’t bother. But, if you enjoy creating the layout and you notice fonts, well then building a website that showcases your design may be a good idea.
There you have it! My personal favorite projects. My top 5 to get started with. If you want to start with 3 I would say pick your favorite 2 and then build your portfolio page. In reality, most of these can be completed in a few days, so don’t be afraid to get started! Share your personal project links below if you would like! Happy Coding Everyone!
