Recruiters spend under two minutes on a developer portfolio. Here's what separates portfolios that convert from digital business cards nobody opens.
Lead with outcomes, not tech lists
"Built with React and MongoDB" says nothing. "Cut load time by 45% and increased user engagement" says everything. Every project entry needs one sentence describing the result.
Case studies beat screenshots
For your best projects, write up the problem, constraints, decisions and trade-offs. This demonstrates judgement — the thing clients actually pay for.
Make the site itself the first case study
Your portfolio is your code under inspection. Fast loads, semantic HTML, dark mode done properly. A slow, unstyled portfolio contradicts every claim on it.
Keep it alive
A "last updated 2023" badge quietly tells people you've stopped growing. Refresh project descriptions quarterly and prune dead links.