Including Personal Projects in Your Portfolio

Over the past two years, I have paid close attention to other web developers’ portfolios. It is natural to make comparisons and notice differences. In particular, there are differences that are very easy to notice among portfolios from the United States, Europe, and Mexico. Something that has caught my attention is that personal projects are not included in most of the Mexican portfolios I have seen. I have discussed this with some other people, and it seems that here in Mexico there is a widespread perception that, to make a professional impression, you have to include only work done for clients. I AM COMPLETELY AGAINST THAT PERCEPTION. On the contrary, I believe that the most important things to see in a portfolio are personal projects, and I will explain why below:

• Passion. When I see someone’s personal projects, I realize that they are passionate about what they do. If a developer does not develop for pleasure, I have no idea what they are doing; they are in the wrong job.
• Vision. Personal projects reveal a great deal about developers’ vision: what kind of projects they like, what kinds of technologies they prefer, and even how disciplined they are in their work. The quality of a personal project reveals the developer’s personal standards of quality. Unlike client work, in personal projects the developer themself has the final say and makes the decisions.
• Skill. Unfortunately, client work does not always allow personal ability to be demonstrated. Such projects meet specific needs and do not always foster creativity and ingenuity. Personal projects demonstrate a developer’s abilities and can even give us an idea of the ideal projects to assign to that person.

I believe this applies not only to developers, but to any creative profession. Many of the world’s most important and relevant projects began as someone’s personal project. That is why I believe we should not underestimate them; on the contrary, we should display them with pride.