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General Discussion

Brad Rifkin
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Brad Rifkin
Front End Web Development Techdegree Graduate 20,933 Points
Posted by Brad Rifkin
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Brad Rifkin
Front End Web Development Techdegree Graduate 20,933 Points

New to Treehouse - opportunities to build portfolio?

Good morning, everyone! I have a quick question for those who have been working here in Treehouse for a while now. I'm sure it varies by course/track, but from your experiences, does Treehouse provide opportunities to create projects that can be used in a portfolio to showcase to prospective employers? As I progress through Treehouse, I want to make sure I not only learn the skills/languages, but also have the tangible work that I can use to look for employment.

Thank you all in advance for your time and help!

5 Answers

Caleb Kleveter
MOD
Caleb Kleveter
Treehouse Moderator 37,862 Points
Caleb Kleveter
Caleb Kleveter
Treehouse Moderator 37,862 Points

I would say so. Now remember, if you really want to learn effectively you will have to put your knowledge to practice, you'll get stuck, but there is always google and the Treehouse forums. Happy coding!

Ted Sumner
PLUS
Ted Sumner
Courses Plus Student 17,967 Points
Ted Sumner
Ted Sumner
Courses Plus Student 17,967 Points

I am building sites using code I have learned here. I suppose you could take the sites built during courses and alter it to your own for work sample. I have found that making your own site makes the most sense after learning about templates as they give a solid framework to then be able to get a good design that meets best practices.

miruke
miruke
5,649 Points
miruke
miruke
5,649 Points

I am working through freecodecamp.com along with Treehouse. If you're interested in JavaScript for both front end and back end then freecodecamp.com is a great way to supplement your learning here. You get to practice JavaScript algorithms and work on assigned projects. Also, once you are approved and show through your projects that you know your stuff, they'll pair you up with another person in the program and you can work for a nonprofit and get real world experience with an organization.

Nathan F.
Nathan F.
30,773 Points
Nathan F.
Nathan F.
30,773 Points

Some of the projects here might be good for a portfolio, though as others have suggested, it's best to follow along with the projects, see them through to completion (and pat yourself on the back when you do). Then take that knowledge and start applying it to your own problems and those of others around you. For example, I used my relatively basic CSS, PHP, and WordPress knowledge gained here to help a friend's employer, who was left high-and-dry by the developer they had hired to design their website.

I've also used the knowledge gained here to play with a lot of developer-focused services and tools that would have scared me in the past, like cloud hosted apps. I've made custom additions to virtually all of the demo iOS projects here, and my current project is working through the old Rails track and spinning off the Treebook application into another example project.

So, short answer is: yes! But don't allow yourself to be content with just the Treehouse projects. Look for real-world applications of your skills and take advantage of it.