Pretend Projects You Can Put In Your Personal Portfolio Website

When you are looking for a job, especially if you have no previous experience (in that particular field or at all), it can be a nightmare. All employers need some form of proof that you are who you say you are. That you have the skills you say you do. And when we talk about the work of a developer, that proof is a portfolio.

Now, you must be wondering, how to have a portfolio when you haven’t had the opportunity to work on any projects yet?

Well, don’t you worry. If you’re in a situation where you haven’t had the chance to have a real-life project, but you still want to show your existing knowledge or skills, you should definitely consider the option of creating pretend projects.

In this article, we will give you some examples of projects you could create. Now, let’s hop right into it!

Why Should Developers Use Pretend/Mock Projects In Their Portfolio

Pretend projects are mostly useful for beginner developers – be it students, or people who are just starting with work in this industry. But it is very important to know that you don’t need to be a beginner to do this.

In order to keep their skills sharp, explore new things, and offer innovative solutions to challenges, experienced developers frequently work on pretend projects.

You can explore, demonstrate, and enhance your skills through pretend projects. That is a terrific approach to gain confidence in your expertise and can be very helpful as you prepare for your first real-world project.

What I’m going to suggest is that you create more projects that aim to showcase a wide range of your skills. In that way, you will create a portfolio that somehow rounds off your skills.

Consider Volunteering

Volunteering is another smart thing to do! If you offer to build a website (or something else that is needed) for a client from real life, it will be a great way to get feedback, useful criticism, but also to practice communication with the client.

You can also create a website for that one relative who started her own business and needs someone to push her. Two birds with one stone – you helped someone at the moment when he needed it the most, and made it possible for yourself to add some cool project to your portfolio!

Certainly, if you are still not comfortable with your skills and want to learn more, sticking with pretend projects is a better idea.

Pretend Projects To Start With

Now, we move on to practical advice and examples of projects that you could create.

It is definitely better to start with easy projects because it is good for self-evaluation. We have to know the basics in order to build further, right? 

Anyhow, if you notice that it is easy for your level of knowledge, you can always move on to a more difficult project! 

Before we jump into the projects, here’s one more useful tip. Relying on the API when creating such projects is a great idea as they’re super useful! Through the use of APIs, developers can utilize a platform’s built-in functionality to do tasks without having to create any additional code. Because of the time and effort savings, developers can concentrate on what they do best – creating excellent applications!

Now, let’s go through some examples for easier pretend projects you should start with.

One-Page Website

This task is related to front-end tools. As a developer you will build many websites and one of the best things you can do for your portfolio is to come up with an attractive website idea for a made-up or existing company. If this project seems to stand out, it will for sure catch the eye of a potential client.

This is an opportunity to practice responsive web design as there are millions of mobile users. Additionally, this is where you can show your creativity, so your project shouldn’t be bland looking.

Weather Web App

To show weather information use: Open Weather MAP API.

Developers usually get this suggestion a lot but weather apps are a great way to showcase that you know how to make something look good. There are many weather apps out there, but this project will give you space to experiment and make something that is visually appealing, and learn more about APIs along the way.

Tic Tac Toe

Tic Tac Toe is a classic game that’s been enjoyed by people of every age for centuries. While there’s lots of complex games available for mobile devices, Tic Tac Toes’ simplicity makes it an ideal project for beginners to get started with. The game is relatively easy to code, and there’s plenty of tutorials out there to help you along the way. Once your web app is finished, you can customize it with different graphics and sounds.

To-Do List

You can create a to-do list by using your preferred mobile application development framework. In this fast-paced world, people find it harder and harder to remember and manage daily tasks-the solution is an app that helps them keep track more easily.

You will be introduced to creating multiple screens, handling user input throughout the app, and using push notifications as well as file storage.

More Challenging Pretend Projects

If you are one of the developers who is looking for a way to discover new things, maintain your abilities, and provide creative responses to problems, we will provide you with a few examples as well. This way, you will build a web developer portfolio that will help you stand out!

Social Media App

This project could have a significant impact on your portfolio, and any recruiter will love to see it. Building a simple social media app will teach you the basics of web development, including making a complete “create, read, update and delete” application. You can also manipulate APIs in this project.

Music Streaming App

Everybody enjoys music! What can you do, though, to improve your music streaming service? Your app should, at the very least, allow users to choose songs from a playlist or search for songs, play music from a song database, and offer a music streaming interface.

You can even create a suggestion engine to test yourself. Keep track of what people are listening to and recommend related tracks based on their tastes.

Bonus tip: There is a great site that is generally for pretend projects, but also, developers can work on them together and share solutions – codementor. Check it out!

Wrapping Up

So, what kinds of things may newcomers include in portfolios when they’re still learning and getting started?

As you can see, in addition to the conventional projects that come to mind, there are a variety of other forms of work that you can highlight in your portfolio. You can genuinely create imaginary, ‘ideal’ projects, just for your portfolio!

But please, do remember to make your pretend projects as realistic-looking as possible. They should appear to be actual finished products rather than only ideas.

What else is left for us to say except we hope that this article and selected tips will help you on your way to success! Until next time!