Hey Guys, i am confused about different opinions throughout the Community about Certifications on your Resumee/Portfolio to proof your Skills . Many People say certs are not important, because the companies/recruiters are relieing more on real life Projects/Expierience. But what if I have no real life Projects/Expierience to show? And have you any tips how I can get into a real life Project - maybe through freelancing or open Source via Github? Thanks in Advance!
Many People say certs are not important, because the companies/recruiters are relieing more on real life Projects/Expierience.
True, but certs are better than nothing. They aren’t going to get you the job, but it does show that you’ve at least done some study, followed a program, and have something to show for it.
But what if I have no real life Projects/Expierience to show?
You don’t have any of the projects you built for the certs? Again, better than nothing. In my search for a job, some of the interviewers have even complimented me on some things and asked me how I did them. “Real world” projects are still better, but it’s better to have something in there rather than nothing.
And have you any tips how I can get into a real life Project - maybe through freelancing or open Source via Github?
To that I would add that you can try and build something cool, something marketable. Maybe even get together with another coder and work on it. Maybe you’ll end up forming your own company.
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THANKS Kevin, your reply helped me a lot! 
I’m in the jobhunt myself here and from what I’m experiencing, the certs and any classes you take show initiative, interest and willingness to learn, which is a great trait / skill to show…even if you dont have experience with something in their stack, it shows you have the interest and ability to pick it up and learn it.
The real meat of it though is what you can do, and you show that through projects. Dont let the “real world” project thing throw you off…even if you’ve been working many years, odds are you would not be able to show proprietary / confidential projects and code in your github and portfolio that belong to the company you are working for.
Instead, whats important is to concentrate on your own personal projects…have something that you are interested in building…then build it. As you learn new skills and technologies, think of ways to apply that to projects youve already done to improve on them, or create new projects. The projects you’ve built to earn your FCC certs definitely count, but dont stop there, like I said, keep finding ways to build on and improve them.
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Thanks for sharing, Candice!
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