The signal-to-noise ratio on engineering portfolios collapsed when everyone started shipping AI-generated CRUD apps. Hiring managers now spend less than 90 seconds on a portfolio before deciding whether to continue. In that 90 seconds, they're looking for evidence of taste and judgment, not a list of technologies.
What they're actually looking for
The portfolios that get past the 90-second scan share three properties: a single project that's clearly better than a tutorial, evidence the builder hit a real constraint and solved it, and writing that explains the tradeoff they made — not just what they built.