That depends. My “nights and weekends” code is not “dogshit”[0]. I spent a lot of time as a manager, and it was how I “kept my chops up.” One of my side projects[1] has turned into a worldwide standard; used daily by tens of thousands of people.

I fail to see how, if we are talking “clean code,” a short leetcode test will say anything more than a portfolio; even one with “quick and dirty” code (which is all you’ll get in the test, anyway).

Also, if companies start using portfolios as material for hiring, then folks are a lot more likely to take care, in their extracurricular work. That won’t hurt. I think there’s a real crisis of quality, in today’s software.

I see a lot of pretty impressive stuff, daily on GitHub; even “experimental” projects. There’s a great deal of code and history out there. The fact that someone is working on side projects; especially if they are doing so as part of a team, can speak volumes on their behalf.

The SO Story is less common. I wouldn’t expect that from everyone, but it can be quite helpful. It organizes this stuff.

Have you ever seen a graphic designer apply for a job?

When they arrive for their interview, they come in, holding a large, flat, black case. It’s called a “portfolio,” and contains samples of their work. They often also contain interim work, showing the person’s process.

Even students, fresh out of school, are expected to have one. It’s so standardized, that companies don’t even mention the need to bring one with you.

Today, it’s probably quite common for the portfolio to be digital.

No design company on earth would ignore that, flip a matchbook into the interview table, and ask the designer to “draw Spunky,” but that is exactly what most tech companies are doing, these days.

Basically, what I am saying, is that many folks have a lot of pretty good stuff available as some kind of portfolio, and it’s, quite frankly, ridiculous to think a whiteboard test will tell us more about someone than that.

Even if the work is not suitable for our use, it can be the structure for a conversation. One of my favorite things to do, in an interview, was to find a “story” the applicant wanted to tell, so a lot of my questions were designed to find the “hook,” where they suddenly smiled, and started to tell me about problems they solved, or teams they worked with.

Those conversations are gold. They are what we look for. All the rest is BS, and many developers aren’t “people persons.” Getting them to “open up” like that is really the job of any interviewer.

It has been my experience that hiring managers and recruiters completely ignore portfolios. Even companies that ask for GH or HN handles seem to ignore the contents. I think they just want to find out if people have them, as some kind of “cultural flag” (I have also seen a lot of GH handles that tell me the developer is not so good, but I’d not know that, unless I looked; and what people write here...well, not so sure that’s helpful to convince managers that we’d be good team members).

[0] Don’t take my word for it; look for yourself: https://github.com/ChrisMarshallNY

[1] This shows the reach of the project. It’s a “live” dashboard: https://tally.bmlt.app/