How would I show a potential employer my work on Team Treehouse?

Hi Gregory,

That's a really good question! I can't really give a concrete answer here about what you need to put in your portfolio, but here are a few things you could consider (feel free to take or leave any of it):

• As you suspect, most of the Treehouse projects, except possibly the larger ones from the Tech Degree program (though I'm not part of that so I can't say for sure) are likely too small to be main attractions on your portfolio. However, you could have a Git repository on GitHub that you use to put all those smaller files into - similar to what you see in this video on creating a GitHub repository. If you regularly contribute all your projects here, you would also have a nice track record of commits appearing on your GitHub profile Contributions chart.
• If you find a project in Treehouse that you enjoyed or was especially useful, you could look into ways of expanding it into a larger project (perhaps more features, larger datasets, more complex code) that would be worth putting as a standalone item on your portfolio.
• Similarly, if you can think up a unique project that is your own idea, and find ways to apply what you're learning in Treehouse to it, that would be valuable - not only will this help you learn to design and build your own app without someone giving you step-by-step instructions (you will learn a ton and gain valuable experience), but it will also show initiative/dedication and help differentiate you from other new programmers who might not bother making any modifications to the Treehouse (or other training site's) projects.
• Along with the Building a Portfolio course here on Treehouse, there are some good portfolio critiques available on YouTube that you may want to check out - try typing "software developer portfolio review" into the search bar and a number of videos come up. Joshua Fluke has a few review videos and I'd recommend those - he can be pretty blunt but is efficient and fair at evaluating a bunch of portfolios, so you can see what other people are doing, and what employers might be thinking when they look through a portfolio.
• Another super important thing is to consider what kind of job you really want. Figuring that out (if you haven't already) is the #1 priority, since that will dictate what should be in your portfolio (and which Treehouse courses you should take!) and will give it some focus. One thing I've found super useful is to go through the job boards and find jobs I'd really love to do, then look at the requirements. If you were to apply for that job(s), they'd be looking for evidence that you know most or all of the skills they're looking for, so your portfolio would be your chance to show them projects that prove you have those skills. That's what everything should be geared toward - the dream job! :-)
• I suspect that most employers wouldn't know (or care) about Team Treehouse points, so I wouldn't bother including that in your documentation. It might be worth mentioning if you completed certain pertinent Tracks - that could be more useful. Still, I think it's much better to show them what your actual capabilities are, since that's the key thing they're looking for - they have a need for a service (programming to be done in order to meet a goal they have in mind), and they need to know whether you are capable of reliably providing that service.

Anyway, I hope this helps get the juices flowing somewhat. I'm sure others will also have ideas to contribute! All the best with getting a great portfolio together, and good luck with the job-hunting!