Main image of article Building a Portfolio that Reflects Teamwork and Problem-Solving Abilities

Hiring managers are increasingly prioritizing teamwork, adaptability, and communication alongside technical skills. That means candidates need to go beyond showing what they built and explain how they built it, who they built it with, and what they learned along the way.

Bottom line: entry-level tech professionals who want to build a compelling portfolio, succeed in interviews, and ultimately land jobs must go beyond displays of clean code or ensuring a slick user interface (UI)—they must tell a story of how they work with others and tackle challenges.

Summary

No tech pro is an island: even when tech work has been done in solo or academic settings, there’s usually an element of collaboration and teamwork. “Even if projects were technically done solo, collaboration often happens in subtle ways—through peer feedback, mentorship, or even online forums,” said Orla Daly, CIO at Skillsoft. “Document those interactions.”

She points to activities like posting a question on Stack Overflow and using the responses to improve code, or reviewing a classmate’s work, as legitimate examples of collaboration that reflect an ability to engage with others.

Open-source contributions and hackathons offer tangible ways to demonstrate these skills. “Open-source contributions are a great start,” said Ornella Casagrande Rizzi, head of learning and development at Indicium. “Whether you’re writing code, fixing bugs, or improving documentation, you’re working within a shared space, engaging with others, receiving feedback, and building something together.”

Jon Friskics, senior technical author at Pluralsight, adds that past participation in hackathons or volunteer work (for example, to build something for a local nonprofit) is fantastic experience. “Even for solo projects, you can show that you understand the value of collaboration by sharing how you sought feedback or how you would approach the project in a team setting,” he said.

From his perspective, it’s all about giving a future employer a window into how you’ll operate on a team—even if your experience has been mostly individual.

When it comes to documenting the decision-making and problem-solving journey behind a project, experts agree that storytelling is key.

“Think like a storyteller. Use a case study format: What was the problem? What options were considered? Why choose that path? What challenges came up, and how were they overcome?” Daly said. For instance, candidates should highlight screenshots, diagrams, or even commit logs to show how thinking evolved.

Rizzi encourages clarity and depth in this process. “Don’t just name the problem, explain why it was actually a problem,” she explained. “Define your objectives and key results so you can keep track of your progress, not just technically, but in real terms.”

Documenting even the paths not taken can highlight adaptability and critical thinking. “It’s important to show that you thought through different directions, weighed trade-offs, and made a choice based on something real and not just instinct,” Rizzi said.

Daly suggests that, for candidates presenting code contributions from group projects, specificity also matters. “Be specific about personal contributions but also show how they fit into the bigger picture,” she said. “Include examples showing both technical and interpersonal strengths that show ownership, initiative, and the ability to partner with others.”

Walking through some of the decisions you made and the tradeoffs you considered.

“If you can include diagrams or flowcharts, that’s even better because it helps visualize your thinking,” Friskics added. “This kind of write-up shows that you can approach problems thoughtfully, which is huge in a real-world team setting.”

During job interviews, it’s crucial to show moments where soft skills directly supported team outcomes. For instance, focus on specific moments where your actions helped the team move forward. Maybe you solved a technical issue, improved documentation, or helped keep communication clear between different parts of the group.

Candidates should take stock of the kind of role they naturally adopt in teams—whether they lead, organize, or connect ideas—and include that self-awareness in the narrative.

Portfolios should not only include polished outcomes but also retrospectives. Hiring managers are thrilled to see a “lessons learned” section after each project.

“An unbiased and thorough reflection of what went well, what didn’t, and different approaches for next time shows human-centered skills like empathy, self-awareness, and a growth mindset,” Daly explained.

Rizzi agrees, noting that reflection signals both maturity and readiness to grow: “Every project is a chance to learn something new, so it’s worth taking a moment afterward to look back and really think through what worked, what didn’t, and what you’d do differently next time.”

Writing these lessons down can help candidates see their own development more clearly and prepare them to talk about it confidently in interviews.

As for the kinds of projects that best showcase soft skills such as communication and adaptability, these experts emphasize that it’s less about the type of project and more about how the experience is framed.

“Hackathons, Capstone projects, volunteer tech work, or cross-functional school projects are goldmines,” Daly said. “Even a failed project can be powerful if the candidate can explore how setbacks were handled and what was learned.”

As Rizzi pointed out, there isn’t one specific type of project that showcases soft skills—if only because soft skills are present in “almost everything we do” if we look closely enough.

Whether the project involved adjusting to shifting client expectations or learning to communicate across cultures in a remote team, soft skills are omnipresent in tech work.

That said, projects that involve working with people outside your immediate technical team are ideal for showcasing soft skills. For example, collaborating with designers, product managers, or clients often requires clear communication, adaptability, and the ability to navigate disagreements.

Friskics added that freelance projects or building internal tools for other teams also create opportunities to show how you listened to stakeholders, handled feedback and managed expectations. “The key is to frame these experiences not just around what you built, but how you worked with others to get there,” he said.

Ultimately, the goal of a portfolio should be to reflect a real, working human being behind the wor—not just a collection of deliverables. “It’s not just about whether you’ve worked on a big team before, it’s about showing that you’re ready and willing to engage with others, share ideas, and contribute to something larger than just your own solo projects,” Rizzi said.