[jkchu]

This is great advice. I'd like to add emphasis to the importance of creating something that is tangible and complete. The extra effort it takes to actually host and launch a web application or to release an app to the app store will go a long way to greatly improve the weight and impact of your project to your next potential employer.

[alistairSH]

While that's certainly true, I wouldn't be put off if you just had the app side-loaded or webpage/DB hosted locally.

Having anything functional will put you ahead of the majority of candidates I see (DC area, enterprise software, so def. not the same market as SV/NorCal or start-ups in general).