Ask HN: How do you build your freelance work portfolio of closed source apps?

[emailcomp]

I have worked as a software developer for several years in a corporate environment. All of my work has been closed source development making CRUD apps for enterprise companies. Recently I started working on my own. I got few projects but they are still for enterprise companies and I'm developing their intranet webapps or their behind the login web apps. I'm wondering what is the best way to include them in my work portfolio. The best I can imagine is to link to my work that is online (But it would be behind the login and all anyone would see is their landing page). I think making a video and/or saving screenshots would be some confidentiality breach? Any suggestion or how you have done it for yourselves?

Edit: Just wanted to clarify what work I'm doing as a freelance developer. I'm doing full stack development. I use bootstrap with JavaScript MVC framework and Python or Java for backend.

[dpezely]

Usual disclaimers apply... speaking within US jurisdictions... based upon advice I received earlier in my career when asking the same question... and so on:

I created a personal website to which I would grant limited access to select portions and only to those potential employers for which I was actively considering. Not being public, there were no issues.

Alternatively, go old school and bring the copies with you on an interview. This might be hard copy screenshots, or connect your laptop to their projector during an interview such that you always retain control over the material. Then, if you can't click-through to a certain portion due to it being an unreleased feature, patent papers not yet filed, etc., you have the control to navigate to away from there.

As another person commented here, some content on my personal website were anonymized screenshots organized as a storyboard; others were full replications of the entire system's UI and server, complete with documentation and including the original company's name & logo.

Sometimes the intent to have a portfolio begins when you start the project.

Depending upon nature of your project, you may be able to create it in a way that easily accommodates an anonymous version.

For example with one particular project, I kept all of the corporate colors and logos within CSS of course but intentionally kept it isolated to a single style.css file to make it trivial to change. It was essentially a "white label" system to accommodate re-branding, co-branding, etc. (Of course, no potential employer was interested in an end-to-end recommender system with mix & match algorithms-- think: compiling regular expressions-- so I've never shown that one-- oh, the irony!)

Even if you are concerned about nondisclosures and noncompete agreements:

You can demonstrate what work you have done despite most wording within agreements because they cannot prevent you from continuing to work within your field or prohibit you from earning a living after providing labor/services under those agreement-- with a few obvious caveats.

Those caveats include explicit statements about specific items to which you have agreed, and even in some of those cases, you may still be OK based upon local laws. But you should know when you're in that situation and would of course talk to an attorney and/or your original employer.

[emailcomp]

> "white label" system

That's a great idea. It would involve certain efforts and upfront negotiation with clients but certainly doable.

[pc86]

Unless you're a front end developer, what the end product looks like is of little consequence. If you're a back end developer doing mainly closed-source applications, a portfolio is not a good way to showcase your work, since by definition there will be little or nothing you're legally allowed to showcase.

Instead, focus on other ways to show what you've done and - more importantly - what you know. Blog posts are easy but it's unlikely prospective clients will dig through blog archives to find a problem relevant to them. Instead, you could likely discuss an application in vivid technical detail without mentioning the client and not be breaking any NDA or contract rules. Think of it as a white paper to host on your site as something a little more in-depth than a blog post.

[emailcomp]

> Unless you're a front end developer, what the end product looks like is of little consequence.

I'm doing full stack development. I use bootstrap with JavaScript MVC framework and Python or Java for backend. So I guess prospective clients might be interested in seeing what I have built in the past.

> Instead, focus on other ways to show what you've done and - more importantly - what you know.

I'm afraid this is the tricky part because I will have chance to show my experience only after clients have seen my portfolio and contacted me to show their interest to work with me. This makes me envy front-end devs and graphic designers as they can showcase their work in all the glory. You idea about discussing this possibility of hosting a white paper or case study of the app is a great suggestion, thanks.

[HeyLaughingBoy]

Are screenshots really that useful or interesting? I'm not being snarky, I'm genuinely interested.

99% of the software I've written has been embedded deep inside some expensive piece of machinery. A visual portfolio would be useless since it would consist of photos of the machine, which would offer no insight. Instead I describe what I've done, how it works, problems I had to overcome, etc.

I've interviewed people for many types of positions, and I can't think of a single time when the ability to answer questions about the software they've written wouldn't have sufficed. As it is, I rarely even get that :-(

[emailcomp]

> Are screenshots really that useful or interesting? I'm not being snarky, I'm genuinely interested.

I'm not sure myself if screenshots are useful. They would be for a front end developer. I have done full stack app development for enterprise where either the UI was minimal or it was done by a graphic designer on their team.

> I can't think of a single time when the ability to answer questions about the software they've written wouldn't have sufficed

I'm glad this is your experience. I would imagine this is the case too.

[shortsightedsid]

Have you considered customer stories and testimonials as well? In addition to the points raised here, the question you ask is similar to questions that one could ask of another professional service. They showcase their expertise through customer case studies, testimonials about their work etc.. I also find LinkedIn connections and testimonials useful in some scenarios.

[emailcomp]

> customer stories and testimonials

great suggestion.

> LinkedIn connections and testimonials

Yes, this I already do and seems very useful.

[logn]

I've seen people take anonymized screenshots of the app in a test environment and then write a case study explaining the app. I think it's something you could write into a contract or politely request from past clients.

[emailcomp]

> anonymized screenshots

> write into a contract or politely request from past clients.

True, thanks for the suggestion.