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Portfolio Packaging Workshop

You are packaging your GitHub organization and personal portfolio into a coherent artifact. The deliverable is a set of edits and pins on GitHub plus (optionally) a short personal landing page.

Retrieval Prompts​

  1. What three layers does a readme-driven portfolio have?
  2. What is the positioning sentence and where does it appear first?
  3. From memory, list the sections of the per-project one-pager template.
  4. Name the four "signals of craft" a reviewer scans for.
  5. How many pinned repos is the right number, and why not more?

Compare and Distinguish​

Separate these pairs clearly:

  • positioning statement vs generic "passionate developer" bio
  • pinned repo vs regular public repo
  • README vs case study (they serve different readers)
  • a tests folder with three trivial tests vs zero tests

Common Mistake Check​

For each, identify the error:

  1. "I'll pin my ten best repos so reviewers see my range."
  2. "I just added a tests/ folder last week; that should do it."
  3. "My profile README is cool -- it has an animated typing banner and all my tech icons."
  4. "The project isn't finished, but I'll pin it anyway to signal I'm working on something big."

Mini Application​

Work through this sequence in one 2-3 hour session:

  1. Positioning line. Draft it on paper first. Max one sentence. Commit it to your profile README.
  2. Pinned repos. Select 3-5. For each, justify in one sentence why it is pinned.
  3. Per-project one-pagers. For every pinned repo, rewrite the first screen of the README using the Cluster 2 concept 05 template. Apply the honesty pass -- disclose at least one "not implemented" fact per project.
  4. Craft audit. For each pinned repo, verify: tests exist and are named by behavior; CI runs and is green; at least one ADR or runbook is present; last ten commits have meaningful messages. Fix or unpin.
  5. Archive noise. Identify repos that dilute signal (tutorial follow-alongs, unfinished experiments). Do not delete; simply unpin.
  6. Cross-check against bio. Your profile README positioning, your bio (concept 07), and your case study (practice 01) should sound like the same engineer. If they diverge, fix the weakest.

Evidence Check​

This practice page is complete only if:

  • profile README has a one-sentence positioning line, no generic adjectives
  • exactly 3-5 repos are pinned, each with a justified reason
  • every pinned repo's README opens with the one-pager template
  • every pinned repo's README includes a "what is not implemented" disclosure
  • CI status, test names, and commit messages in every pinned repo pass the craft audit
  • a peer unfamiliar with you can land on your profile and, in five minutes, correctly describe what kind of engineer you are