I'm currently in school pursuing a degree in game development & programming, and I'm looking for some direction on getting started making a portfolio for gameplay programming. Firstly, what kind of projects or work samples should I even put in such a portfolio? I'm guessing something along the lines of small completed games (either solo or as part of a team) or maybe even feature demos, something just to show that I know how to program gameplay mechanics. Additionally, I've heard that personal projects generally are more interesting to employers, but really all I have so far is stuff I've made for school. I'm juggling a full time job and going to school online, so at the moment I don't have a lot of free time to do side projects. I'll have more spare time (and energy) after I finish up with classes early next year. So far I've done all my game programming in Unreal Engine 4, so that's really all I know how to make games with.

Secondly, how should such a portfolio even ideally be presented? (A webpage linking to code repos? Should I include any demo videos of my work? Should I just focus on showing the code? etc.)

I've hired a fair amount of people (or been involved in the hiring process). For most positions, I've usually ended up with stacks of CVs of 50-100 people per position (less nowadays, more in worse times for employees). Very, very often, the vast majority of the applicants are people fresh from school.

When you're faced with dozens of fresh-faced applicants, it is very hard to weed out the good ones from the chaff. So you want to get noticed (positively), because only those get picked out for interviews.

• Easiest is to have good/exceptional grades from a good university. Once you have a few years of experience under your belt, no one will care that you scored a D in programming, but with noting else to go on, recruiters naturally look at the factors that make a person stand out. And good grades are an indicator that this is a hard-working, and possibly smart person.
• Learn to write a good application letter. Given a choice between someone with an articulate cover letter, and someone writing something half ineligible, a recruiter will always go for the former. Coding is also writing, and documentation is an important part of development. Learn to write well.
• Do coding in public. If you can, work on open-source projects or make your own projects open-source. IMO, it is the single most important thing you can do to increase your chance of getting recruited and far, far too few CSc graduates do it. When looking for a developer, the recruiter is looking for someone who can code (above all). I don't care how fancy your youtube reel looks - what I want to see is your code. Can you solve complex problems? Can you structure code in a legible manner? What techniques do you master? Someone who has demonstrated even before the interview that they are a solid programmer, is way ahead of the person who is applying with simply a degree. to their name.
  • Student projects are the bare minimum, but they are often too limited and too simple to give any real insight into your skills. You want to do something that showcases the abilities potential employers are looking for.