Likewise, I continue to find myself shocked whenever I see developers' resumes that don't list even a single project they've worked on.
It's part of a bigger problem seen here in Europe (at least for those who don't move away.) Online work profiles like Linkedin are an obsession here -- and these sites are all oriented around highlighting school and businesses associations, instead of around the list of projects one's worked on. Useless for hiring.
This illustrates the two very different approaches to the problem of getting hired:
A) If you convince school to certify you -> you will convince a company to hire you.
B) If you achieve relevant work -> a company will hire you to perform more work.
I think that's just symptomatic of a general lack of good careers advice in schools and universities. Most people I sit down with have no idea that they're meant to have been tracking their achievements and metrics. Even people who've led very impressive lives; worked in government, been pilots, etc.
I suspect there's a certain self-serving aspect in that on the part of schools and universities. If students had the view that their education was going to be a foot in the door; maybe listed as a line at the base of their CV, and the time at uni listed as another job. - If students were expected to ask of the stuff they were doing right then, 'What is this helping me achieve that I'll be able to put on my CV?'... the answer would frequently be, 'Bugger all.'
It's not in schools of universities interests to give you good advice if that advice contradicts a view of the world that supports the importance of their services. And there are precious few other sources of advice that are likely to know what they're talking about.
It's part of a bigger problem seen here in Europe (at least for those who don't move away.) Online work profiles like Linkedin are an obsession here -- and these sites are all oriented around highlighting school and businesses associations, instead of around the list of projects one's worked on. Useless for hiring.
This illustrates the two very different approaches to the problem of getting hired:
A) If you convince school to certify you -> you will convince a company to hire you.
B) If you achieve relevant work -> a company will hire you to perform more work.