Building a portfolio is definitely worth your time. Reach out to an open source project that needs a new website and offer your services for free, or make a si

Building a portfolio is definitely worth your time. Reach out to an open source project that needs a new website and offer your services for free, or make a simple online utility to show off what you can do, and open source that as well (open sourcing your products shows confidence in your code). Also (shameless plug ahead): if you're looking to pick up some freelance gigs, sign up at http://gun.io http://gun.io and get notified when new freelance gigs for your skills are posted.