It's important to both 1) understand user needs & 2) communicate those needs through design. To best understand user needs, you need the soft skills of empathy

It's important to both 1) understand user needs & 2) communicate those needs through design. To best understand user needs, you need the soft skills of empathy and humility. However, you also need to be able to understand a user's mindset through the various tools/tech they use, who they are, and where they come from. In order to communicate those needs, you need to best understand the constraints of what is possible with the given tools/tech of the product you are involved with. From there, you need to be able to use existing paradigms to give stakeholders a vision they can aspire to and then ultimately build. Portfolio worthy projects: Take a high-visibility product/process and redesign it from the ground up. Make sure it's in a market you are interested in tackling. Go through the process of understanding user needs and communicating the design. You should definitely try to get a full-time position to get the reputation which yields contacts and potential future contracts. Learn from the best and keep a healthy portfolio of side projects that are fresh and hone your skills.