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For many students starting their tech journey, certificates feel like the finish line. You complete a course, earn a badge, add it to your resume, and hope that confidence will automatically follow.

But once you step into interviews or your first job, a different reality shows up. Employers ask questions like:
Have you worked on any real projects? Can you explain how you solved a problem? What would you do if something broke in production?

This is where projects start to matter, not just for hiring, but for your own confidence.

Certificates Show Learning. Projects Show Ability.

Certificates are important. They prove that you’ve learned a concept or tool. But most hiring managers today agree that certificates alone don’t show how someone will perform at work.

According to LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends report, recruiters increasingly value hands-on experience, problem-solving ability, and applied skills over theoretical knowledge. Projects are the closest thing students have to real-world experience before a job.

When you work on a project, even a small one, you move from knowing to doing. That shift is powerful.

Projects Teach You How Real Work Actually Happens

In college or online courses, everything is structured. In real IT jobs, things are rarely that clean. Requirements change, errors appear, tools behave differently than expected, and you have to figure things out as you go.

Projects expose you to this reality. They teach you:

• how to break a problem into smaller steps
• how to debug when something doesn’t work
• how to search, research, and experiment
• how to make decisions instead of waiting for instructions

Harvard Business Review has often highlighted that confidence grows fastest when people learn through experience and iteration, not passive learning. Projects give you exactly that environment.

Confidence Comes From Solving Problems, Not Memorising Answers

Many students feel nervous during interviews not because they lack knowledge, but because they lack confidence. And confidence doesn’t come from certificates, it comes from having done something before.

When you’ve built a small application, automated a workflow, created a dashboard, or handled a mock incident, you can speak naturally about your work. You don’t panic when asked “what would you do if…?” because you’ve already faced similar situations.

That confidence shows, in interviews, in discussions, and later in your first job.

Projects Help You Discover What You Enjoy (and What You Don’t)

Another underrated benefit of projects is clarity.

You might think you want to become a developer, until you realise you enjoy designing workflows more. Or you might think cloud sounds exciting, until you try a hands-on lab and realise troubleshooting gives you more satisfaction.

According to career research shared by McKinsey, early exposure through practical work helps learners make better long-term career choices. Projects allow you to test a role before committing years to it.

Employers Trust Proof More Than Promises

From an employer’s point of view, a project is proof.

A resume with “Certified in X” is common.
A resume with “Built Y, solved Z, learned A from failure” stands out.

Many hiring forums and recruiter discussions openly state that candidates who can explain their project work clearly are perceived as more job-ready, even if they are freshers. Projects signal initiative, ownership, and learning mindset, basically the qualities companies actively look for.

What Kind of Projects Actually Help?

You don’t need big or complex projects. What matters is relevance and clarity. For example:

• Automating a simple task using scripts or low-code tools
• Building a small cloud setup or monitoring dashboard
• Creating a basic ServiceNow workflow
• Simulating an IT support scenario and documenting resolution steps
• Working on a group project to understand collaboration

Even personal or guided projects count, as long as you understand what you did and why.

Final Thought

Certificates can open doors, but projects help you walk through them with confidence.

If you want to feel ready and not just qualified, start building, experimenting, breaking things, and fixing them. Every project you complete strengthens your confidence, sharpens your thinking, and prepares you for real-world work.

At VyntraVerse, we strongly believe that confidence is built through doing, not just learning. That’s why practical projects, real-world scenarios, and hands-on exposure are central to how we prepare learners for the industry.

Because in the end, confidence doesn’t come from what’s written on your certificate, it comes from knowing you can handle the work when it matters.