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Job outlook for freelance web designers in the United States
Freelance web designer job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected freelance web designer job growth rate is 3% from 2018-2028.
About 6,800 new jobs for freelance web designers are projected over the next decade.
Freelance web designer salaries have increased 12% for freelance web designers in the last 5 years.
There are over 20,791 freelance web designers currently employed in the United States.
There are 51,139 active freelance web designer job openings in the US.
The average freelance web designer salary is $61,732.
Are freelance web designer jobs in demand?
Freelance web designer job and salary trends over time
Freelance web designer jobs over time
Freelance web designer job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 20,791 | 0.01% |
| 2020 | 22,442 | 0.01% |
| 2019 | 22,002 | 0.01% |
| 2018 | 21,400 | 0.01% |
| 2017 | 21,279 | 0.01% |
Average freelance web designer salary over time
Freelance web designer salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $61,732 | $29.68 | +2.4% |
| 2024 | $60,263 | $28.97 | +3.5% |
| 2023 | $58,251 | $28.01 | +3.4% |
| 2022 | $56,319 | $27.08 | +2.2% |
| 2021 | $55,094 | $26.49 | +1.6% |
Freelance web designer jobs by state
Most common states for freelance web designers
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 285 | 41% |
| 2 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 501 | 12% |
| 3 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 895 | 11% |
| 4 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 840 | 11% |
| 5 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 781 | 11% |
| 6 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 114 | 11% |
| 7 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 293 | 9% |
| 8 | California | 39,536,653 | 3,292 | 8% |
| 9 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 493 | 8% |
| 10 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 472 | 8% |
| 11 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 108 | 8% |
| 12 | New York | 19,849,399 | 1,415 | 7% |
| 13 | Georgia | 10,429,379 | 767 | 7% |
| 14 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 385 | 7% |
| 15 | Vermont | 623,657 | 46 | 7% |
| 16 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 822 | 6% |
| 17 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 775 | 6% |
| 18 | North Carolina | 10,273,419 | 632 | 6% |
| 19 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 521 | 6% |
| 20 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 206 | 6% |
Most common cities for freelance web designers
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Memphis | 1 | 0% | $51,846 |
Freelance Web Designer job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of freelance web designer experts
University of Akron
Merrimack College
Louisiana Tech University
San Francisco State University
Columbia University in the City of New York
Louisiana Tech University
New York Institute of Technology
Texas Christian University
Foothill College
University Of Nevada, Las Vegas
Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology
Highline College
Marywood University
Texas State University
Bowling Green State University
Belmont University
Eastern Illinois University
Mississippi College
What Freelance Web Designer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Tiffany Prater: Never stop learning because life never stops teaching. This quote by Kirill Korshikov rings true for new designers, who must know the latest trends and tools to be uniquely creative, improve their skills, and land a better design job. Knowledge and inspiration can come from anywhere and everywhere in our daily lives.
What general advice would you give to a Freelance Web Designer?
David Flynn: Everything that you see has been touched by a designer. The field is expanding with technology, but basic communication design principals remain paramount. It doesn’t matter if it’s a newspaper ad or a social post, you must have a professional that knows how to communicate a message, move the viewer's eye, and make the point. Designers work in every company and in every industry, worldwide.
What will help Freelance Web Designers increase their earning potential?
David Flynn: We spend our day creating items that need to communicate a message clearly and quickly to a person or public. Information, directions, product benefits, packaging, events, advertising, anything and everything is designed to inform.
What Freelance Web Designer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Jason Bronner: It is ok to take a position in design that is not your ideal position. Learn what you can from that position and keep looking toward your ideal. Additionally, consider an unpaid internship in a dream/ideal position on a limited term basis to learn more about the company/specific job while also showcasing what value you bring to the company. Sometimes, helping the employer understand what a great employee and contributor to the team you are is most important. Focus on making connections with clients, through effective listening and speaking skills, to improve salary potential.
What Freelance Web Designer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Nancy Wynn: Design is everywhere. Design is interdisciplinary. There are a variety of ways to find your fit in the profession, but the need is ever great and growing. More people understand the power of good design and marketing. As you consider the possibilities, you need to think about what other fields, or disciplines, are you interested in, i.e. sports, fashion, healthcare, finance, non-profits, the Arts, education, built environment, etc. Once you consider other possible connections, you focus your attention, since everything has to be designed.
What will help Freelance Web Designers increase their earning potential?
Nancy Wynn: There are many different ways to intersect the creative field of graphic design or Design. You can enter utilizing production skills centered on working with an Art Director-you produce their designs with various handwork and software platforms. If you enter as a junior graphic designer-you collaborate with an Art Director and brainstorm concepts / designs for projects. You may intersect working in the service industry where you help customers produce their designs. Day-to-day tasks can be specific if you work at a very large company, or more comprehensive if you work at a smaller agency. They can range from meetings with Art Directors or marketing people; collaboration with fellow designers or other team members based on the project components; brainstorming, research, and ideation for projects; learning new technology by producing designs and client presentations; meetings with focus groups or testing of projects; and finally debrief sessions on projects results.
Tom Futrell
Associate ProfessorLouisiana Tech University
Design And Applied Arts
What will help Freelance Web Designers increase their earning potential?
Tom Futrell: Building a killer portfolio is the baseline for students entering the design field. However, to boost earning potential, designers must go beyond the basics and set themselves apart from their competition. This may involve showcasing additional interests and skills, emphasizing design systems thinking, or excelling in presentation abilities. Successful designers won't settle for mastering software alone or consider themselves artists - they will be dedicated problem solvers and visual communicators, capable of connecting diverse ideas with diverse audiences.
What Freelance Web Designer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Saskia Van Kampen: Graphic design is an exciting career choice because of the variety of opportunities that are available. There is in-house design jobs where you work for an organization and do their design work-these opportunities range from non-profits, small to mid-size companies or huge corporations. You could work for a design studio where there are multiple clients with varied needs. There are jobs in print-focused design ranging from publication design to packaging design and marketing work such as branding and identity design. There are opportunities to work digitally on websites and app development. User experience and user interface design is a very popular field for students at SF State because of our tech-central location and this is expanding into Virtual and augmented reality. Wayfinding design is another avenue design students can explore where design is integrated into environments to help users navigate through spaces. There is also the option of working as a freelance designer, but this is more challenging to do straight out of school.
What will help Freelance Web Designers increase their earning potential?
Saskia Van Kampen: This question is impossible for me to answer as what one likes or dislikes about graphic design will be very individual.
Pilar Newton
Program Director of Electronic Design and Multimedia programColumbia University in the City of New York
Fine And Studio Arts
What Freelance Web Designer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Pilar Newton: Look into what industry you are interested in pursuing and research what the salary range is for positions that you are interested in especially entry level.
Research what studios are looking for. Even if a studio is not hiring reach out to them to set up informational interviews with studios that you are interested in. Often studio art directors will generously spend time on the phone, zoom or even an in person meeting to talk to you and tell you what the studio is looking for in potential artists that work for them.
Keep sharp! Keep practicing and staying on time of the latest versions of software and keep building your skills.
What general advice would you give to a Freelance Web Designer?
Pilar Newton: Look into what industry you are interested in pursuing and research what the salary range is for positions that you are interested in, especially entry-level. Research what studios are looking for. Even if a studio is not hiring, reach out to them to set up informational interviews with studios that you are interested in. Often studio art directors will generously spend time on the phone, zoom, or even an in-person meeting to talk to you and tell you what the studio is looking for in potential artists that work for them. Keep sharp! Keep practicing and staying on top of the latest versions of software and keep building your skills.
What general advice would you give to a Freelance Web Designer?
Jake Dugard: 1. Stay curious. Just because you are "finished" with school does not mean you get to stop learning. The design field has been one of evolution. The designer of today is not the same as it was 20 years ago. And it won't be the same in 5 years.
2. One thing that won't change is people. People do not want to work with someone who is difficult, entitled, and is a know-it-all. Be willing to go beyond the job description and be kind. Simple.
What will help Freelance Web Designers increase their earning potential?
Jake Dugard: 1. Have an amazing portfolio - I think this goes without saying. You need to have solid work.
2. Intern somewhere - This creates connections with professionals, gives you working experience, and hopefully work to go into your portfolio. It also has the potential to turn into a job offer.
What Freelance Web Designer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Michael Hosenfeld: Technical skills and life-long learning are critical to job safety and advancement. Visual design and functionality of the product are equally important. But salaries in technology-driven environments are higher in the average. The ability to actually execute an idea to become a successful product including various digital media formats is highly valued. Design is as much inspired by technology, as it depends on it.
Jan Ballard
Senior InstructorTexas Christian University
Design And Applied Arts
What general advice would you give to a Freelance Web Designer?
Jan Ballard: Entry-level design students can leverage industry data like AIGA to start their careers with competitive salaries for effective job searching. Our alumni network provides valuable insights into market trends from high-profile employers.
What Freelance Web Designer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Jan Ballard: In our BFA program, graduates must fulfill an internship requirement and participate in professional development events and conferences, such as Dialexa EDU, National Student Show, and Circles. Students should also thoughtfully follow industry influencers on social channels to stay informed of current market trends.
Carolyn Brown
ProfessorFoothill College
Graphic Communications
What general advice would you give to a Freelance Web Designer?
Carolyn Brown: If you are looking to be hired by a creative agency or a creative department in a large company, invest your time in preparing a strong portfolio that aligns with the kind of projects you want to work on, and apply to agencies that do those kinds of projects. If you want to start your own business, or freelance for a variety of clients, preparing a portfolio that shows the range of projects you are capable of delivering.
What Freelance Web Designer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Carolyn Brown: A great way to maximize your salary potential is to start with an internship with a large tech company and be impressive enough to get invited to become an employee. However, that might compromise other aspects of your life, in my opinion it is better to balance your quality of life with your salary potential than to maximize your salary potential.
Dak Kopec Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Coordinator, BA Interior Architecture and Design and Master of Design ProgramUniversity Of Nevada, Las Vegas
School of Architecture
What Freelance Web Designer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dak Kopec Ph.D.: 1. have a great portfolio demonstrating your design skills’ diversity of design abilities. I.e., show you how you can create designs that are historic, contemporary, and cutting-edge. 2. Demonstrate your ability to think critically and apply information. While AI will soon be able to take over the graphical representation of the design, it is unlikely that it will be able to use critical thinking and deductive reasoning. 3. Use your interview to show your employer you have skills they don’t have in the office and those skills will get them clients. I would research their projects and website, identify a weakness, and then demonstrate in your portfolio that I have the skills to help address existing weaknesses. Once an employer sees that what you bring to the table has value, you’ll be in a better negotiation position.
Mary Miller
InstructorOklahoma State University Institute of Technology
Graphic Design Faculty
What skills stand out on Freelance Web Designer resumes?
Mary Miller: Employers generally want to hire graphic designers who show conceptual, problem-solving ability and have solid skills in the basics: design, typography, use of color...but candidates who have motion graphics and video editing, photography/videography, and illustration skill will rise to the top of the list. It's expected that a designer will know multiple Adobe Creative Cloud programs like InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator, but they must also know After Effects, Premiere, XD, and Acrobat Pro, among others. Designers who can design for 3D objects like packaging and environmental graphics bring extra skill to the table as well.
What soft skills should all Freelance Web Designers possess?
Mary Miller: Graphic designers are crucial to a business' success because they identify the brand's core values and personality and create the visual language that expresses those values and personality. So graphic designers must have strong research skills and be able to analyze and interpret them to know how to design ads and designs that will resonate with the target audience. Designers must be empathetic to understand what the target audience values and wants. Graphic designers must collaborate with their creative team and clients to develop strategies, so they must have excellent communication and teamwork skills. Excellent writing skills are a huge part of the necessary communication skills. Salesmanship and the ability to articulate the design rationale are requirements also. If a designer cannot articulate their concept to their art director or creative director first, they won't get the chance to present it to the client. Speaking and presentation skills are a part of a designer's career as well. When presenting to a client, they have to create the atmosphere for the client and reveal the solution in a way that explains, educates, and convinces the client that the solution will work. Campaigns are monitored, and the data is analyzed for effectiveness, tested, and tweaked. Graphic design is not about decorating pages but is much more cerebral...it is strategic art.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Freelance Web Designers?
Mary Miller: The hard/technical skills needed daily for graphic designers are primarily software-based, but they also have to understand the technical aspects of print production, broadcast, websites, and social media. They have to search for technical information, learn as they go, and create the design and marketing pieces for their clients as technology changes, constantly evolving. A designer will need to understand and use the software that business uses too, such as Excel. Some designers specialize in data visual infographics, where they take statistical data and design it in a format that can be more easily understood because it's in a visual format.
What skills will help Freelance Web Designers earn the most?
Mary Miller: The skills that will help you earn the most money throughout your career as a graphic designer are people skills and business skills. It's expected that you must have the design skills to be a long-time creative employee, but to rise to the top of the field, you have to be savvy with people and business decisions. If a designer works in the industry for several years and starts their own studio, they obviously need business knowledge to run and grow their business. Many designers who follow this career path move out of the creative work and concentrate on client relations and acquisition, managing their employees, and running their business. The owners of agencies and studios can earn large, six or seven-figure incomes. The designer who doesn't want to own their own business but would rather be a creative director and/or VP in a large agency will need great people skills. They will be responsible for developing their creative teams and managing people. As VPs and creative directors, they will have more administrative responsibility for the agency, but they don't have the full responsibility an owner does. These positions earn six-figure incomes.
In these creative positions, the portfolio is the most important thing to get the job. It's not as important to have advanced degrees as it might be for accountants, engineers, or other fields. Even job postings that say they require bachelor's degrees will enthusiastically hire someone with a portfolio that showcases the right skill set, regardless of their education. The creative department ultimately decides who they want to hire, not the HR folks who typically can't assess a creative portfolio, so degree requirements are generally not as important. HR people will screen resumes for certain words, which is not necessarily the most effective way to hire creative people. The portfolio is the best way to determine the candidate's ability. The post-pandemic economy has forced companies to change some of their hiring practices. There are so many open jobs that companies realize that they can't use some of the tired strategies they used before the pandemic. They are less concerned about degree requirements now as more Americans are questioning the expense of 4-year degrees and fewer people are willing to go into deep debt to buy one.
More Americans realize the value of industry-focused, technical degrees in higher education and seek less expensive ways to ensure career success. (ABC News did a recent series on this subject. It was broadcast on KRMG radio a couple of weeks ago. The series was all pandemic recovery, "how have we changed" type of reporting.) Associate of Applied Science degrees can fill the void for many. People are doing their homework and looking for programs with great track records and successful alumni that prove it. OSUIT's graphic design program has been around since 1946 when the school was started and has lots of examples of graduates who hold associate's of applied science graphic design degrees, and nothing more, who are successful agency and studio owners, VPs of Creative, Marketing Directors, Design Directors, Executive Creative Directors, Creative Directors, Associate Creative Directors, Sr. Art Directors, etc.
What skills will help Freelance Web Designers earn the most?
Diana Boyd: -Originality/Creativity
-UX/UI design
-Branding
-Marketing and Advertising
-Illustration
What skills stand out on Freelance Web Designer resumes?
Diana Boyd: -Originality/Creativity
-Illustration (digital and hand-drawn)
-Branding
-UX/UI design
-Marketing/Advertising
What soft skills should all Freelance Web Designers possess?
Diana Boyd: -Collaboration/Teamwork
-Interpersonal
-Reliability
-Ethical behavior
-Self-starter
What hard/technical skills are most important for Freelance Web Designers?
Diana Boyd: -Adobe Illustrator - Vector drawing skills
-Adobe Photoshop - Working with raster images
-Adobe InDesign - Layout skills
-Adobe Animate - Animation
-Adobe XD - UX/UI prototyping
-Wordpress/Adobe Portfolio/Adobe Dreamweaver - web design/development
-Microsoft Word /PowerPoint
Sue Jenkins
Associate ProfessorMarywood University
Art Department
What experience really stands out on Freelance Web Designer resumes?
Sue Jenkins: Before saying what stands out most, there's one thing to avoid; those skill self-assessment bar graphs that take up too much real estate and don't provide the reader with valid, useful data. A better solution is to list skills and proficiency in years, such as Adobe Photoshop, three years.
Now, what stands out most on a resume is evidence of creative engagement beyond the classroom. Has the student been a member of any clubs? Won any awards? Have you participated in any solo or group exhibitions and completed any internships, pro bono, or freelance work? Have you worked on any side projects? Run an Etsy, Society6, or RedBubble account? Sold any commissioned work? Definitely include all these types of activities along with any tangible outcomes and achievements, like "Designed a series of digital documents that downsized paper waste and reduced the client's carbon footprint by 13%." Results-oriented statements provide a better sense of the designer's understanding of their role and their value to an organization.
Holly Sterling
Associate Professor of Communication Design, Internship CoordinatorTexas State University
School of Art and Design
What soft skills should all Freelance Web Designers possess?
Holly Sterling: - Strong communication and problem-solving skills - not only in your design work but in your day-to-day job.
- Being able to work collaboratively and be a responsible team member (i.e., productive, organized, respond positively to feedback, adaptable).
What hard/technical skills are most important for Freelance Web Designers?
Holly Sterling: - Literacy in relevant software, written communications, design research, iterative design processes, presentation skills
What skills will help Freelance Web Designers earn the most?
Holly Sterling: - If you're talking about hard skills, there's a run on "all things UX," and there are more positions to fill than designers to fill them. Also, strong visual designers who can do also do some illustration and motion graphics are in high demand.
- If you're talking soft skills, hiring managers frequently tell me that "who" the designer is every bit as important as what they can do, so be a good human that people will want to work with. This will serve you well throughout your entire career.
Jenn Stucker
Associate Professor, Chair of The Graphic Design DivisionBowling Green State University
School of Art
What skills stand out on Freelance Web Designer resumes?
Jenn Stucker: A BFA degree, a Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design or communication design are distinctive. It is a professional degree in the field. A BFA represents a concentration in growing creative skills through creative coursework. While technical skills earned in a technology or certificate program are valuable for producing design work, strong skills in visual design and creative thinking define how and WHAT work is worthy and necessary for people to experience.
What soft skills should all Freelance Web Designers possess?
Jenn Stucker: A good designer's soft skills include empathy, critical thinking, context, collaboration, leadership, networking, and the ability to present and articulate ideas.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Freelance Web Designers?
Jenn Stucker: Technical skills in the Adobe Creative Cloud are necessary as it is the industry standard. Additionally, good designers should know the basics of HTML and CSS and work in digital collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams, Slack, Miro, and Figma.
What skills will help Freelance Web Designers earn the most?
Jenn Stucker: Along with good visual design skills, creative thinking, problem-solving, and strategy will set a designer apart from others. These kinds of designers can understand the big picture of design in relation to context, culture, and meaning.
Doug Regen
Professor of PracticeBelmont University
Graphic Design Department
What skills stand out on Freelance Web Designer resumes?
Doug Regen: Ability to problem-solve with strong creative solutions. Innovative. Detail-oriented. Ability to design creative solutions based on research...understanding the target audience, trends, etc.
What soft skills should all Freelance Web Designers possess?
Doug Regen: Team player. Enthusiasm. Hark worker...willing to put in the time. Strong communicator. Openminded.
What skills will help Freelance Web Designers earn the most?
Doug Regen: Brilliant Ideas are executed flawlessly. Team player. Ability to motivate and lead others. Strong communicator and presentation skills.
Samantha Osborne
Assistant Professor of Graphic Design, Owner, Samantha Osborne DesignEastern Illinois University
Art + Design
What skills stand out on Freelance Web Designer resumes?
Samantha Osborne: Soft skills are equally important to hard skills. Graphic designers are visual communicators. Visual communication is a universal learned skill, vs. a linguistic capability. This means that graphic designers must learn to recognize and effectively utilize mood and tone in their own visual compositions in regard to color theory and psychology, gestalt principles, and font or lettering design. Essentially a well-skilled graphic designer becomes part psychologist in working through design problems and deciphering client direction, part problem-solver in developing an effective solution to the design problem, and part artist in bringing astonishing and original visual communication and graphics to reach a solution.
What soft skills should all Freelance Web Designers possess?
Samantha Osborne: Three soft skills stand out most: an ability to see the big picture, an ability to "read" people, and an ability to make a convincing argument for your design solution(s).
i. An ability to see big picture: there are an infinite number of details in graphic design, whether you work in website design on the front or back end, or in print media with physical outputs. It's easy to get caught up on the details, especially when clients are making specific demands about things such as paper type. A skilled designer must be able to see beyond the details and look at the big picture for an effective design solution. For example, a client may be asking for an invitation design for an up-coming event. A skilled designer will ask questions and dig in, eventually uncovering that perhaps for a successful event, the client also needs a splash page and social media, either in place of or in addition to an invitation. A skilled designer addresses design problems holistically, rather than minutely.
ii. An ability to "read" people: designers are trained in art-specific vocabulary. Hue, saturation, pixels, gestalt...most non-art folks don't use or speak that language. When clients are describing their goals, they aren't using art-vocabulary. It's a designer's job to translate what the client is saying into an advanced and effective creative solution. They must be able to speak and understand the language of non-creative folks, as well as the language of the broader creative industry.
iii. An ability to make a convincing argument for your design solution(s): many young and inexperienced designer tend to get their hearts broken when a client smashes one of their [very well thought-out] ideas. Rather than rolling over, a designer must learn to navigate how best to build support for their idea(s). That might mean in some instances you work more fluidly with the client throughout the design process, so that they feel they have ownership in the development of the solution. In other instances it might mean that the designer is presenting options, rather than a single solution, so that the client feels empowered to make choices throughout the design process. And in some instances, it might be a matter of better explaining and presenting your idea to a client; perhaps the designer needs to push back more, perhaps they need to provide more research as to why their solution is best, or maybe they simply need to present it with more excitement and enthusiasm.
What skills will help Freelance Web Designers earn the most?
Samantha Osborne: An ability to effectively communicate, navigate creative resources, network, empathize with others, and come up with innovative creative solutions. That said, your work still needs to be stellar and consistently great if you're going to be a big earner.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Freelance Web Designers?
Benjamin Ivey: The enduring impact the pandemic will have on recent graduates will be a reliance on teleconferencing and online visual communication. Before coronavirus, we were accustomed to meeting "in person" for classes, interviews, and conferences. We only needed to be online for email, social media, and the occasional video. Now, it's the new norm for all classes and group meetings to have an online component. Employers are expecting to see portfolios and resumes online. Meeting in-person for your first job interview will be outmoded in favor of meeting via FaceTime or Zoom. Since many recent graduates are savvy with this technology, I don't foresee the trend changing anytime soon. People have quickly and readily embraced it.
What experience really stands out on Freelance Web Designer resumes?
Benjamin Ivey: The best experiences that stand out to me are when students put projects or hobbies to teach themselves a skill. School can only give you so much education. But when students take the initiative to learn something outside of class, they are taking their education. This shows me they are trainable and motivated. If a student says, "I taught myself how to 3D print", "I designed this web app for fun," or even "I like to fix old cars on the weekend, "... these are things that show you are a life-long learner and it often separates you from the crowd. I've heard many success stories from my former students who go for job offers simply because they put one or two personal projects like this into their portfolio and resume.