Real projects. Real mentorship. A real brand on your CV.
Stop building toy todo apps. We put you on a real client project with a senior mentor reviewing your work. You leave with production work in your portfolio and a real company willing to reference you.
The deal
You pick a tier and we match you to a real client project. You write the code, our seniors review it, and once your part ships you walk away with a portfolio-worthy build and the right to list that client as a reference on your CV. Not a coding-school certificate. A real company saying you shipped real software for them.
You pay
From €399
You build
Real client software
You earn
A real brand reference
What you get
Everything you need to convert “I know how to code” into “I've shipped software a real company is using.”
A real client project
Not a tutorial clone. A scoped, architected build a real company is using. Goes straight on your CV with the client's name attached.
Senior code review
Your code gets reviewed by an experienced engineer. You learn how production code actually gets reviewed, which is the kind of feedback no bootcamp gives you.
A brand reference
Ship your part successfully and you earn the right to list the client as a portfolio reference. A real logo carries more weight than any certificate.
Mentor-backed work
You're not alone. A senior mentor unblocks you when you're stuck, reviews your design choices, and helps you ship without burning out.
What a real reference does for your next job offer
Companies hire to de-risk. A shipped client project plus a senior who'll vouch for you removes most of the risk that most junior candidates carry. Here is what you leave with.
A deploy you can talk about
Most junior CVs list tutorials and personal projects. Yours names a client, a role you held on a real team, and software running in production. That gives an interviewer something specific to ask about, and gives you something specific to answer.
A senior who will vouch for you
Your mentor works with you through the build and reviews the code you ship. At the end they can speak to how you handled a real client, a real deadline and real feedback, which is the reference a junior candidate almost never has.
Something concrete to negotiate with
Instead of describing what you could do, you can point at a deployed project, the reviews it went through and the person who supervised it. What an employer offers is still their call, but you go into that conversation with evidence rather than potential.
We don't guarantee outcomes. What you walk in with does. We make sure you walk in with the strongest hand a junior engineer can hold.
What we need from you
A real client is paying attention to your work, so showing up professionally is the price of admission. These are the standards we hold you to.
Consistent commitment
A real project needs a real schedule. We don't expect 40 hours, but we expect predictable ones.
- Roughly 8–15 hours per week, agreed up-front
- Weekly check-ins with your mentor
- PRs opened at a steady cadence
Professional communication
You're representing yourself to a real client. Showing up matters more than knowing every framework.
- Respond within a business day, in the platform messages or by email
- Flag blockers early, not after the deadline slips
- Ask sharp, specific questions
Willingness to ship
We're not training you to study. We're training you to deliver software people actually use.
- Treat feedback as fuel, not personal critique
- Care about correctness and edge cases, not just "it works on my machine"
- Finish what you start, or hand it off cleanly
How it works
From your first application to shipping production code. Five steps, one real reference on your CV.
Apply
Tell us about your stack, your goals, and your time commitment. Takes under 10 minutes.
We vet you
Quick call, a small skills check, and we confirm you're ready to ship on a real project.
We slot you onto a project
We match you to an open client project that fits your stack and level. No bidding, no auctions.
You ship, we mentor
You write the code, your mentor reviews it, and your tier covers the code reviews and mentoring hours you get.
You earn the reference
Ship your part successfully and the client goes on your CV. Real logo, real engagement.
Ready to ship something real?
Apply now and we'll get back to you in a few business days. You'll get a short call, a skills check, and, if it's a fit, a slot on the next open project that matches your stack.
You'll fit in if you're…
- Past the tutorials and ready to write code other people will actually read
- Comfortable in at least one stack (any of: React, Next, Node, .NET, Python, Vue)
- Open to feedback that stings a little. That's the point
- Self-taught, bootcamp grad, or CS student looking for the first real reference
Further reading
- Junior developer interview questions about shipped work.
Once a junior CV names a shipped project, the interview changes: the questions get specific. Here are the eight that come up most, what each one is really testing, and how to answer from your own project.
- What the Anvil Stamp is, and how to verify one.
The Anvil Stamp is the credential a Blacksmith.Works apprentice earns by shipping a client project. This post explains exactly what it records, what it deliberately does not, and how an employer verifies one in ten seconds.
- How to write a junior developer CV that names a shipped project.
A junior CV usually lists a degree, a bootcamp and three tutorial projects. Once you have shipped something for a real company, the CV has to change shape. Here is the shape, section by section.