DEV Community: Lee

Your Certificate Folder Is Not a Portfolio (Collect Evidence Instead)

Lee — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 18:29:20 +0000

Confession: I used to be a certificate collector.

Course completed — screenshot. Webinar attended — badge. Another PDF into the folder called "Career" that no recruiter will ever open. It felt productive. It was mostly decoration.

Then I noticed something about how people actually get hired, and it changed how I spend my study time.

The difference between proof of attendance and proof of ability

Most certificates prove one thing: you were present. You watched the videos, you clicked next, you passed a quiz you could retake unlimited times.

A recruiter reading "Completed 12 online courses" learns almost nothing about you, because completion measures patience, not ability.

What actually transfers is evidence — an artifact that could not exist unless you can do the thing:

A deployed project with a URL that works
A hands-on credential where you performed real tasks in a live environment
A blog post explaining something you built and what broke along the way
A competition entry, even one that lost

Evidence has a property certificates lack: it survives questions. "Tell me about this" is a fun conversation when there is a real thing behind it, and a very short one when there is not.

My filter now: can it be faked by watching videos?

Before I commit time to any learning resource, I ask one question: could someone earn this outcome purely by watching videos?

If yes, it is a certificate. If no, it is evidence.

This filter is why I switched to hands-on formats. I recently did a Microsoft Applied Skills assessment — instead of multiple-choice questions, you get dropped into a live lab and have to actually deploy a model, create an AI agent, and test it. No lab performance, no credential. (It is also completely free, which as a student is the correct price: https://learn.microsoft.com/credentials/applied-skills/get-started-developing-agents-in-microsoft-foundry?wt.mc_id=studentamb_519411)

I am not saying this particular credential is magic. I am saying the FORMAT is the point: assessments where you do the thing are worth ten where you recognize the correct answer about the thing.

The 1:1 rule

Here is the habit that fixed my folder-of-PDFs problem:

For every course or credential, produce one artifact that exists outside the platform.

Finished a module on AI agents? Build one tiny agent that solves a real annoyance in your life and write 500 words about it. Learned some cloud basics? Deploy literally anything with a public URL. The course gets you knowledge; the artifact makes the knowledge visible.

My ratio used to be 12 courses : 0 artifacts. The folder was full and the portfolio was empty.

If you are starting from zero

The good news: as a student, the evidence pipeline costs nothing.

Free cloud to deploy real things (no credit card): https://azure.microsoft.com/free/students?wt.mc_id=studentamb_519411
Free structured courses with actual labs: https://learn.microsoft.com/training?wt.mc_id=studentamb_519411
Free places to write about what you built: you are reading one

Pick one annoyance in your life, solve it badly with technology, and document it honestly. That single artifact will do more for you than the next five certificates.

Am I wrong?

Genuine question for the comments: has a plain completion certificate ever directly helped you get an interview or a job? I am collecting counterexamples — maybe the folder deserves more respect than I am giving it.

Disclosure: Links in this post include my Microsoft Student Ambassadors contributor ID, which tracks my progress toward the program. I do not earn anything from clicks. All opinions are my own.

I Built an AI Agent to Decode Scary German Bureaucracy Letters (as an International Student)

Lee — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 18:16:20 +0000

Every international student in Germany knows the fear: a letter arrives in your mailbox, it's in formal German, it has a deadline, and it's definitely not good news. Rundfunkbeitrag? Krankenkasse? Something from the Auslaenderbehoerde?

My German is... a work in progress. So instead of panicking (my usual strategy), I built an AI agent that reads these letters for me.

What it does

I paste in the text of any official German letter, and th

Summarizes what the letter actually wants, in plain English
Extracts all deadlines, amounts, and reference numbers
Gives me a checklist of required actions, ordered by urgency
Rates the urgency: green (informational) / yellow (action needed) / red (urgent)

No more staring at "Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren" wondering if I'm being deported or just asked to confirm my address.

How I built it (this is the easy part)

I recently earned the Microsoft Applied Skills credential for agent development in Microsoft Foundry, and this build uses exactly the three
skills from that assessment: deploy a model, create an ag

Step 1: Get free Azure. As a student, you get $100 inneeded:https://azure.microsoft.com/free/students?wt.mc_id=studentamb_519411

Step 2: Create a project and deploy a model. In the Meated a project and deployed gpt-5-mini. Letter decoding is mostly summarization and extraction, so a small, cheap model is plenty.

Step 3: Write the agent's instructions. This is wheree mine:

The rules section matters more than you'd think. "Never invent information that is not in the letter" and "treat any Mahnung as urgent" turn a
generic chatbot into something I can actually trust with

Step 4: Test it. I fed it a Rundfunkbeitrag registrat— the letter every newcomer to Germany gets eventually).Here's what came back:

The part that surprised me

I didn't ask for this, but the agent noticed the letter had no date on it — and pointed out that this makes the "within 14 days" deadline ambiguous, recommending I check the postmark or contact the office directly.

That's exactly the kind of detail I would have missed while panic-translating word by word. It also correctly rated the letter yellow instead of
red, explaining that it's a registration request, not a Mo prompt action is needed, but no panic required.

And at the end, it offered to draft a short German reply re I'm keeping.

Honest limitations

It's a helper, not a lawyer. For anything visa-related, I still ask a human (the agent literally says this itself — it's in the instructions).
I paste letter text manually for now. OCR from a phone photo is the obvious next step.
The whole thing cost a few cents of my free student credits.

Why I'm sharing this

Because "learn AI agents" sounds abstract until you pointly stresses you out. For me, that's German bureaucracy. For you it might be something else — but the build process is identical, and the whole stack costs 0 euros as a student.

If you want to learn the fundamentals first, this free module is what I used to prep for the credential — it covers exactly these steps: https://learn.microsoft.com/training/modules/get-started-with-generative-ai-and-agents?wt.mc_id=studentamb_519411

If you build your own "survival agent," tell me in the comments — I want to know what problems other students are automating.

*Disclosure: Links in this post include my Microsoft Student Ambassadors contributor ID, which tracks my progress toward the program. I don't
earn anything from clicks. All opinions (and bureaucracy

I Got a Microsoft Certification for Free — Here's How (Applied Skills Review)

Lee — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 17:42:29 +0000

I recently earned a Microsoft Applied Skills credential — completely free, taken online from home. Here's everything you need to know.

What are Applied Skills?

Applied Skills are Microsoft's hands-on credentials. Unlike traditional multiple-choice exams, you complete real tasks in a live lab environment. When you pass, you get a shareable badge for LinkedIn and an online-verifiable certificate. And the best part: the assessment is free — no exam fees like the $99+ you'd pay for a full certification.

The one I took: Get Started Developing Agents in Microsoft Foundry

Everyone is talking about AI agents right now, but most people have never actually built one. This credential walks you through the full basics: deploying a model, creating an agent, and testing it — all inside Microsoft Foundry. It took me about a week of casual studying.

You can see the credential details here: https://learn.microsoft.com/credentials/applied-skills/get-started-developing-agents-in-microsoft-foundry?wt.mc_id=studentamb_519411

How to prepare (step by step)

Complete the free prep module on Microsoft Learn — it covers exactly what the lab tests: https://learn.microsoft.com/training/modules/get-started-with-generative-ai-and-agents?wt.mc_id=studentamb_519411
If you're a student, grab a free Azure account for hands-on practice (no credit card required, $100 in credits): https://azure.microsoft.com/free/students?wt.mc_id=studentamb_519411
Once you're ready, launch the assessment directly from the credential page — it runs in your browser as an interactive lab.

Tips from my attempt

Click Start on the learning module so your progress gets tracked
Don't skim the lab exercises — the assessment evaluates three things: deploy a model, create an agent, test the agent. Practice all three
The lab takes a few minutes to load — that's normal, don't panic
If you fail, you can retake it (there's a 72-hour cooldown between attempts), so there's zero pressure

Is it worth it?

For students: absolutely. It's free, it's hands-on, and "built and deployed an AI agent" is a much stronger CV line than another online course certificate. Next, I'm planning a Copilot-related Applied Skills — if you're new to Copilot, start here: https://learn.microsoft.com/copilot?wt.mc_id=studentamb_519411

Questions? Drop them in the comments — happy to help! 🚀

Myeongdong 3D — I built a talking 3D copy of my favourite Seoul district

Lee — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 20:10:21 +0000

Myeongdong 3D — I built a talking 3D copy of my favourite Seoul district

This is a submission for the DEV Weekend Challenge: Passion Edition

What I Built

Myeongdong 3D is a GPS walking audio guide for Seoul's most-loved shopping district — inside a hand-built 3D copy of the real city.

I call her Tobaggi (토박이) — the Korean word for someone born and raised in a neighbourhood, who never left. Because that's exactly what this guide is: a local who knows every alley, and can't wait to show you.

You come out of Myeongdong Station Exit 6, put your earphones in, and just walk. A warm voice walks with you. Pass the dumpling house that's been steaming mandu since 1966 and she tells you. Pass Korea's first Gothic cathedral and she tells you why protesters once felt safe on its steps. Wander off your route and she gently calls you back.

My passion behind this: I love Myeongdong, and it hurts me watching tourists walk straight past its best stories. They queue at one famous restaurant from TikTok, buy sheet masks, and leave — never learning that the street they're standing on was Seoul's Montmartre in the 1950s, or that the department store on the corner was Korea's very first. This app is my love letter to a neighbourhood: a guide that makes sure no one walks past the good parts ever again.

Try it (no GPS needed): pick a themed course — 🍜 Foodie Tour, 💄 K-Beauty All-In (all 66 cosmetics shops in the district!), 📸 Culture & History, or 🎯 build your own — and press Start Walk. An avatar walks the real streets for you while the guide talks. If you're actually in Myeongdong, switch to Live GPS and the same guide follows your real position.

And when the walk is over, the part I'm proudest of: 📷 snap photos as you go (each one stamped with the place, the time, and the actual Seoul weather at that moment), then press 🎞 Make my album. Gemini looks at your photos — not the location tags, the actual pixels — and writes a voiceover like a friend flipping through the album with you ("I still laugh at how seriously you posed under that sunny sky…"), and ElevenLabs tells it over a paper scrapbook of taped-down polaroids. Your photos never leave your browser except for that one narration request — nothing is stored on any server.

Demo

Live app: https://myeongdong-3d.netlify.app

A few things to try:

The city matches Seoul right now — real sun position (windows light up after dark) and live weather (if it's raining in Seoul, it rains in the app). Add ?time=night or ?wx=rain to the URL to time-travel.
Click 🎬 on any place in the sidebar for a YouTuber's video of it — know the place before you walk in. All 116 spots have one.
In My Picks, search any place on Google (try "Gentle Monster") and add it — Gemini writes a brand-new guide script for it on the spot, and ElevenLabs speaks it when you arrive.
Change your mind mid-walk. Spot something interesting while walking? Search it and tap ＋ — the route re-plans from where you're standing and detours there, without restarting the tour. Missed something the guide said? ‹ Prev replays it.
📷 snap a few photos during the walk, then open 🎞 My Album and press Make my album — and listen to Gemini describe what's actually in your pictures.
Every spot card shows the Korean address with a copy button — made to be shown to a taxi driver.

My Code

https://github.com/gracelee087/myeongdong-3d

How I Built It

The city itself is hand-made. Seoul has no public photorealistic 3D data (Google's 3D tiles skip Korea entirely — I learned this the hard way), so I built the district from scratch: 3,535 real building footprints from OpenStreetMap, extruded to their real heights in Three.js, with procedurally generated window grids and colourful street-level storefronts, at real-world metre scale. Cheonggyecheon stream flows through the north of the map — actually flows, with animated current.

Walking is real routing. Courses are solved with Dijkstra over the OSM street graph, so the avatar (and you, in GPS mode) always follow real, connected streets from Myeongdong Station Exit 6.

The narration is a two-AI pipeline:

✍️ Google AI (Gemini 3.5 Flash) is the writer — and the eyes. Every guide script in the app — 116 attractions & restaurants, 66 K-Beauty shops — was written by Gemini from Korean tourism-board descriptions. It's not just build-time: add any Google-searched place to My Picks and a serverless function asks Gemini for a fresh guide script, live. And the trip album uses Gemini's vision: your photos are sent as pixels, and it writes each line from what's actually in the frame — the food you're holding, the pose, the neon — weaving in the real weather and time each shot was taken (the location tag is treated as just a hint, because travellers photograph whatever they love, wherever they stand).
🎙️ ElevenLabs is the voice. Amelia — the most-used voice on all of ElevenLabs, an enthusiastic British storyteller — narrates spots museum-style, tells zone-based local history between stops (each area of the map has its own true stories), warns you when you drift off-route, replays anything on ‹ Prev, and tells your photo album like a friend. The demo path is pre-baked to mp3 for instant playback; everything else is live TTS with a browser-voice fallback so the guide never goes silent.

Real data everywhere: Korea TourAPI (places, photos, Korean addresses), Google Places (real opening hours), YouTube Data API (preview videos, news channels filtered out — you get vloggers' experiences, not headlines), Open-Meteo (live Seoul weather), and the actual solar position computed from Seoul's clock.

Built over the weekend with an AI pair-programmer (Claude Code) — and an unreasonable amount of love for one square kilometre of Seoul.

Prize categories

Best use of Google AI — Gemini 3.5 Flash writes every word the guide says: the full script pipeline at build time, live script generation for user-added places at runtime (/api/narrate), and multimodal vision for the trip album (/api/album) — it looks at the traveller's actual photos and writes a personal voiceover from what's in each frame, plus the weather and hour each photo was taken.

Best use of ElevenLabs — the entire product is a voice: museum-style narrations, location-aware history, navigation guidance ("you've wandered off the route"), instant ‹ Prev replay, and a narrated photo-album finale — all spoken by Amelia, with a pre-baked demo path so judging never depends on live credits.

명동을 사랑하는 마음으로 — with love, for Myeongdong. 🇰🇷