Odoo Developer Portfolio Checklist: What to Include Before You Apply

Odoo Developer Portfolio Checklist: What to Include Before You Apply

An Odoo developer portfolio does not need to be a large website or a long list of modules. It needs to help another person understand one piece of work: what problem you solved, what you did, how the system works, and what evidence supports your decisions.

One well-explained project is usually more useful than a gallery of screenshots or repositories that you cannot discuss in detail. If the work belongs to an employer or client, do not publish it just because you removed a company name. Use work you own, get permission, build a fresh demonstration project, or write an anonymized case study.

Want to work through the process as you read? Make a copy of the Odoo Developer Portfolio Checklist and use it to record your evidence, links, and open questions. Duplicate the sheet before adding private notes or client details.

Start with one project you can explain

Choose a project that gives a reviewer something concrete to discuss. It might be a custom module, an integration, a configuration project, a migration, or a carefully bounded demonstration built for your portfolio.

The project does not need to be impressive because it is large. It is useful when you can explain:

• the operational problem and the people affected;
• the part you owned and the parts handled by someone else;
• the Odoo version, applications, and important dependencies;
• the decisions that shaped the data, workflow, permissions, or integration;
• the tests, walkthrough, documentation, or other evidence a reviewer can inspect;
• what the project does not cover.

If you cannot explain why a decision was made, what you tested, or where the boundaries are, the project is not ready to be the centre of your portfolio. Narrow the scope until it becomes understandable.

Write the project in six lines

Before polishing a README or recording a video, write six short answers. These answers become the backbone of the portfolio entry.

1. Problem: What was difficult, slow, risky, or unclear before this work?
2. Users: Who used the process, and what did they need to do?
3. My contribution: Which decisions and tasks did I own? What did others contribute?
4. Implementation: What did you change in Odoo, and why did that approach fit the problem?
5. Proof: What can another person inspect—code, configuration, tests, diagrams, sample data, or a walkthrough?
6. Limits: What is simplified, excluded, manual, unsupported, or still unfinished?

Keep the answers specific. “Built a custom Odoo module” is not enough. “Added a service-request workflow for internal users, including ownership rules and a denied-access test” gives the reviewer a place to start.

See what a useful portfolio entry looks like

Imagine a small service-request module for an internal support team. A clear entry could say:

Problem: Internal users needed to register requests, assign an owner, and follow progress without giving every requester access to every case.

My contribution: I mapped the workflow, created the request model and views, implemented the access rules, and wrote tests for allowed and denied access. A functional consultant defined the process with users, and another developer reviewed the deployment approach.

Evidence: The entry includes a short README, synthetic demo data, selected model and view files, the security configuration, test commands, and a diagram of the request states.

Boundary: Email ingestion, SLAs, billing, customer portals, and production performance are outside this demonstration. It shows how I approached one bounded workflow; it does not claim to be a complete helpdesk system.

The example is deliberately ordinary. Its value comes from the connection between the business problem, the technical decisions, the evidence, and the limits. You can use the same structure for an integration or configuration project without pretending that configuration was custom development.

Show work a reviewer can check

Screenshots can show that a screen exists. They do not prove why the data model looks the way it does, who can access a record, what happens when an operation fails, or whether another developer could maintain the change. Give the reviewer a small amount of evidence that answers those questions.

• Data and workflow: Name the important records, relationships, states, actions, and constraints. Explain how they support the process instead of listing every field.
• User experience: Show the main route through the workflow. Include the screens, actions, or configuration choices that matter to the user.
• Security: Explain roles, model access, record rules, field restrictions, and sensitive operations. A feature that works for an administrator is not automatically safe for normal users.
• Tests and failure cases: Include a successful path, a meaningful validation rule, a permission boundary, and a failure or regression case where relevant. If something remains manual, say so.
• Delivery: State the Odoo version, dependencies, setup steps, deployment assumptions, and known limitations. A short walkthrough is useful when the original environment cannot be shared.

Use official Odoo documentation when it is the best source for framework behaviour. The relevant references include Odoo's developer tutorials, server framework guidance, security reference, and testing documentation. The portfolio should show your decisions and evidence, not copy the documentation into a new tutorial.

Choose a safe way to share the work

There is no single correct portfolio format. Choose the format that preserves confidentiality while keeping your contribution assessable.

• Public repository: Use this when you own the code, understand the licence, have removed secrets, and can support the setup instructions. Synthetic data is usually safer than copied production data.
• Anonymized case study: Use this when the decisions can be explained but the original code, client, process, or screenshots are protected. Remove identifying details without inventing outcomes.
• Private walkthrough: Use this when you have permission to demonstrate the work to a limited audience. Prepare the environment, data, route through the workflow, and explanation before the conversation.

GitHub can be useful evidence, but it is not a universal requirement. A clean case study or prepared walkthrough can be stronger than a public repository that contains copied code, unclear ownership, or no explanation.

Check permission before you share

Employer or client code, repository history, production data, credentials, customer names, internal URLs, architecture details, and screenshots may remain confidential even when a logo or company name is removed. When permission is unclear, rebuild the idea with synthetic information or keep the walkthrough private.

Use the checklist before you share

The companion sheet gives you a place to record evidence and links, while the checklist below keeps the main decisions visible in the article. The sheet groups the same checks into four stages: define the project, show the work, make it safe to share, and complete the final review.

Make a copy of the Odoo Developer Portfolio Checklist before adding private notes. Use the status column to mark each item as not started, in progress, or done.

Is this project ready to share?

Use the sheet for notes and links, then use this shorter view to check whether the story is clear, credible, and safe.

• Can you explain the business problem in two sentences? A reviewer should understand the operational need before seeing the implementation. Read the Odoo Careers Guide
• Can you say exactly what you did—and what others did? Clear ownership makes technical claims credible and gives collaborators proper credit. Read the developer article
• Have you named the Odoo version, apps, and dependencies? The reviewer should know the technical context and what would be needed to reproduce it. Open the Odoo setup guide
• Can a reviewer follow the data model and main workflow? The records, relationships, states, actions, and constraints should connect to the business problem. Review the server framework tutorial
• Can you show who can access what—and why? Explain model access, record rules, field restrictions, and sensitive operations. Review Odoo security guidance
• Do your tests cover success, failure, and permissions? A happy-path demo is not enough to show reliable work. Review Odoo testing guidance
• Can someone run or review the project without guessing? Provide a README, setup steps, safe demo data, or a prepared walkthrough.
• Are the screenshots and demo data safe to share? Use synthetic information and remove personal, customer, credential, and commercially sensitive details.
• Do you own this work or have permission to show it? Client and employer work is not public just because names are hidden.
• Have you stated what the project does not cover? Boundaries show judgment and prevent the reader from assuming more than the evidence supports.
• Can a reviewer understand it in ten minutes? A small, clear project is easier to assess than a large dump of generated files.
• Do all links and contact details work? Broken links can hide otherwise useful evidence. Create or update your candidate profile

Before you send the link

Read the entry as if you had ten minutes to assess it for the first time. Can you see the problem, your contribution, the relevant technical decisions, and the evidence? Can you tell what is safe to share? If not, narrow the project and add the missing proof before adding the link to your CV or candidate profile.

The Odoo Careers Guide can help you place the project within the wider Odoo job market.

When it is ready, add the link to your CV or candidate profile.