Hey bro,
First off, respect for putting yourself out there — getting feedback like that can sting, but it’s also gold if you use it right. The fact that you already have university, hackathon, and open-source audits under your belt shows you’re serious. Now it’s just about bridging the gap between academic experience and industry credibility.
Here are a few things that can help make your audit portfolio more “real-world” and get recruiter attention:
✅ 1. Target Public Protocols (Even If Unpaid)
Pick 2–3 real DeFi/NFT protocols (live on mainnet), clone their contracts locally, and do full audit writeups on your own. Focus on:
Business logic analysis (not just reentrancy etc.)
Gas optimization
Protocol-level risks
Recommendations with risk impact labels
Then publish your reports (as PDFs or GitHub repos) and tag them as “Independent Security Review” — these carry way more weight than student projects.
✅ 2. Join Public Audit Contests
Platforms like Code4rena, Sherlock, Secureum (bootcamps + CTFs), and Immunefi offer great exposure. Even if you don’t place top, just submitting solid findings gives you:
Reputation on leaderboard
A linkable, timestamped audit record
Chance to collaborate or get invited to private programs
Contests are the easiest way to show you can audit real contracts under time pressure.
✅ 3. Focus on Audit Writeup Quality
Your reports are a reflection of how you think. Structure them like professional audits:
Executive summary
Methodology
Vulnerability taxonomy
Severity classification
Proof of concept code
Mitigation recommendations
Even “student-y” content can look professional if the report is formatted like a firm’s output.
✅ 4. Highlight Thinking, Not Just Findings
In your portfolio, add a short blog post or video explaining your process. Talk through:
Threat modeling
Tooling you used (Slither, MythX, Foundry, etc.)
How you reasoned about a protocol's design
This shows you're not just running scanners — you understand smart contract behavior in production contexts.
✅ 5. Try Freelance or Community Gigs
If you can contribute to smaller DAOs or web3 startups doing internal reviews or small audits (even pro bono), it adds serious credibility. Message teams directly with a sample review and offer a trial.
Lastly, don’t get discouraged. Many top auditors today started exactly where you are — the key is persistence and showing initiative. The move from academic to pro is all about demonstrating how you handle real-world protocols, under real constraints.
Happy to look at your audit reports if you ever want feedback!
You got this. 💪
