> If I have two candidates and the only signals are (resume, portfolio), then I will select the highest signal. I am sorry, but I can't in conscience decide to take someone without proven work over someone with proven work without other information.
On the upside, the person with a code portfolio and less other hobbies is also more likely to be winning to commit more of their time to work, stay later, do "hackathons." It's a win-win for the employer! /s
If your resume is significant, then I will probably add to the signals with a phone call followup. I'm not looking to create false negatives.
I also want to point out that taking some time to develop a small and interesting project (say, a pure left-leaning red-black tree with deletion - not much code, but tricky to get right) does not take that much time and massively demonstrates your capability over having nothing at all. It also demonstrates your social awareness of the state of the field when you have a github account with projects in recent technology.