I'm not sure I would call it an accomplishment. More like a happy accident, but in retrospect I should have been doing that sort of thing all the time.

Frustrated with my inability to find employment, I did a series of hacks which became really popular. One succeeded because I like hacks which produce pretty pictures and so do a million other blogs. Another involved AJAX, which was a hot buzzword at the time (2005), and that got attention from from employers, who started calling me out of the blue. Whereas a few months prior I'd washed out of an interview with a local website that did used car listings.

I was well-prepared for the mega-hyped trend that was AJAX and JavaScript (self-taught comp sci, graphic design, web experience), so I was lucky. I had to prove myself in other ways afterwards though. The point is, these days, having code out there that people can download and evaluate will at least get you through the front door.