I started as an apprentice electrician at 16 years old way back in the late 1980's for a large company. I believe the reason I was successfully offered the apprenticeship was due to bringing to the interview my completed and working LED VU meter Dick Smith electronic kit (big in Australia at the time). It was something real they could hold and look over. I remember them spending a fair amount of time looking over my soldering, cutting of component legs and wiring. Then asking a few basic electronics questions. Something real pre-internet to stand out from the crowd :-)
Years ago I applied to a weather centre for their data and supercomputer team. I color-printed screenshots of a game I made: a 3D Mars sim with real Mars terrain data where you built and collected data from Mars weather stations. Similar to your story I think. Super helpful to have something real in an interview instead of just a piece of paper.
