This, and tbh this has always been the best way. Someone who has projects, whether personal or professional, and has the capability to discuss those projects in depth and with passion will usually be a better employee than a leet code specialist.
Doesn't even have to be a project per se, if they can discuss some sort of technical topic in depth (i.e. the sort of discussion you might have when discussing potential solutions to a problem) then that's a great sign imo.
My resume has a bunch of personal projects on there as well as work experience and the project experience seems to not help at all. Just rejections after rejections.
My suggestion was in an ideal world which sadly this isn't. Your issue suggests they aren't tailored for each application, which could potentially be a reason. It is better to show why one project makes you a great fit as opposed to how many projects you have done. Sometimes the person in charge of hiring may not fully have all the expertise in the area they are hiring for.
