I trust in my trust. I believe in everything. I have spoken to a lot of people and if you want to show you are the best candidate, having done decent Analytics project would be great.
This can help showcase to your potential employer on the skill-set/knowledge that you have achieved so far and thus they would be able to better assess you. Moreover, working on the project, especially if outside of work/study would score some brownie points as it would show that one has undertaken to learn pursue Data Science on its own, showing the passion one has in the field.
But take note, it takes one to know one, as in a Data Scientist, if they interview you, they can very well be able to assess how good you are easily thus, be honest and truly work through the projects.