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No, you need a portfolio. That's not negotiable. But the portfolio does not have to consist of professional work - it can include personal projects or student work. It has to explain your thinking and how you use design to solve specific problems and achieve desired outcomes in a way that met your requirements and goals and those of your users. As long as it does that, student or personal projects are totally fine.
Offer free design work, do a concept project, redesign your favorite services identifying areas from improvements, you should get 3 projects or case studies to show case. No portfolio no offer, simple.
I agree mock projects and "fake" projects are a great way to build a portfolio. I am strongly against designers offering free work. Adjust your rate accordingly as a new designer, but I believe offering your time and skills for free contributes to a toxic industry expectation for artists/designers to be sold short.
What XD1 said.
Thank you for the replies! This helps.