Imagine you're meeting someone for the first time. They know very little about you, but they want to see your work. You've never met before, and you're hoping to impress them.
What do you say about yourself?
What do you show them?
What is important for them to know?
Ok, imagine this person is considering hiring you to join their team.
Imagine there is only about
one minute for you to tell them about yourself and show your work.
What is important for you to get across in that short amount of time?
Now, imagine you can't actually meet with them face-to-face. You can only send your portfolio for them to review... for only a single minute.
The pressure is on, right?
As you probably know, this is not an uncommon situation. Hiring managers are finding themselves with an onslaught of applicants for every open position, and in many cases are only able to spend a minute viewing a portfolio before quickly determining a candidate's potential.
Your portfolio is the make-it-or-break-it first impression, and it's time to get yours in tip top shape for review. We're here to help, with some tips for crafting a portfolio that will get you the job.
8 Tips for a Portfolio that Gets You the Job
Think Objectively
When it comes to project selection, this is no time to be precious. Look at your work with an objective eye, selecting only 3-5 projects that represent both your strengths as well as your range of skills. Don't bury your strongest work - place your best first, and include recent projects that show you stay current, are adaptable, and are keeping up with the latest tech.
Show Collaboration
It makes sense to spotlight solo work, but if applicable, include team projects as well, explaining your involvement in the process and finished pieces. If your prospective position involves a type of work that's on the fringes of your current role, make an effort to highlight any experience that might have applications in your aspiring field.
Make it Shareable
A portfolio site is great. A URL to a document also works fine. We're hearing that attached files aren't making it past firewalls, so we're discouraging PDFs unless the employer's application platform requests it. The importance of making your work accessible and easily shared cannot be overlooked. Teams are very collaborative, and prospective employees are often investigated by several team members before reaching the next step in the hiring process. Making it as easy as possible facilitates your forward momentum.
Context Clues
Push your personal work a little farther. Designed a logo? Show it in use, on products. UI/UX designers benefit greatly from adding working, animated prototypes (try a program like Framer) to their portfolios. Take a step back and ask yourself: what is the best way to display the quality of my craft?
It's All in the Numbers
Additionally, if there was one tip we'd consider a must-do, it's this: use numbers wherever possible. Quantifiable contributions are the most effective tool to convey success in a role. Including results that are measurable is a very concrete way to suggest what you might bring to a future role, so emphasize the impact this project had on your company's revenue, or be specific about the click rate
Don't Know What to Say?
Worry more about HOW you're saying it. Think about this: a violinist in an orchestra is as much an artist as the conductor, or even as the composer of the symphony they're performing. The presentation format of your work is as important as the work itself, offering a glimpse into your layout and information design skills. Make sure your website or file is visually presented in a way that represents
you, paying close attention to typography, color palette, and any additional design elements.
Keep It Simple...Kind Of
Show some consideration to the likely time constraints of the viewer of your portfolio, and provide a short synopsis above each project: a quick, glanceable summary that reviews the problem, solution, and the outcome. Rather than housing *all* of your details on the same page, consider adding a button to "Learn More about the Process," and view additional information in another area.
Tell a Story
When viewing your work, design managers
are paying attention to your communication and storytelling abilities, so we encourage candidates to try to tell a story. Include information about your process, yes, but avoid too many photos of post-its, or haphazard drawings. Think of this section as an opportunity to tell a story, with a beginning, middle, and end. Explain any roadblocks, conflicts, or even failures. Clearly identify the problems, and then the exploration around design solutions for those problems. While an initial viewing may not accommodate a full review of the details, including them along with a story indicates you're a creative and critical thinker.
Tiny Bonus Tip
The focus of a portfolio is typically professional work, but including an extra passion project (and labeling it in your portfolio as such) demonstrates initiative and also offers a glimpse into your personal interests.
With these tips, your portfolio will be a memorable, shareable item that'll help you float to the top of the candidate pool. Give your work the attention it deserves!