By Julia Stalnaker
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While we all know that maintaining an updated LinkedIn profile and resume are important practices, there’s something else you should probably maintain to set yourself up for professional success: an online portfolio. Unlike a resume, an online portfolio allows you to actually show your skills and the best examples of your work (instead of just talking about them). Keep reading for eight tips to create and strengthen your own portfolio! 1. Do You Need a Portfolio? Before you put in the effort of creating a portfolio, be sure that having one is useful for you. Ask yourself this: do you have work and/or experience that can be effectively showcased online? Of course, portfolios are amazing tools for those working in creative industries, especially anyone who creates visual work. This means if you’re an artist, graphic designer, photographer, videographer, fashion designer, event planner, advertiser, etc., you should definitely have a portfolio. However, your work doesn’t have to be visual so long as a potential employer can understand it in a digital display. Your portfolio can include writing, lab reports, music, lesson plans, or even recordings of public speaking. Be sure making a portfolio is worthwhile, but don’t limit yourself simply because portfolios aren’t standard in your field. 2. Use a Relevant Platform You’ll have many options while choosing where to host your portfolio, so spend some time considering which is most relevant to your body of work. Website builders like Wix, WordPress, and Squarespace are generally good options as they offer many different features and come at varying price points. That being said, there are more industry-specific options. For example, if you subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud you may consider using Adobe Portfolio. It’s a good option for
creatives who frequently use Adobe programs and would like to sync their work with Behance, e.g. graphic designers. Furthermore, some people (like photo/videographers) might find social media to be sufficient, at least at the start. Whatever industry you’re going into, be sure to check what platforms your peers are using to get a sense of what works well. 3. Selectively Choose Your Best Work When creating your portfolio, it’s important to prioritize quality over quantity. Employers don’t need to see everything you’ve ever done, they just need to get a sense of your work, areas of strength, and style. Still, remember that prioritizing quality doesn’t mean your portfolio should be bare. If you’re feeling anxious about showing much of your work, remind yourself that you are your own worst critic. Should you need extra material, feel free to include examples of your process (e.g. drafts/sketches). Also, keep in mind that your portfolio is an opportunity to show what you would like to be hired for. In other words, show the kind of work that you want to be making or doing. If you’ve been planning corporate events but really would rather plan weddings, show wedding planning. Personal projects can help you bring new kinds of work into the mix. Finally, make sure there aren’t any copyright or confidentiality issues that would make the work unusable for your personal portfolio. 4. What Else to Include While your work is the focus of your portfolio, there are some additional elements you should be including. Alongside your work, there should be captions, which can include information such as your client, role, objective, thought process, and the project’s achievements. There are many additional sections to consider having in your portfolio. For example, you can add an ‘About Me’ section to quickly introduce yourself (like a LinkedIn summary), a contact page, links to your social media, references/reviews, or perhaps a copy of your resume. 5. Find Examples to Get Inspired
If you find yourself having a hard time imagining what you want your portfolio to look like, don’t hesitate to look up examples online; there are plenty of articles compiling examples from various industries. Many website builders also offer templates, which can be a great starting point if you’re on a time crunch or don’t have much design experience. While you’re doing this, take special notice of portfolios from your desired industry, jobs, or companies. You want your portfolio to represent you, but if you see consistent language, colors, or aesthetics that are already in line with your personal brand, consider incorporating some of those elements to demonstrate you’re a good fit for that space/job. 6. Cross-Reference As you’re building your portfolio, cross-reference it with your resume, LinkedIn, or similar resources to ensure that there isn’t any conflicting information or any confusing aesthetic differences. This guarantees that everything is up to date, relevant, and consistent. Be sure that everything sounds and looks like it’s from the same person: consider language, graphics, etc. 7. Get a Second Opinion Just like an essay or a resume, have a peer edit your portfolio. Having a second set of eyes look it over helps make sure you don’t miss any grammatical errors or incorrect information. It’s best to get the help of someone close to you, so they can give you meaningful feedback and tell whether the portfolio sounds like you. When double-checking your portfolio, it’s also a good idea to see how it looks on mobile devices (if applicable). You never know how an employer may be accessing your portfolio. 8. Update Consistently You are constantly evolving, and so is your work! Ideally, you’d update your portfolio after every project you’re proud of, but it can be hard to stay on top of it. A more realistic goal is to revisit your portfolio every few months or every term (or any other period of time that works for you) to see if you have anything to update or add.
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