A professional portfolio is a physical and visual representation of your experience, education, and accomplishments. You can use a professional portfolio to boost job applications, supplement interview talking points, and demonstrate skills during career-focused networking events. Professional portfolios act as an extension of your resume, supporting your resume bullet points with tangible evidence and proven samples of your work. 

Like your resume, a professional portfolio is a living collection of skills and should contain meticulously-edited content aimed at resolving specific issues for future employers. Struggling to narrow down which types of content to include in your professional portfolio or unsure where to begin? Let’s dive into a few helpful tips to get you started.     

Start Now!

Think you don’t have enough experience or time in the industry to create a professional portfolio? Think again! Applicable job skills exist everywhere, whether in professional environments, volunteer scenarios, or simply within your day-to-day routine. Showcase proof of leadership skills, positive outcomes derived from your problem-solving skills, and your willingness to take initiative by creatively transcribing your experiences into abilities.  

Examples

• Create a professional portfolio section detailing your volunteer trip to Guatemala – include examples of teamwork, diversity training, and leadership
• Showcase projects completed during internships or study-abroad opportunities – talk about budgets, logistics, and goals
• Capture problem-solving skills by weaving hobbies into your portfolio – sports teams, clubs, and side gigs offer ample opportunities to show off problem-solving skills

Think With the End in Mind

It’s easy to confuse skills you’re proud of with skills your future employers want to see. We’re multi-faceted, talented people who want our professional portfolio to encompass all we have to offer…but ultimately, a professional portfolio should cater to the job you want to get. You want to focus on quality over quantity when building your professional portfolio. This is where strategic editing comes into play. 

Imagine you’re changing career industries – perhaps moving from education to administrative healthcare. You may be proud of your well-earned ability to teach a classroom of 35 students under the age of 6, but does that specific skill set belong in your professional administrative healthcare portfolio? Healthcare hiring executives likely care more about your ability to work well with other adults; highlighting a curriculum project you executed with 25 other teachers would consequently make better use of your professional portfolio pages. 

Stay focused while building your professional portfolio and avoid adding skills from too many directions and industries. Your long-term career goals (not your pride) should be the driving force behind every skill you highlight. Afraid you’ll want to change career directions later? Try making a personal “all-encompassing” collection of experiences to pull from for your professional portfolio. Use that main file to house experiences you don’t want to include in your professional portfolio now, but may need later. 

Learn from Others

The internet is a beautiful thing. Google “examples of professional portfolios” and you’ll receive pages of results, especially from online software wanting to sell you their product or services. Skip the templates and instead focus on finding examples that speak to your industry, goals, and personality. Connect with like-minded professionals on LinkedIn and observe their portfolio focal points. Work with mentors, ask to see examples of their professional portfolios, and curate something unique to your strengths, professionally-oriented, and relevant to future employers. 

Choose Your Own Adventure – Wisely!

Sometimes in an effort to bolster our portfolios and stand out from our peers, we agree to any portfolio-building opportunity we can find. It’s incredibly important, however, to weigh every opportunity against predicted impact and stick with opportunities that have a high likelihood of success. “Work for exposure,” opportunities might seem enticing, especially when the person or organization asking you to work for free explains just how much “exposure” you’ll gain, but your time and work are valuable. Don’t fall victim to time-wasters that cannot provide reasonable compensation for your effort, regardless of how badly you think your professional portfolio needs the content. It’s better (and more rewarding) to stick with paid, intern, or volunteer work from reputable, well-known industry leaders and networking groups when attempting to build professional portfolio content. 

Diversify Your Delivery

The name of the game in today’s career environment is flexibility. Today, more than ever before, digital engagement is critical to your career campaign. Meet your target audiences where they’re at by diversifying your professional portfolio delivery. 

Ways to Diversify

• Create a professional portfolio website filled with engaging infographics, images, links, and video presentations
• Turn your professional portfolio into a digital file (PDF, for example) for easy attachment to resumes, applications, and emails
• Print your professional portfolio on paper with executive-level binding so you can easily hand it to hiring managers and reference during your in-person interviews
• Create a digital presentation using a free website like Canva to take a Zoom/remote interview to the next level
• Record a video or animation and upload it to YouTube so you can easily share a link and connect potential employers to your work

A Special Note About Interviews

Even the most articulate, all-encompassing professional portfolio is useless if left unopened on the interview table or tossed to hiring managers at the end. Deliver your portfolio at the start of the interview and reference it throughout. Use your professional portfolio to physically point out your answers to interview questions and be familiar enough with your portfolio’s content to feel comfortable directing hiring managers to specific pages and examples. Don’t forget to take presentation into account when preparing your portfolio for an interview; you don’t want to end up with four interviewers crowded around a single, printed portfolio! Plan ahead and either print additional copies or arrange to present your portfolio digitally. 

A professional portfolio allows your skills and accomplishments to take center stage in meaningful, memorable ways. Professional portfolios are designed to lend credibility and support the claims you make on your resume. Need assistance narrowing down the most relevant, industry-specific skills needed to land your dream job? Contact Zoetic Resume and Writing Services for a customized, personalized look into your background and career goals. We’ll work together to develop the perfect resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile so you can build a professional portfolio that earns interviews and lands job offers.