Why is having an online portfolio so important?
We live in a wildly competitive marketplace where our local jobs have now reach global opportunity. In the design industry this means the competition for that coveted position is high and so are the expectations. This is where your online portfolio comes in, a space where you can display your best work, demonstrate your knowledge and share a bit of who you are with potential employers or clients for those future entrepreneurs.
So what makes a great online portfolio?
There are some key areas that allow you to take your portfolio from a slideshow of pictures to a visually exciting opportunity of storytelling within your own little corner of the web.
Personal Branding:
Building your personal brand online has become an important part of finding the right career opportunities. Personal branding provides the opportunity to define and communicate the unique value that you bring to the marketplace. It allows you to differentiate yourself from others; it is your digital identity. Many employers now will ask for you to share your social media links with them, specifically LinkedIn and of course your digital online portfolio. You can think of this as your pre-interview opportunity where the hiring manager gets to see who you are not just through your designs but through the styling of your portfolio, your about you verbiage, and the overall aesthetic of your online space. In a crowded market, your personal brand is your business card.
As your brand grows it will continue to provide you with career mobility and negotiation power as you progress in your career. Yes, this means there is a social media “factor” to personal branding. However, this has become the stereotypical norm, that those serious about being in the design and communications fields are staying on top of understanding all the systems and programs of these platforms; in essence engaging in them. Your personal branding also lends itself towards future-proofing in a world where AI is making its debut at a faster rate than I think anyone in our industry anticipated. While AI is incredible and will become a vital tool for us all – it cannot become us. Your emotional intelligence, complex problem solving abilities, ethical decision making, and creativity cannot be replaced.
The – CORE – of your website:
Building an online portfolio is easier now than it ever was with all of the incredible platforms everyone has access to. Gone are the days where you had to hire a developer to put your website together just for you to share your own work. What a beautiful thing it is to be able to customize your words and stylize the layout all on your own. In just a couple of focused days you can have a fantastic space to share about YOU and your WORK.
Let’s talk the essentials of what you want to focus on during building your online portfolio:
1. Choose a theme that is user centered
With so many different online website builders and themes it may feel slightly overwhelming when you begin this process. Don’t overthink the theme choice, just find something that you feel you can easily customize to match your personal branding. Often times picking a theme that is simplistic in layout with clean design aesthetics makes an excellent blank canvas for you to display your work. It is important to note the you need to prioritize the ease-of-use within the navigation of your website. You never know when or where the hiring manager might be when they decide to open up your portfolio and review it, so you better be sure it works across all devices and browsers. Overall, when choosing a theme that is user centered you want to know your target audience and ensure that you have built your portfolio that will get their attention (ie who do you want to hire you or who do you want to work with).
2. Choose your projects with intention
When you are first getting started it can be difficult to feel that you have enough projects to put in your portfolio and this understandable. For those in this stage, don’t worry – place up your best completed works. This matters to those hiring for internships. They understand that you are new in the game, most likely still in school – and you are simply doing your best. For those of you at the end of your degree or out of school you most likely have numerous projects to choose from and maybe many of them are your favorites. It can be hard to determine what to share and when, but it is important that you make smart and calculated choices within your presentation of work.
On average you are going to have around 10-15 seconds to capture someone’s attention within your portfolio. Which means we want to follow the “less is more rule” focusing on the quality over the quantity of projects within their respective categories. So for example, if you don’t like photography then you don’t want to have an entire segment of our website devoted to photography or you are going to attract those opportunities. This doesn’t mean that you cannot share your photography abilities within your list of skill sets (think about you page) but it does mean that showcasing them within your portfolio doesn’t need to be an essential element of inclusion.
3. About You
Remember that little discussion above about personal branding? This is your chance to SHINE through your writing. People hire People – Not portfolios. Your about you segment needs to shine the spotlight on who you are, what you love, and why you love it! This is your chance to give a summarized in-depth review (not an auto-biography) of your passions, interests, and your current level of expertise. I know the temptation to utilize AI to generate your about you is ever present and I am not saying you cannot utilize AI to assist you in the formation or even finalization of your personal share. However, keep in mind that you want to HUMANIZE your portfolio with your OWN writing. So, sure – yes, go ahead and utilize grammarly in assisting you with sentence structure and maybe even some better recommendations on sentence formation but I caution you in utilizing AI to write your entire about you.
As a side note it can be fun to include your favorite quote, your Myers-Briggs or even a DISC assessment within your about you as well as your favorite food, color, and future goals! For example, my favorite food is sushi and I highly consider coffee and dark chocolate as apart of my top three food groups. Be you, be authentic, and be open to sharing and attracting the right work environment through your own authenticity. Additionally, It is beneficial to include a downloadable PDF of both your Cover Letter and your Resume on your about you page. If you are not able to include a pdf. Download as an option on your website then place a link to where they can access these for download instead.
4. Contact Info
Now that you have put all of this time into working on your personal branding, developing your layout, choosing and refining your best designs and writing a fabulous about you segment its going to be pretty important that they contact you right? On your contact page you should include your dedicated email, phone number (if you are comfortable being contact via phone), and also include a contact form where individuals may quickly drop you a line, say hello, get in touch – whatever lingo best suits you and your branding. Side Note: I would suggest setting up a dedicated email specifically for design if you plan to have your email visible for contact.
5. Social Connections
I know many of us have a love it- hate it relationship with social media. We love it when it serves us and we hate it when it doesn’t. However, in the business world social media really is your online personal branding – aka your online business card – and you want to make sure that it’s ready to share with others for potential opportunities.
Some great social media platforms for you to focus on in the design and communications degrees include:
LinkedIn – #1 choice for career and hiring opportunity
Behance – #2 for designers for displaying our work for social connection and collaboration
Instagram – #3 think reels of you doing your amazing work
Pinterest – #4 for those illustrators and creative designers
…..and finally Facebook #5 simply because this is a space to share your voice for personal branding as opposed to simply sharing your design work. Make sure that you utilize the social media link options within your online portfolio for future collaborations and hiring opportunities.
Maintaining your Portfolio and Growing your Network
YAY! Your portfolio is done, your socials are all linked in and your visuals are locked in. Now all you have to do is sit back and relax and wait for those job offers to pour in, right? Don’t we all wish it was this easy. Once your portfolio is done you have to drive attention to it which means deciding on strategy to do so. The most obvious strategy is applying for jobs, sharing the link and hoping that the powers that be (aka the resume screening softwares) give yours a YES and the hiring manager looks at your fantastic work . But, there are other ways to attract attention to opportunities – YOU Your presence online and within your local (and online) community will assist you in sharing your work and in turn help you find the right opportunities.
Some ways you can begin to do this is to regularly engage on the social media platforms you have chosen to utilize – write, share, interact and have fun. If you truly enjoy writing then maybe starting a blog on your portfolio or even writing a blog post about each new design creation might be a wonderful way to share your inspirations and the processes you went through to get to your final result. Remember, you want to keep your portfolio updated and evolving with your amazing work! For in person networking, reach out to your local chamber of commerce. They want to see you succeed! See what meetings and events you can attend to network within your community. You may have a Young Entrepreneurs group in your area that meets regularly – go join them!
The key ingredient is YOU sharing YOU in the ways that serve your mission and purpose most.
If you focus on creating connections the right opportunities will have a way of finding you
Remember, you may be just one more handshake away from your next amazing opportunity.
Happy Portfolio Building!
– L