Building a Personal Portfolio

You've tweaked your resume for the 100th time, yet it feels like it goes into some black hole. No response. No callbacks. Nothing. Wonder why? Your job title, company name, and responsibilities do not speak for themselves. Anyone who says otherwise is living in a fantasy world. Employers gauge your fit for a role based on your past achievements and results. They’ll assume that if you’ve succeeded before in a particular area, you can do so again. So, the key is to show them what you’ve accomplished. But, how? One of my favorite tactics is to use a career snapshot section at the top of a client’s resume. Here’s what to do: Create a separate section at the top of your resume titled “Noteworthy Accomplishments” or “Selected Accomplishments.” Choose accomplishments from your career history that are the most relevant to your target role. Incorporate metrics. They do not have to be revenue-related. Think about size, percentage, and time frames to work in numbers. The hiring manager gets a quick hit of information, which is excellent for limited attention spans. You create a powerful first impression of being a winner and connect the dots between relevant results and the role's needs. It’s a triple win! PS. What is your go-to strategy to create a polished first impression?   Follow me for more quick-hit resume tactics.

We all know we're supposed to "show instead of tell." But most design portfolios fail to do this and here's why. 👇 Designers love showcasing their raw work in their portfolios including outputs or deliverables such as: → Sketches → Diagrams → User flows → Wireframes → Sticky notes → Journey maps But to be honest, 90% of the time, I have absolutely no idea what is going on in those images. For example, I'll often come across a screenshot or picture of 25+ sticky notes, but: → They are too zoomed out. → If I zoom in, they're too blurry. → Even if I can seem them, they're too overwhelming. Then I start asking myself questions such as: → Am I supposed to read every sticky note? → What's important about these sticky notes? → Is this worth my time and attention to decipher? This is where storytelling comes in. What if instead of showing a raw zoomed out screenshot of sticky notes, we instead pulled out the key highlights and takeaways? Then we can guide the reader's attention to what's actually important, and optionally include a link to the original raw image afterwards. This creates a far more compelling narrative for our audience (hiring managers and recruiters), and ensures we're showing the right level of detail that is necessary to understand the story. Now to be clear, I'm not saying you should entirely avoid raw images or assets (or even raw Figma files). For example, these can be effective during the interview process because the designer can use their voice to guide their audience through the image. But when it's an online written case study submitted with an application, then you won't be in the room when a hiring manager first sees it. In that moment, your story will need to stand on it's own. It will need to communicate the right level of clarity and detail to compel the hiring manager to offer you an interview. In summary, when we want to "show instead of tell", that doesn't mean slapping a raw screenshot or image in our portfolio. It means reflecting on how we're using our words and images to give context, clarity, and tell an impactful story. Use it effectively to your advantage. What are your thoughts? #ux #design #portfolio #casestudy #storytelling

My last post about hiring went a little viral — and my DMs + connection requests have been flooded ever since. One question keeps popping up: “Do you have a portfolio I can see? I’m not a designer, but I want to show my work better.” Let’s clear something up: ↳ You don’t need a beautifully designed portfolio. ↳ You just need one that does its job. ↳ It’s not just for visual roles. It’s for anyone whose work is strategic, behind-the-scenes, or hard to explain in a bullet point. (& I’ve got to give credit where it’s due — Sidney Waterfall encouraged me to create mine, and I’m borrowing heavily from her approach. Grateful for mentors who stick with you!) ----- Here’s what I included in mine, and what I loved seeing from other candidates too: 1. Contact Info 2. Table of Contents ↳ Let people jump around easily 3. About Me (Professional) ↳ Your approach, edge, and TL;DR career story (not too long!) ↳ What you believe in and bring to the table 4. Experience & Impact ↳ Your 1–2 most relevant roles (link to LI for more) ↳ What you owned, how you thought through the work, and what changed because of it ↳ Performance results (even the ones you can’t post publicly (while still being compliant)) ↳ Visual examples — screenshots, anonymized decks, internal docs 5. What Others Say About You ↳ I included 7 testimonials from past managers, peers, direct reports, and leaders ↳ Ask people you’ve worked with to write 1–2 paragraphs ↳ It feels awkward, but it really shines — and they are more than likely flattered and willing to help! (Shout-out to my 7 who took the time) 6. Skills ↳ Grouped and easy to skim 7. Working Style: Leadership ↳ How you lead, what you value, how you develop others (if in a leadership role) 8. Working Style: Personality ↳ How you thrive ↳ What helps you do your best work ↳ This helps both sides see if the environment is the right fit 9. About Me (Personal) ↳ I included: Motherhood, Cooking, and House Flipping/Renovations ↳ It helps people get to know you, not just your output — easier to connect + build rapport Formats That Work Don’t overthink it. Try one of these: ↳ Google Slides, saved as a PDF ↳ Google Doc, saved as a PDF ↳ Squarespace/Webflow/Wix/etc., if that’s your thing ↳ Notion (mine was built here) ↳ Aligned Deal Room → Free for job seekers: https://lnkd.in/euYy5pXK. Organize your work, show examples, and personalize it. If it helps you land a role, imagine what it could do for your sales team. (Not posting this to push Aligned, it's just too good to not include 😉) ----- If you’re new to the job market or pivoting, try a hypothetical campaign or strategy. A few candidates did this in follow-ups — and it was more impressive than past experience because it was fresh and relevant. Your portfolio doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to help people get you. I know I'm missing good tips/sections in here (character limits!), so drop them below. Wishing anyone searching allllll the luck! 💛

Confession: While I've reviewed thousands of portfolios, I've never read a case study all the way through. I ALWAYS scan them. I just don't have the time to look through every detail. And I know that most other folks who are reviewing portfolios are doing the exact same thing for the same reasons. This means that your portfolio should: 1. Make it easy to scan 2. Use big, high quality visuals 3. Tell quick, concise stories 4. Most importantly, make that story easy to consume in two minutes or less If I were to build my portfolio today, here's how I would do it using these principles: 1️⃣ I'd have a top overview section that has a short blurb of what to expect/what I accomplished AND the final mockups/prototype of what I created. 2️⃣ I'd write out each case study using a word document first to make sure that my headlines told the entire story quickly and concisely. I'd use a classic story arc 1. Context/background 2. Conflict 3. Rising action 4. Climax 5. Falling action 6. Resolution The simpler version of this is the 3 Cs of storytelling: 1. Context 2. Conflict 3. Change (AKA what improved as a result of your work) 3️⃣ I'd optimize my headlines below the overview to tell the story of what I learned. Once everything was written out in a Google doc, I'd edit everything down to the essentials. I'd make sure to pull out the important learnings/quotes and make them big so reviewers could easily scan them. 4️⃣ I'd break up sections with large images to make it feel more interesting and less fatiguing. 5️⃣ I'd ask friends and family to read it and provide feedback about clarity and how much time it took them. If they can easily understand it, see my impact, and quickly go through it, then I'm on the right track. 6️⃣ I'd use LinkedIn and adplist.org to find more folks to provide feedback. Again, I'd focus their feedback on clarity and the amount of time it took for them to go through it.

Introduce questions and then answer them in your portfolio projects. This narrows your focus in your projects. It is also aligns more with how you will approach projects in the real world. For example, when creating my L.A. Airbnb Listings project in Power BI, here are some of the questions I began with: - How has the market been trending yearly? - What is the average price per night? - How many listings are there in LA? - Where are the most popular listings located? This gave me direction when I began working on my project. It also made it much more interesting. Be sure to speak to those questions and answers in your project description too. This is a way better approach than just throwing out random insights with lots of charts. If you haven’t taken this approach yet, try it out in your next project 😉

I’m taking a new approach to “content writing” portfolios — and I feel it’s something everyone should do. For the most part, many of us “content writers,” when asked to send a portfolio, send a web page that includes all (or some) of the projects we’ve worked on. While that works and still works, I feel going the extra mile a bit might be the game changer. Instead of simply littering the whole page with links, why not turn it into a case study highlighting your thought process behind the project? Often, when I get on calls with clients, I discover that while they requested you send them a link to your portfolio, many didn’t go through all of the links you put there. On the flip side, when I switched it to case studies, detailing how I went about the project and the result we got, the conversation took a different route—a productive one at that. Clients now see (and know) what to expect, and the sweet part is that they have an idea of your problem-solving skills. Win-win. 

Let’s chat about the purpose of a portfolio because I feel like this is getting lost in translation somewhere. The purpose of a portfolio is to highlight your skills and abilities. You are showcasing what makes you uniquely you with your designs and what you could bring to a team and an organization. In order to do this, you need to tell a story around the designs. The most common mistake I see when reviewing portfolios is that the person will share a screenshot or a PPT file and not provide any context around it. Hiring managers can make an educated guess as to why you created this artifact and how you did something, but that’s the main problem is that they are guessing. They could be 100% wrong in their assumptions. You want your portfolio outlined in a way that if you were not present, they would still be able to understand the big picture. To do this, consider adding these talking points: - Summary of the project - Problem / Goals - Objectives - Stakeholders - Your role on the project - Target audience - Design process - Tools - Deliverables - Reflections In my opinion, this should give insight into everything and then, when you have your interview, the hiring manager should have a much better understanding of you as a designer. And most likely, they will want to dive in deeper into your portfolio projects, and you’ll be ready because you’re prepared (and awesome). Of course, if you have more questions around portfolios and how to make them, there is a whole week in Instructional Design Institute dedicated to portfolios. The next cohort starts in 12 days and I can't wait to nerd out with folks!

New Year, New Portfolio Tips This week, I spent a significant amount of time reviewing portfolios with talent—one of my favorite activities. Having examined hundreds over the past three years, I've gained a good understanding of what clients seek, irrespective of job title or industry. First and foremost, a hiring manager is unlikely to spend more than a minute or two reviewing your portfolio. If your work isn't easy to navigate and your top projects aren't immediately visible, you're doing yourself a disservice. The best portfolios feature key projects on the first page, allowing viewers to quickly grasp the person's contributions by reading a brief snippet at the top and viewing images, wireframes, or other relevant content below. In the UX/UI world, showcasing your entire process from end to end is crucial. Most importantly, remember that less is more. It's better to have 4-6 standout projects than 12 lacking detail. Hiring managers typically focus on the first few projects to understand your experience and design thinking, making decisions on the next steps from there. If you're seeking a new role in 2024, invest time in refining your portfolio with this thought in mind: If someone has one minute to review my portfolio, will they understand my work experience and design thinking process, enabling them to decide if I align with the job they are hiring for?

🔊 Quantify the results on your resume. Show, don't tell. My broken record guidance of the day is to expand beyond the task of your role by including measurable accomplishments. This is the hardest undertaking of writing a resume, whether you outsource it (because a resume writer worth their dime should be asking you these questions) or take the job on yourself. I've included a sprinkling of prompts that will help you brainstorm those outcomes: ✅ Customer Acquisition: How many new customers did you bring in? Example: "Developed and executed a marketing campaign that brought in 500 new customers in three months." ✅Training and Development Impact: How did your training initiatives impact employee performance? Example: "Designed and delivered a training program that resulted in a 30% increase in employee productivity." ✅ Project Completion Ahead of Schedule: Did your leadership contribute to projects being completed ahead of schedule? Example: "Led a cross-functional team that completed a complex software development project two weeks ahead of the deadline." ✅ Innovation Metrics: What innovations did your team introduce, and how were they measured? Example: "Led a team that developed a groundbreaking feature, increasing user engagement by 25% and receiving industry recognition." ✅Cost-Efficiency in Development: How did you contribute to cost-efficient development processes? Example: "Introduced automated testing, reducing testing costs by 25% and improving code reliability." ✅Sales Revenue Influence: How did your marketing strategies contribute to increased sales revenue? Example: "Implemented a new product launch strategy that led to a 25% increase in sales revenue." A simple way to think about transforming a task-oriented bullet point in your resume to include impact is by asking "and then what happened?" Whether it be KPIs, qualitative assessments (like feedback), or value creation--there is an opportunity for you to showcase your unique contributions. #resumetips