Portfolio Tips
What Your Portfolio Needs To Say About You
Your book is your creative calling card, so make it count!
Are you proud of your portfolio? Do the inner pages of your book clearly proclaim your genius? Your portfolio is your creative calling card to the world. It needs to echo your talent, resonate your vision and leave your audience pining for more. Above all, your book needs to be the visual expression of your resume.
There's no question that your portfolio is key to helping you grab the attention of hiring managers and, therefore, must reflect a high caliber of care and professionalism - no matter how much experience you have in your field.
"A portfolio is a statement of a candidate's creative vision and should offer hiring managers a true insight into the caliber of work you have done," says Tammy Chatkin, Vice President of Full-time at 24 Seven's Los Angeles office. "It should never be an afterthought or something that is put together hastily."
The contents of a portfolio will vary based on the field you are in, but general rules and commonsense apply across the board. Here are some dos and don'ts to heed as you do a reality check on your portfolio:
At the risk of stating the obvious, your portfolio should be neat, clean, simple and current. It should be free of any unwanted distractions that might detract from attention from your work. This would include food stains, odors (yes, that would be strange smells) or loose items that come tumbling out when you open your book.
Like your resume, your portfolio should include highlights from your career that reflect your most important accomplishments. Limit your samples. No one period should be represented more than another and your best (and hopefully most recent) work should be at the front of the book. Your mix of work should speak volumes for your creative vision.
A portfolio is a living, breathing thing that is a work in progress, according to Tammy. This means that as you take on new projects, you must make it a point to reflect this work in your book. As the years go by, add what's new and subtract what's old. Don't wait until the last minute to toss new items into your book.
Resist the urge to put too much of one kind of work sample in your portfolio. Say, for instance, some of your designs have been featured online or in editorial content, be sure to balance that with other samples of your work. Stress your strengths and bypass your weaknesses. If you are a graphic designer and are NOT a good illustrator, by all means avoid putting illustrations in your book. Also remember that organization and flow of samples is vital to telling your creative story in a concise, impactful way.
Your portfolio is a personal statement and, at the minimum, should offer employers a peek into how you orchestrate the creative process from start to finish. Originality and creativity matter most. Does your book speak volumes of your vision for creative trends? It must.
This should be obvious, but just in case, remember to customize your pages to reflect the interests of a potential employer. Double check the content; how relevant is it to the prospective employer's needs?
Before your interview, take a moment to practice going through your portfolio and presenting each piece. The key is to give hiring managers context to your creative process but not to burden them with too much detail.
There's no better reminder of you than a work sample of your distinctive style. If you really want to impress your potential employer, you may want to prepare a custom piece that speaks directly to their brand or business.
Lastly, according to the experts at 24 Seven, prepare for the unexpected. Many companies are putting candidates through the extra paces by asking people to do a sample project, even after reviewing their portfolio. If this happens to you, don't take it personally. Employers want to make sure that you really get their brand and their needs before they hire you. Nothing gives them a better idea of how you will work for them than a writing sample or design project. If you want the job better be prepared to go with the flow because that's what your competition is doing.
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