How to Build a Work Portfolio

Job portfolios give employers a taste of your best work, and they can strengthen your candidacy for a role. In this post, we delve into how to build a job portfolio, what employers look for in job portfolios and more. 

By: Brandi Fowler

Strengthening your resume and cover letter during the job search process is essential, but building a strong work portfolio is important too. 

Your job portfolio shows samples of your best work and can help you stand out to an employer or recruiter. It tends to be digital, but bring a hard copy to the interview if a job requires a portfolio.

“A good portfolio indicates, in short, that this person has taken time to represent themselves in the best possible light, and they’re clued up enough to showcase their most relevant work in an aesthetic and logical way,” Fearless co-founder Tom Scott said. “It should define who you are, what you can do and what part of [an industry] you specialize in.” 

Professions that might require portfolios include designers (UX, UI, business, service, graphic), product managers, developers, and business analysts, Scott said. Journalists are also sometimes required to showcase their best work on online portfolios. 

However, professionals in industries that require job portfolios are not the only ones who should have them.

“Some ‘may’ not need portfolios, but I believe everyone can benefit from creating a mini-deck or portfolio in your search,” Scott said. 

I chatted with Scott, executive coach and keynote speaker Bianca Jeanty, and career contentment coach Kerri Twigg to find out more about work portfolios, what employers look for in them and the best ways to put them together. 

How to Start Constructing a Strong Job Portfolio 

Before you construct your job portfolio, Scott recommended starting with a self-assessment. 

“People want to work with people they feel inspired by,” Scott said. “You should always have a page about you.[Ask yourself] who are you? Why do you do what you do? What is your mission in life? Any interesting facts about your life or career to date?”

Incorporate those answers as you select your best work.

Be concise and remember not to replicate your CV in your portfolio, Scott said. 

“According to statistics, recruiters only spend six seconds looking at your CV,” Scott said. “They will scan four key areas: your name, current position, previous position, and education. In a nutshell, your CV is boring. Your portfolio need not be. Your portfolio should show cultural suitability for the company where you are applying.” 

To make your portfolio more interesting, Scott said, “Don’t be afraid to add a touch of character or your own style to your portfolio. It is your chance to wow the hiring manager and demonstrate that you stand out from the crowd.”

“You can do that by getting specific about the fonts and colors in your portfolio,” Twigg said. “lf it is so general, it won't be meaningful for you, and it won't be meaningful for them either.”

For additional ways to make your portfolio stand out, Scott said, be your authentic self and show personality, make the portfolio aesthetically pleasing and speak the language of business.

“It is great to talk about how you solved user problems, but how did it affect the business? Companies are hiring you to solve user [issues] and [produce] business outcomes,” Scott said. 

Scott also recommended reaching out to others in your industry about your portfolio.

“Don't rely solely on recruiters to look at your portfolio,” Scott said. “Get it reviewed by people who are practitioners in your industry for the more granular details.” 

To start your portfolio creation process, Scott recommended using Semplice for its design guide on portfolio layout, plus Webflow and Squarespace for design inspiration.

What Should Go in Your Job Portfolio

Your best work should go in your portfolio. So, be selective with the items you highlight. 

“Employers consume content just like anyone else, so think about what content is compelling enough to stand out,” Jeanty said. “There are no rules but to tell a succinct and interesting story.

“The work you feature should answer the following questions that employers might have: What is your unique capability? What are three ways you’ve generated success with your unique capability? And is this relevant to the opening on our team? Tell the story about how you’ve generated repeatable success.”

Next, look at job descriptions for roles you are applying to and use the info to construct your portfolio. 

“See what companies you want to work for, what they like, what skills they are looking for, and what you would do [in the role],” Twigg said. “You want to make sure that your portfolio matches the examples that you gave.”

Finding a balance between presenting your top work, but not putting all of it in your portfolio is also important. 

“You want to leave them hungry for more,” Twigg said. “So if you get asked what's not on your resume or what's not on your portfolio that we should know about, you should have something.”

Also structure your portfolio in an easily navigable way. Jeanty advised organizing it with bullet points via the CAR method: Challenge, Action, Result.

“Your first bullet should address the challenge of the project you worked on,” Jeanty said. “The second question should address the action taken to solve the problem. The third bullet addresses the result, whether short-term and/or long-term.”

What Employers Look for in a Job Portfolio

An employer/recruiter will look for evidence that you have the skills to do the job, Twigg said, which is why it is important to tailor your portfolio to the jobs you want. 

“The job search has changed in that you are going to get somewhere faster if you understand your career story, and your brand,” Twigg said. “If you are someone who is very structured, very organized, you want to make sure that your portfolio shows that. If you're someone who's creative, you want to make sure your portfolio, even in the way that you display it in the examples that you give, shows that.”

The content you choose should also answer questions employers might have, Jeanty said. 

“What is your unique capability? What are three ways you’ve generated success with your unique capability? Is this relevant to the job [you are applying for]? Tell the story about how you’ve generated repeatable success,” Jeanty said. “The hiring manager needs to understand how and why you solve the problems you do, along with the final outcome of the project for your users and business.”

For example, Scott said, leaders’ job portfolios should include a date showing how successful their input was for an organization. 

“When hiring leaders, we often look for a different kind of portfolio, which is more focused on them walking the reader through how they build teams, how they've raised design maturity in their organizations, strategic pieces of work rather than tactical hands-on work,” Scott said. 

Building a portfolio is about professionally showcasing your best work and personality. Go back to the job description you are applying for, tailor your portfolio to it, and focus on making your portfolio concise and digestible.

Top Takeaways

How to Build a Work Portfolio 

• Look at job descriptions and tailor your work portfolio to roles you are interested in. 
• Don’t be afraid to (professionally) show off your personality through colors and fonts.
• Feature your top work and get specific. Find a balance between highlighting your best accomplishments/examples, but not including too much. 
• Make your portfolio different from your CV/resume. Showcase elements that recruiters and employers cannot find there.