Some of this may seem a little rudimentary, but there are a lot of fresh graduates or first-time-job-seekers (like former work-from-home folks whose spouses lost their jobs). I think they need this info.
I’ll be discussing things specifically on a design portfolio – that is, a site showing off your own web sites you’ve made, or interactive Flash modules or whatever. You do have one, don’t you? If not, get one now, I don’t care if you’re securely employed. It’s up to you to be proactive in a time of unsettled waters.
- As soon as you can, REMOVE any projects you did in college. Yes, I know it’s your favorite, or innovative or whatever. The sooner employers stop thinking of you as a recent grad, the better (or, worse, as having a college-age mentality). Showing off your college projects works against that goal. Replace them with your awsomely mediocre work from your freelance projects and/or current employer.
- Do not put a bunch of text on your main page. Be succinct. Let your projects speak for themselves. By all means, introduce yourself, but an employer doesn’t want to scroll through what is essentially a generic cover letter.
- Employers DO NOT CARE about your fascination with soccer or that little Marilee just graduated from kindergarten. Ergo, do not post personal info. Keep it pertinent. I know you want to make your online presence more “human,” but you won’t be hired because you enjoy scrapbooking or kittens.
- Do not put references to your religion anywhere, even though it’s very important to you. Let’s be frank for a moment: Evangelist Christians have a rough reputation in this country. You do NOT want a potential employer to think you’re going to try to convert the office. It doesn’t matter that you wouldn’t try to do that, you don’t want them to THINK you would. Perception is key here. You want the focus and emphasis to be on your abilities, not your beliefs. I’m not asking you to hide that aspect of yourself. I’m asking you to make the choice to get (or stay) employed by not putting it out there.*
(The only obvious caveat to this rule is if you are applying for work at a church of some sort. And of course, if you did nice work for a church, DO list that in your portfolio.) - DO put a brief explanation of each piece you are showing off, such as a website or fold-out pamphlet. Explain (again, briefly!) what you were asked to do. If the client had a crappy site beforehand, screencap that before the new site goes up, and show the before and after. Yeah, it’s a minor stab to the person who originally designed the site but screw ‘em. This isn’t their portfolio and they shouldn’t have done such sub-mediocre work.
I recommend having 3 sections:
- The “Portfolio” section. Duh. You can split it up into multiple parts based on what it is you’re showing off. I have “Web,” “Print,” and “Interactive.”
- The “Resume” section. Be sure it’s spotless. Emphasize what you did that worked well for your company. This is not a resume blog, and there are a ton of resources out there, so go check it out.
- A “Contact” section. I actually recommend having your email listed on every page somewhere, but the Contact info page will be an obvious way to contact you in case the employer is dense and misses the email address…it’s also the place to list your phone number.
As a final note, learn how to set it up so that if someone emails your domain, you receive that email. Then give out that email instead of, say, your gmail account. It just looks more professional.
*I bring this up because I recently saw the portfolio of a fresh-out-of-college fellow. His home page, VERY long with text, included multiple references to his religion. It made me uncomfortable to read it, and I’m a pretty open-minded person. I can only imagine an employer would kind of crinkle his nose and say “Well, that’s a bit much. NEXT.”
