Thanks to the number of layoffs in our industry over the last several months, I’ve had many conversations with people in my network who want to showcase their professional skills most effectively through a portfolio.
Typically, such a portfolio contains data visualisations, analyses, and design examples. It could also be filled with data stories, coding examples, and more.
This week I want to share my guidance and recommendations for creating a portfolio that reflects your skills and interests and shows your personality, too.
What should be in your portfolio?
Your portfolio should demonstrate what you’re able to do with data, with a focus on the kind of work you’d like to be doing or want to do more of.
For example, if you really enjoy developing data visualisations and want this to be what people know about you, your portfolio should contain a range of visualisations, including different topics, formats, designs, and data sources. If you’re more interested in data journalism and long-form storytelling, include more of those examples in your portfolio.
When you plan what to include, ask yourself these questions:
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What do you want to be known for?
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If a potential hiring manager / collaborator / event organiser only saw your portfolio, what impression do you want them to have?
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How can people find your work? What platform do I use? (e.g. personal blog or website, medium, social media, BI tool platforms like Tableau Public)
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What skills do you want to demonstrate?
How much should you include in your portfolio?
Choose quality over quantity. Creating 100 visualisations that are very similar, very basic and don’t showcase your skills isn’t a great approach to building a strong portfolio.
Limit yourself to an amount that a stranger would actually be interested in looking at. If you want to showcase different coding projects you’ve worked on, five might be enough. Include a description, screenshots, code snippets, summary and the results you achieved and those five high quality projects are better than countless unrelated posts on forum pages. Those are important too but they’re not a portfolio.
Here are some questions that can help you:
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What projects are you most proud of?
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What are your most diverse projects that show a range of skills, methodologies, designs, etc.?
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How will someone access your portfolio? If it’s very visual, give them a thumbnail to help with navigation. If it’s project based, create a title and 2 sentence summary for each page/article.
How do you get your portfolio in front of people?
Include it on LinkedIn and any other social media platforms you use professionally. On LinkedIn you can feature content at the top of your profile so it’s easier for people to find. This can be images, documents, links, videos, etc. Use this feature to your advantage.
If you’re currently in a job and you want to use your existing portfolio in conversations with your manager, you could take them through it in a meeting. If you’re looking for a job, make sure to include a link to your portfolio in your job application and on your CV.
Tell your mentor about your portfolio as well and ask them for feedback. They should be able to give you their perspective and also pass it on to others if they’re helping you find a new role or progress internally.
A portfolio is invaluable and can boost your opportunities
Portfolios are great to have, not just when there’s the threat of mass layoffs. Working on your portfolio can be fun and engaging and just as your ongoing work experience contributes to your CV, building your portfolio over time is an excellent way to showcase your skills.
If you’re unsure how to tackle building your own portfolio, and you’re interested in my guidance, hit reply and we can arrange a call to discuss. In your email please include your LinkedIn profile so I have some background information.
Have a great week!
Eva