Building Your Portfolio Part 1: The Print Portfolio

Believe it or not, whether you work in web or not, as a designer or something else, everyone should have a print portfolio.

Believe it or not, whether you work in web or not, as a designer or something else, everyone should have a print portfolio.

Building Your Portfolio Series:

Part 2 of this series discusses what to include in your web portfolio.

Part 3 of this series offers a list of resources for a polished presentation.

Part 4 of this series explains what major elements should be present in any online portfolio.

Career counselors recommend portfolios for everyone, not just visual artists, so a web designer must have an outstanding sample of work to impress the portfolio-weary hiring manager. Even though a "book" is essential to the web worker's job search, surprisingly, many a webbie doesn't have a one. This negligence might be due to lack of time ("I work 60-80 hrs/week -- where's the time to build a portfolio?"); lack of understanding ("Aren't my URLs my 'portfolio'?"); or confusion about what to include ("Do I put in volunteer work?").

Add to these reasons the fact that many HTML jockeys came to the Internet industry from fields where a portfolio was never required and it's clear why so many talented web developers aren't properly showcasing their work. I can't give you more time in your day, but maybe I can make putting together a book easier. I'll tell you what to include (whether or not you have paid experience) and I'll let you hear what hiring managers are looking for.

"Career Counselors recommend portfolios for everyone, not just visual artists, so a web designer must have an outstanding sample of work to impress the portfolio-weary hiring manager. "

I believe web workers need both print and online portfolios. Why? Print portfolios allow you to conveniently discuss your work in an interview. This is especially important if you're being team-interviewed, where you can't assume everyone has done their homework and gone to your website. Also, print portfolios can be a bit longer because there's no "world wide wait" involved. True, your print book isn't going to show your latest Flash animation, but there's no reason why you can't include an output of the first frame of an animation (saving Flash as a GIF) along with a description of the client's needs and how you came up with a solution.

Print Portfolios

I'm going to take a page from John Sullivan's book and suggest you follow his recommendations for what to include in a portfolio. Bob Weinstein, a high tech employment writer, devoted a whole column* to John Sullivan's opinions about portfolios and rßsumßs. Sullivan, consultant to Fortune 500 firms, hates resumes. He finds them dull, shallow, and "too focused on the past." They're not representative of what their owners can really do. Instead, he insists a portfolio is the way to show an employer your potential. ¹

The Definitive List

Sullivan outlined ten things every portfolio should have. Because he was speaking to experienced workers, some of these will be impractical unless you've been out in the work world a while. But new graduates keep reading, because I'll have some substitutes that draw from your college career.

Here is John Sullivan's list:

• Table of contents
• Chronological resume
• Personal mission and goal statement
• Major accomplishments with a short description of each, including numbers, dollars and evidence of quality
• Bulleted list of facts illustrating your best strengths and accomplishments
• List of your business skills demonstrating level of expertise (categorized by business, interpersonal, communication and other skills, such as risk taking or creativity)
• Link to your personal Web page and an outline of what can be found on the website
• Selected outline of projects showing goals, steps and results
• One-page list of interests and preferences, including goals
• One-page summary of your training and education, including awards and accomplishments.

Pretty ambitious, isn't it? I have two portfolios and neither of them includes most of what Sullivan recommends. I've been getting away with just having a lot of sample work (Quark and web pages), but I think his points are well taken. In my next portfolio revision, I plan on adding some of the things he advises.

Student Work

What if you don't have a description of how you saved your company $8 million or sold twice as many widgets as your competitor? In this age when so many employers are bemoaning the poor communication skills of recent college grads, a term paper would at least show that you write well. Even though I have some real published pieces now, I'm proud of the thinking I displayed in my best schoolwork and plan to include it in the writing-sample portfolio I'm building. Some of the pieces I'm considering are

-- A term paper from an English seminar analyzing ten poems
-- A biography of a WW2 military wife written for a Women's Studies class
-- An essay comparing manic depression and schizophrenia from a final exam in a Psychology class
-- A paper on the post-Renaissance artist Nicolas Poussin for an Art History class

These papers will show the range of my communication skills: analysis, storytelling, writing quickly under pressure. It also shows the broadness of my education (which is always an ace in the hole for a job-seeker). If you wrote an article for the school newspaper, even if it was only a restaurant or movie review, you're way ahead of the game, because you've been published.

Think about the pieces in your college career you're most proud of and put those in. Did you do a project for an Anthropology class than included a display? (Take pictures!) Did you make a presentation in a business class that included charts and graphs? Did you produce some very detailed drawings in a biology class? Even if you have to recopy the work to make it look neat and professional, do it. Make sure your graphics are big, bold and brightly colored.

Volunteer Activities

Often the question comes up: "Should I include unpaid work in my portfolio?" The answer is: "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Most web jobs require that you submit three URLs when applying. If the only way you can get experience is to do a little community service in the form of web design, do it! Whether it's designing a site from scratch or helping maintain a site, any experience is better than none. If they need someone to scan pictures, create graphics, code web pages, or write content, volunteer. You'll not only get good experience, you'll get something to show for it -- a site to link to, a piece for your portfolio, and probably a reference.

Skill Catalog

Bob Kinnison, President of Interview Experts, wrote an article for the Career Mag website called "Portfolios Aren't Just for Artists." In it, he says,

I've taught my students to take a three-ringed binder and tab it with specific skill areas. Under communication, I ask that they place specific and successful examples of their skills. This may be a report, a letter, feedback from the boss in the form of a memo, which congratulated them for the fine job they did at a presentation...

You can do this for any job and any skill area. After learning this skill myself I began keeping any examples of my work in more than 20 skills areas. When I would go to an interview, I would take my portfolio and have it available when the interviewer asked me a question which I knew to be in a specific skills area. At the very least I would offer my portfolio to him or her for review. I always received excellent feedback and was told that they'd never seen anyone provide this kind of information before. I seldom was beat out.

Maureen Nelson is a writer, editor and web producer in California. She has been a member of Silicon Valley and San Francisco Webgrrls for several years.

Part 2: The Web Version

Part 3: Putting it All Together

back to the top

• Search
• Browse by Category
• Submit an Article