Best in class portfolios
Recruiters and hiring managers are looking for great craft, connection to the customer, and strong business drivers. It’s your job to showcase these strengths through a great story.
Selecting your projects
Craft: Above all, choose projects with great craft. The more you can show a wide range of design explorations with thoughtful trade offs, the better. All the other stuff is important, but remember, this is a design interview.
Customers: Whether you’re at a stealth startup or ‘household name’ company, introduce the panel to your customers. Choose projects where you understood the opportunity and improved their experience.
Business: Design is visual, it’s creative, it’s emotive. But it’s not art, it’s a tool for achieving business. Choose projects that leveraged design and great experience to improve the business goals.
Portfolios
Best in class portfolios are most commonly a public website that introduces you and your work, though a Figma presentation is also acceptable. These are typically submitted along with a resume on a company’s job page or directly with a recruiter or hiring manager. I recommend dedicating one page per project and to help reviewers understand your design approach, quality of execution, and how you make tradeoffs in your design decisions. Concise storytelling and guiding the reviewer with clear imagery of your work is key. Remember the presentation of your work is just as much a portfolio piece as the content.
Presenting your story
Presentation interviews typically last about 45 with about 10 additional minutes for Q&A. Showcase no more than 2-3 projects of your past work. Help interviewers understand your design approach, quality of execution, and how you make tradeoffs in your design decisions. Remember your presentation is just as much a portfolio piece as the projects you’re showcasing. Though not required, 1-2 intro slides to help the audience get to know your career history and personal interests is industry standard.
Let's make your portfolio shine!
In my coaching services, I’ll review your portfolio site and share a personalized doc with actionable and specific feedback so your work showcases your strengths (detailed below). You can use me as your thought partner you lean on during projects! With my expertise interviewing and hiring hundreds of designers at Stripe, Mailchimp, Twilio, Faire and Pivotal Labs, I'll guide you in presenting your work in the best light possible.
