Best Practices For Sharing A Career Portfolio

Earlier this month, I posted that I was looking for some freelance writers for a project... and I was, frankly, overwhelmed with the response. (Im still getting back to folks!) As a result, I've spent a few days looking through applications and portfolio sites. It's been fun! But I took notes on things that tripped me up or made it difficult to advance folks. In case it's helpful for your own process: 1 - Give me links to work that matches what I said I was looking for. I asked people for evidence they did a certain kind of writing. Many times they would reply with a link to their entire portfolio. I need you to curate for me! I have 100 folks in my inbox, help me say yes to you! 2 - Organize your portfolio by _type_ of writing rather than where it appeared. Example: "Q and A with industry leader" vs "Here's my article in Fast Company" The publication only tells me about the audience you wrote for and not the kind of work you did. 3 - Show me that you can write for niches and audiences that you are not a member of. I know we all like to write content about content or do marketing about marketing. Show me the detailed blog post you did for middle school teachers, or RevOps leaders, or retirees. 4 - Not all portfolio links are equal. I found myself docking people who shared links that appear in what can only be described as a content mill. We all start somewhere, but remove those links ASAP once you've "graduated". Let's be real, I know that many freelance writers apply to dozens of opportunities each month and this can get tiring. But this doesn't have to be a volume game. You can instantly be in the top 10% by curating the best, most relevant work for each opportunity.

Confession: While I've reviewed thousands of portfolios, I've never read a case study all the way through. I ALWAYS scan them. I just don't have the time to look through every detail. And I know that most other folks who are reviewing portfolios are doing the exact same thing for the same reasons. This means that your portfolio should: 1. Make it easy to scan 2. Use big, high quality visuals 3. Tell quick, concise stories 4. Most importantly, make that story easy to consume in two minutes or less If I were to build my portfolio today, here's how I would do it using these principles: 1️⃣ I'd have a top overview section that has a short blurb of what to expect/what I accomplished AND the final mockups/prototype of what I created. 2️⃣ I'd write out each case study using a word document first to make sure that my headlines told the entire story quickly and concisely. I'd use a classic story arc 1. Context/background 2. Conflict 3. Rising action 4. Climax 5. Falling action 6. Resolution The simpler version of this is the 3 Cs of storytelling: 1. Context 2. Conflict 3. Change (AKA what improved as a result of your work) 3️⃣ I'd optimize my headlines below the overview to tell the story of what I learned. Once everything was written out in a Google doc, I'd edit everything down to the essentials. I'd make sure to pull out the important learnings/quotes and make them big so reviewers could easily scan them. 4️⃣ I'd break up sections with large images to make it feel more interesting and less fatiguing. 5️⃣ I'd ask friends and family to read it and provide feedback about clarity and how much time it took them. If they can easily understand it, see my impact, and quickly go through it, then I'm on the right track. 6️⃣ I'd use LinkedIn and adplist.org to find more folks to provide feedback. Again, I'd focus their feedback on clarity and the amount of time it took for them to go through it.

My last post about hiring went a little viral — and my DMs + connection requests have been flooded ever since. One question keeps popping up: “Do you have a portfolio I can see? I’m not a designer, but I want to show my work better.” Let’s clear something up: ↳ You don’t need a beautifully designed portfolio. ↳ You just need one that does its job. ↳ It’s not just for visual roles. It’s for anyone whose work is strategic, behind-the-scenes, or hard to explain in a bullet point. (& I’ve got to give credit where it’s due — Sidney Waterfall encouraged me to create mine, and I’m borrowing heavily from her approach. Grateful for mentors who stick with you!) ----- Here’s what I included in mine, and what I loved seeing from other candidates too: 1. Contact Info 2. Table of Contents ↳ Let people jump around easily 3. About Me (Professional) ↳ Your approach, edge, and TL;DR career story (not too long!) ↳ What you believe in and bring to the table 4. Experience & Impact ↳ Your 1–2 most relevant roles (link to LI for more) ↳ What you owned, how you thought through the work, and what changed because of it ↳ Performance results (even the ones you can’t post publicly (while still being compliant)) ↳ Visual examples — screenshots, anonymized decks, internal docs 5. What Others Say About You ↳ I included 7 testimonials from past managers, peers, direct reports, and leaders ↳ Ask people you’ve worked with to write 1–2 paragraphs ↳ It feels awkward, but it really shines — and they are more than likely flattered and willing to help! (Shout-out to my 7 who took the time) 6. Skills ↳ Grouped and easy to skim 7. Working Style: Leadership ↳ How you lead, what you value, how you develop others (if in a leadership role) 8. Working Style: Personality ↳ How you thrive ↳ What helps you do your best work ↳ This helps both sides see if the environment is the right fit 9. About Me (Personal) ↳ I included: Motherhood, Cooking, and House Flipping/Renovations ↳ It helps people get to know you, not just your output — easier to connect + build rapport Formats That Work Don’t overthink it. Try one of these: ↳ Google Slides, saved as a PDF ↳ Google Doc, saved as a PDF ↳ Squarespace/Webflow/Wix/etc., if that’s your thing ↳ Notion (mine was built here) ↳ Aligned Deal Room → Free for job seekers: https://lnkd.in/euYy5pXK. Organize your work, show examples, and personalize it. If it helps you land a role, imagine what it could do for your sales team. (Not posting this to push Aligned, it's just too good to not include 😉) ----- If you’re new to the job market or pivoting, try a hypothetical campaign or strategy. A few candidates did this in follow-ups — and it was more impressive than past experience because it was fresh and relevant. Your portfolio doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to help people get you. I know I'm missing good tips/sections in here (character limits!), so drop them below. Wishing anyone searching allllll the luck! 💛