Job interviews can often be an extremely nerve wracking experience, especially with the amount of competition for roles these days, making it a difficult task to convince your prospective employer that you have the skills and expertise required to fill the role.
A work portfolio can do a great deal of the talking for you in an interview, and give the employers a great sense of your how your skills, experience and worth ethic have contributed to past projects and qualifications.
It may feel a little strange compiling a work portfolio, especially if you have to fill it with rather unique reports and past work, but there are lots of advantages that can make you stand out from the crowd.
Less is more
It is a common saying, but it really is true in the case of your work portfolio, less is more. You should not be worried if it is not bursting at the seams, picking the best two or three projects and highlighting them is much better than one full of average content.
What you leave out can often be more important than what you actually put in, adding an average piece of work can take attention away from the two or three projects that you are really proud of, and often be more memorable.
If you are struggling to decide on what should and should not be included, do not be afraid to seek advice from friends, family, colleagues or other contacts.
Reflect your interests
Your portfolio should be a reflection of your own personality and the type of work that you want to be doing, the thing to remember is that you will attract the type of jobs that reflect the work in your portfolio.
Adding work from projects that you have undertaken in your own time, such as a blog, a competition entry, can be a great way to show of your creative thought processes and what you are capable of – it can also show a clear interest in the industry.
Keep things simple
When it comes to printing and creating the front cover, the best thing is to keep things simple, you may be thinking that a creative format may be a great way to stand out, but it is highly risky, you just do not know how the employer will react.
Your work should be the centre of the portfolio, not the format, fancy pictures, tiny thumbnails and complicated set-ups can take attention away from the work.
If you’re a graduate looking to kick-start your career, have a chat with Discovery graduates and see how they can help get you started
