In this day and age, when digital marketing is at its boom and presentation skills are considered as major skills for each and every individual then Why do you want to restrict yourself with a plain resume, or a simple LinkedIn or any social media account? This is a very common myth associated with digital portfolios that they are only helpful for the artists, freelancers, graphic designers or architects. Digital portfolio is helpful for each and everyone who understands the need, benefits and how to use it. This does include the students also. Actually this is more helpful for students who cannot showcase their skills and talent on the resume due to the lack of work experience. Working professionals or freelancers who want to build their personal brand can get the benefit from a digital portfolio. This will help any professional in any industry or in their job profile.
Benefits
Let us come to the benefit. Your digital portfolio sometimes works better than your resume if you want to impress the HRs and your client if you are a freelancer. Resume can limit the explanation of your skills and talent within text and some images. This limitation can be removed if you use a digital portfolio because there you can add thought processes, best work samples, your achievement and your story. Sometimes just with a resume, you cannot give a clear picture of your talent. The audio and visual artists cannot have their best work on their resume which are more selling points for them, so they generally use a digital portfolio. But job profiles for which you don’t think a digital portfolio is required, you should rethink. Because you can get the same benefits which usually audio and visual artists get from a digital portfolio. That is the power of visual, graphics and presentation.
Platform
For your digital portfolio, you should choose your platform wisely. If you want to have a dedicated website for yourself, yes you can have it. There are both paid and free options available. I have my website on wordpress.com. You can also look beyond a website. These days you can convert your instagram profile or facebook profile just like a digital portfolio. Any other professional, who is not from audio or visual content background, can make their Linkedin profile as a digital portfolio for themselves. You just need to add certain components to it and your social media account or your website is ready to serve you as your digital portfolio. If you want then you can prepare a powerpoint presentation as your digital portfolio.
Design
You don’t have to be a website designer or a graphic designer to design your portfolio. There are a lot of sites which have a dedicated theme for creating a portfolio. You just need to take care of the few design elements useful for a portfolio. These elements are Colors, Typography and your content. Your major focus should be to make it functional and minimalistic so that your portfolio’s major attention seeking elements should be your content or your work. Yes, you are a graphic designer, you can go beyond minimalism which in other way helps for your personal brand. The colors scheme and typography should be chosen as per your taste but on the other hand should be easily readable and should go with the content that you add. The size of the work sample should be enough for easy understanding.
Components
The components remain the same whether you make your digital portfolio on a website, powerpoint, or on a social media account. The components of a winning digital portfolio includes your brand story, vision, Bio, Education and Professional Background, Your workpiece/your analysis/Research/Blog, Achievements, Honors and Contact Information. Though you can alter the sequence but use logic before deciding. In other words, convert your plain and simple resume in a visual presentation. Make it like a presentation you make for your boss or client. To make an impact on the personal brand story is very important. Your digital portfolio should answer the following:
Who are you?
What you want?
What is your background?
What have you done till now?
Do you have any recognition?
How can you contact me?
Can you comment with any other component which I may be missing.
Work Samples
Please make sure you share only those workpieces which you are allowed to share. If you are a freelancer or a working professional, you might be working on something which is confidential and secretive. In that scenario, you can create an analysis or research which portrays your work. Be cautious with this thing because sometimes confidentiality of work can lead to legal consequences if broken. If you can produce your own workpieces like blogs, research, codes or anything that displays your work, I think that is also on par with your actual workpiece. The actual workpiece is just proof that you have legit work experience and your own created workpiece can only prove your skills and talent. So take care of that. You can leave a comment below if you think the actual work sample is important or the work samples created on your own.
If you think, website designing or separate portfolios is too much for you and your job or industry. You can always convert your Linkedin profile into something which is very close to a digital portfolio. You can write your personal brand story in your Linkedin summary, your workpiece in the featured section and your contact information in the summary in the contact details section. Your Linkedin headline can be altered according to your job or preference.
Portfolio review
Once you are done making your portfolio. Do review it and also get it reviewed by your friends. Make sure that it has zero errors, easy navigation and more intended impact. Do take some suggestions from others on your portfolio. Keep your portfolio updated with your latest work samples. The more effort you give in your portfolio the less effort is required to explain your work to others. You can also send the link to your portfolio along with your resume. You can have it pinned on your linkedin or in your email signature. If you are a freelancer, you will see greater improvement in your business. If you are a student, your resume will be preferred than those who do not have a portfolio.
Please write to me if you have any query regarding digital portfolios in the comment section. You can contact me on the social media accounts mentioned. Also a humble request to like this article and follow my blog.
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