For professional writers, online portfolios can make a difference when it comes to landing an internship or job. Employers want to see concrete examples of your skills, and handing over a branded personal card with your portfolio’s URL on it is one way to make yourself memorable while giving them a glimpse at your talent. Whether you’re a writer, editor, designer, or all three, an online portfolio can help you organize your experience and get a handle on why you love doing what you do.
So how do you go about creating an online portfolio? I would recommend starting off with a piece of paper and a writing utensil of your choice. Jot down class projects, previous job-related projects, or personal projects that you have done that represent your top skills (tip: you can refer to your resume to match up projects with experience).
Before you get to the process of actually designing your online portfolio, you should have a sense of how it will represent you. This means thinking about portfolio sections, sample documents, color choices, typography, and graphics. It also means thinking about what your “about me” statement might include. What are your professional goals? Do you have a writing/editing/design philosophy? Why are you a professional writer? These are just a few of the questions that may guide your statement. Think of it as a cover letter for your online portfolio, one that welcomes visitors and introduces them to you and your talent. When I developed my statement, I included the purpose of my portfolio, where I am currently in the professional sense, my other interests that relate to being a professional writer, and my contact information.
My online portfolio
Don’t let a lack of or limited web design skills hold you back when it comes to designing your portfolio. If you don’t know the ins and outs of web design, there are several resources available to help you. Knowing the basics of HTML and CSS will get you a long way with free CSS templates that can be tweaked to fit your purpose. Blogging platforms can help you frame your portfolio and offer theme galleries. You can also reach out to that web savvy friend or colleague for help and offer to swap skill sets with them – portfolio design help for resume editing help, for example.
If you missed it, check out Lindsey’s post about whirlwind web design to see how she used online resources to update her portfolio to a CSS-driven design.
Lindsey’s online portfolio
If you’re converting a print portfolio to the online space, make sure you’re not limiting yourself to print standards. You have the opportunity to interact with your audience with an online portfolio, so take advantage of what’s out there and develop your portfolio’s content with the web audience in mind.
For design inspiration, check out the showcase of portfolios from Michigan State University Professional Writing students, or the portfolios over at Styleboost, a site dedicated to showcasing beautiful web design.
Once you have an idea of your portfolio’s framework and content, start organizing it all. Make your samples user friendly by converting them to HTML, PDFs, or images. Then start looking for a place to store all your files. If you’re a student, you may have access to web space through your school. If you want your own domain name and web hosting company, start shopping around. Check out the Tridea Design blog for tips on picking hosting companies.
When you are ready to launch your portfolio, spread the word using your social networking tools, personal cards, even your email signature. If you’re a designer, check out a recent post from the Help Developer on portfolio sites that will help you gain exposure.
For those of you who have online portfolios, what resources do you recommend? What did you learn through your own design process?
Tags: inspiration, portfolios
Ever since I starting only taking on projects through Tridea, I switched my portfolio over to Carbonmade, which is a good place to put your portfolio if you are terrified of building a website. Since I don’t really have the time to design my own, I just put my work there, and it’s dead simple to use.
I’d also recommend having a professional in your field look at your portfolio before sending it to potential employers. As a graduate student I took a course “Portfolio Workshop” and having a professional review our work and provide feedback was part of the class. I won’t lie — it was actually painful. I didn’t receive the glowing comments I expected, and I was crushed.
It took me awhile to get over my bruised ego (thankfully the course afforded this luxury), but once I was ready to really listen, I realized that the feedback was useful and made changes.
Start early, get feedback, make adjustments.
If any students out there need/want contact info for potential professionals to review portfolios, please email me and I’d be happy to set something up.
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It is really nice and useful for me.
Thank for sharing…
Yes I agree! But as long as you are very creative in making your portfolio you will really excel. A good design is a big plus to you.
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