What Recruiters and Hiring Managers Get Wrong About UX (and Other) Portfolios
Let’s stop the fluff.
There are too many people who have made it their business to tell you what your portfolio should look like.
Funny thing is, they don’t all agree.
Which means there’s no standard formula or template.
And indeed there shouldn’t be.
Because there’s no standard template or formula for creativity.
The “industry” of portfolio review, training, and so forth exists because of a bigger problem: Hiring processes have made it all about form rather than substance.
How you structure your portfolio and what you say in it matters more than what you actually did. Total BS!
You can see it in their articles when they write things like “I ditch a portfolio when I (don’t) see this or that in the first few seconds.” Total BS!
Are you hiring based on how someone wrote their portfolio? Shouldn’t you be hiring based on the talent someone has?
I know the argument you have. That someone’s talent should be reflected in how they write their portfolio.
Think again.
How many utterly brilliant people can actually write a flashy portfolio?
I’ve seen many insanely talented people who can’t even speak up in meetings – let alone present a portfolio. Do you not need them just because?
So, think again.
What is a portfolio supposed to do?
It’s supposed to answer 3 basic questions.
What was the problem and how important was it?
How did I solve it (again, not because there’s a right answer and approach, but that I applied myself in an interesting way that got results)?
What were the results of my effort?
The rest is fluff.
