Your Portfolio IN 2023!

Hi Alison. Wouldn't it be lovely if there was a single portfolio format hiring managers would tell us they're looking for?! Because on one hand, it's nice to have the freedom to create our own portfolio approach. But on the other hand, it's stressful not knowing if what we created is what a particular hiring manager wants to see.

Taking a look at examples is always a good first step. And you've pulled up some great ones from our most recent e-learning challenge on portfolios and the Must-See eLearning Portfolio Examples article from Tim Slade's E-Learning Designer's Academy. Here are a few aspects of those examples that align with some of the things my hiring manager friends have recently mentioned they look for:

• Jonathan Hill's portfolio does a good job of organizing his examples into a few content categories, so they're easy for reviewers to skim through and find what they need.
• The projects in Montse's portfolio have titles that make it easy to understand what they are. And when you click through to each one, she often shares insights into her design process. That could be helpful for hiring managers who were once e-learning creators themselves.
• Jessica Bradt's portfolio makes a real visual impact! It functions as a combo portfolio/resume, which is a neat way to do something a little different than the usual setup. And her project descriptions do a nice job of summarizing what informed her design process.
• Dan Graham's portfolio for the Digital Learning Studio does an excellent job of making it clear what they do (and don't) specialize in. And the individual project descriptions highlight the project goals—something that makes it easier for a hiring manager to assess the quality of a project.
• Amanda Nguyen's portfolio has a clean design and is another good example of making one's specialty clear. Her example descriptions also give an excellent amount of detail on the project challenge, solution, and results. While you may not have the results data for your contract projects, providing information on the other two categories used here would likely land well with hiring managers.
• Cath Ellis' portfolio is another example of clear design, sharing one's specialty, and example descriptions that give readers insight into her design process.
• Nyla Spooner's portfolio is stunning and is another one that showcases a person's specialties. She also smartly included a section on her podcast, which is a good way to help potential employers/clients see the breadth of her expertise.

There were two other resources I thought of that you might find helpful as well:

• The E-Learning Heroes article 5 Things to Include in Your E-Learning Portfolio.
• This short video from Tim Slade: eLearning Portfolio Mistakes to Avoid. His YouTube channel actually has a number of other videos on the topic that might be worth checking out too, including this longer chat with Ashley Chiasson on how to build an e-learning portfolio.

Best of luck with refreshing your portfolio!