Here's how you can present your portfolio effectively in a job interview for Strategic Communications.

In addition to visual appeal and targeted relevance, I’d offer this: Showcase your technology acumen with a Sway portfolio. The presentation aspects of this platform offer interactive, immersive ways to highlight your strengths that PowerPoint, Word Doc and WordPress cannot.

Don't just hand your interviewer a generic portfolio. Take time to understand the specific needs and priorities of the organization you're applying to. Research their recent campaigns, target audiences, and communication goals. Highlight projects in your portfolio that directly address these needs and showcase your ability to contribute to their success. Go the extra mile by curating a concise, interview-specific portfolio that focuses on the most relevant work.

Don't just show up to your Strategic Communications interview with a generic portfolio. Tailor it to the specific role! This demonstrates strategic thinking right from the start. By showcasing projects that align with the company's needs and the position's responsibilities, you'll immediately grab the interviewer's attention and effectively highlight your relevant skills and experience. It's a strategic move that makes a clear connection between your capabilities and the value you can bring to their team.

To present your portfolio effectively in a job interview for strategic communications, focus on structure and relevance. Begin by briefly summarizing your experience and key projects. Highlight diverse examples that demonstrate your skills in crafting messages, audience analysis, and multi-channel strategies. Use visual aids to illustrate your work's impact, such as metrics, testimonials, and case studies. Tailor your presentation to align with the company’s goals, showing how your expertise can address their needs. Practice clear, concise storytelling to maintain engagement and leave a lasting impression

Consider using data visualization tools like charts, graphs, or infographics to showcase complex information or trends in your work. This can make your portfolio visually interesting and easier for the interviewer to understand. It also demonstrates your ability to present information in a clear and concise way, which is a key skill for strategic communicators.

In a Strategic Communications interview, your portfolio is a powerful tool. Visual appeal is key - a well-organized, professional presentation reflects your communication skills. Remember, in this field, how you present information is just as important as the information itself. So, choose strong visuals that complement your content and showcase your ability to craft clear, compelling messages. This will grab the interviewer's attention and effectively demonstrate your strategic communication prowess.

The overall delivery of what you’re highlighting matters, including how you show and package it. But also consider context; it’s one thing to tell the story of how and why generating pieces of coverage happened and by whom, but what were the results for the business? Was it a launch that you could also show a chart on the increase of traffic or downloads? Was it an analyst report that generated inquiries from prospects? was this a key result as part of your OKRs? The latter can all be represented in visually appealing ways like charts or diagrams. The combination of the result and its impact on the business translated into quantitative analysis go further than either piece alone.

Explain how you went about understanding the client's challenge and developed a communications strategy that responded to that specifically. Then explain how the results you achieved (hopefully!) helped overcome this challenge.

Craft succinct stories that showcase your strategic thinking and communication impact. Focus on a specific challenge, the actions you took, and the measurable results you achieved. Quantify your successes whenever possible (e.g., increased website traffic by 20%, secured media placements in top-tier publications). Remember, the interviewer wants to see how your skills translate into real-world results. Tailor your stories to the specific role and company you're interviewing with. Highlight how your past accomplishments align with their needs and priorities. This extra step demonstrates initiative and a strong understanding of their organization.

Craft your portfolio to be a compelling narrative of your strategic communication skills. Don't just list projects; showcase them as success stories. For each piece, use concise language to explain the situation, your strategic approach, the actions you took, and the positive outcomes achieved. This impactful storytelling will leave a lasting impression on the interviewer and effectively demonstrate your strategic communication abilities in just 150 words.

The “why” matters a lot. Adding why the approach was taken, the implications for the business and events outside your company is a great way to contextualize and make your examples relevant. If you’re showcasing your ability to help companies improve earned media, can you show by type? 3 great articles but all tied to a company’s funding round might not be the most relevant to all companies for example, instead add highlights that come from product, or customer stories, or slower ‘non news’ periods…articles that are the result of working with other departments like people ops or company culture leaders. It also sets you up to talk about partnering, aligning everyone’s stories, and driving towards a business objective like hiring.

One of the best traits communications professionals can have is being an active listener. Responding constructively to feedback in the interview gives the hiring team examples of how you might respond to working with department leaders within the company. Your follow up note also matters. Stakeholder Engagment and management is critical for earning trust and longterm success within an organization, so provide examples where you collaborated with other departments so they understand your approach. One rule I’ve used internally is assume an executive will go with their intuition as right, unless you can prove it wrong through data.

Professional anecdotes are the best way to demonstrate your portfolio during any interaction. Add specifics wherever possible to lend authenticity to your voice. Lay down in detail the process of your deduction in that anecdote. This will give a 360 degree view of your approach to solving any challenge. And this is the most important data point for any decision maker. Good luck!

Start with the impact and work backwards. Example: In a previous role, I single-handedly ensured my division’s successful transition between vendors while continuing to maintain customer satisfaction metrics above contractually obligated SLAs. Follow up with details to explain from there.