Is the portfolio dead?
Over the past months I've been hiring for a medior designer. And the quest has been anything but easy and hasn't finished yet. The response to the job so far is interesting though. Most notably because people did not read anything about the vacancy - but kinda replied anyway. For instance, we are looking for someone who can read and write Dutch as we are active in a field where we speak Dutch - which is indicated in the job description. About 75% of all applicants did not read or speak the language we are asking for...
But something else was more shocking to me.
No portfolio
Out of the decent replies 80% had no portfolio or website showing their work. Their resumes all indicated they are a 5 star performer in just about any tool available - but hardly anyone showcased these skills in a portfolio or examples of work. And if you think the other 20% was standout and gave me proper insight - think again. About half of them used the exact same template for their portfolio!
Really, all portfolios started to look the same to me. Maybe one designer chose a different primary color or a different font, but it was all done in a similar template and setup.
Personal Branding
And maybe this is just me getting old. But I grew up with the idea that your portfolio or website is your opportunity for some personal branding. Your chance to stand out, to be different. To show who YOU are.
How am I to decide which designer fits the team if they all look alike? And if one person is asking for twice the salary than the other - why would I even consider the expensive person if the portfolios are the same? And if you're replying to a medior role, but all of your knowledge and skills is 5 out of 5 stars - what can we expect from you when you're a senior?
By the way - I don't mind exaggerating in your resume. Everyone does. But giving yourself 5 stars on everything with just a few years of experience creates false expectations. Its best to be honest and maybe even use what you're missing in experience in your motivational letter as a reason to come work for us. That you're hoping to become better at our company.
That indicates a couple of things like you are aware you can't be amazing in everything and it is good for the ego of our company because you feel we've got that skill and can teach you. Its a win-win situation. Just be careful by the expectations you're setting by 5-starring in everything.
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Know your audience
Looking at other vacancies on LinkedIn for inspiration I noticed something that I want to put into the mix. Very often the first responder to your application is recruitment staff. When the company was smaller, you'd reply to the actual design lead. The bigger the company the more likely recruitment staff would respond first. And then you could ask yourself - how much does the recruiter at hand know about your profession, about design?
It's important to understand who you're creating the portfolio for. What would this person be looking for? How would you make them feel safe about choosing for you? Give the recruiter a feeling of having found a gem in finding you. What does he or she need to be convinced by you and root for you?
Food for thought
I was just wondering how you feel about this. Is the portfolio in fact dead? I had a chat with someone who said: a portfolio is merely a timestamp. It shows what you've done in the past, sure, but what does it say about your role in the project (what was your work and what was the team's work)? And could you replicate that success for us if we hire you? Financial commercials often state "results of the past are no guarantee for the future".
And there I did not agree. I feel a portfolio can show loads. It can show me your knowledge on composition, typography, use of color, etc. Yes, the work might have a timestamp, but it does show your progress - it shows your skill. A great portfolio actually tells me what you've learned along the way.
Take-away (for me)
To me the portfolio is still a major thing. But I would love to see YOU in it. I want to see your personal branding instead of that templated stuff. But maybe that is no longer the way to look at applicants and I should be looking at other things.
Happy to hear your thoughts on this! What are you looking for in designers when hiring? Should I focus less on the portfolio and more on other things? Which things would that be?
Thanks for reading.
Creative Director at PwC
8 个月The portfolio is definately not dead. Looks to me you are experiencing a sign of the times: mass applying. A combination of a wobbly economy, an exploding skillset demand for designers and GenAI disrupting traditional agencies is creating a flood of designers out of a job. After multiple rejections, applicants choose quantity over quality. They wildly apply for anything and that shows in your mailbox.
Multi-disciplinary Design Partner, working at the intersection of brand identity, art direction and visual storytelling. Based in BE, operating globally
8 个月Hi Corne! Mind sharing the profile you're hiring once more? Happy to share it on next week's 'MONDAY WORKDAY' ??
Principal UX Designer & Serial Founder | Always connecting when not hiking | Be kind ??
8 个月Very very relatable. I've learned along the way that the better the vacancy, the more easy it is to select the right designer. Most vacancies are so full of bladiebla that really every designer fits. So find specifics within your industry, company or even team that are really needed, and select the resumé's/portfolio's/email-reply's that precisely fit those 'requirements' so to say. If you require specific experience in gaming, in certain animation-tools, in certain techniques etc, designers can showcase those projects, or elaborate on those experiences. Receiving 100's of the same cv's or portfolio's must be a nightmare indeed...
Design & Product Leadership | Digital Innovation & Transformation | Inclusive Employee Experience (EX) | "Making Work Safer for Autistic and other Neurodivergent Talent"
8 个月It depends what type of designer you are looking for I guess. Portfolios weren't standard at all for a very long time in UX, and I still argue against them. For visual work however, I believe they do have value. With the rise and notion of the 'Product Designer', portfolios became an integral part of the hiring process, but to me, they never meant much when I was hiring. I can't recall a single portfolio I've seen in my career that stood out and wasn't stock standard cookie cutter UI stuff with some process and methodology sauce on top. First of all, the companies I have worked in operate with very large teams, where almost all work is done in that context. You get way more value out of really understanding someone's role within that team than looking at a few case studies and images that apply to work that dozens of people were a part of. Not even starting the conversation about NDAs especially when you' primarily work for agencies.
Marketing Creative @ First Impression audiovisual a certified B Corp
8 个月Interesting! I had a job interview once and the people in front of me never asked for my portfolio. I thought this was strange… But later in the process they gave me an assignment, with this assignment, where I was asked to create 3 totally different designs, I was able to show them my skills and I also had a insight of what my job there would look like. And no digging in the past with my portfolio ??