Photos are really not enough (Photo: Dreamstime)
By Bar Levy, VP of Recruitment at the SQLink Group
The resume is one of the most important keys in the job search process, but there are professions that deviate from this rule – especially when they require creativity. In the worlds of UI/UX, which completely meets the definition, it is your portfolio that will make the difference and attract attention if you build it right. In fact, this is a tool that allows your professional abilities to be expressed – and you should also do UI/UX work on it. Totally meta.
Here are five tips that will help you avoid the common mistakes and stand out from the first moment the employer opens your page.
1. Start with a taste of more
Open at the base: the main page of the portfolio is the place to make a mark and create a positive first impression that will intrigue the recruiters to dive in. This is the place to present your work in a short, engaging and intriguing way. How do you do that? By answering three questions: who, what and why – who you are, what you do and why you are the most suitable person for the position (or what is the added value you bring). Here is an example of a concise and effective self-presentation by Emi Lentz, including an attention-grabbing animation and a short paragraph explaining her value and the tools she uses.
Along with an engaging self-introduction, the main portfolio page should display information such as featured projects, key skills, blog (if applicable) and contact information. This is alongside a navigation bar that allows easy access to all the important information (we’ll get to that later).
2. Tell the story of each project
One of the common mistakes made by many women and UI/UX professionals is to send a portfolio that only includes images. Why is it not enough? Because when it comes to user experience design, it is important for recruiters to be impressed not only by the appearance of the final product, but also by the process that led to it. That is why it is important to include the main works in the portfolio, and to present each of them in the form of a case study that tells a story – from the challenges and goals to the way to the solution and the final result. How do you do that?
- Choose projects that reflect your outstanding advantages, with an emphasis on those that are important to the recruiting company. Choose your best hits, the ones that reflect your value in the best way. The name of the game here is quality and not necessarily quantity.
- The main questions that interest the hiring company are answered: What were the challenges of the project? What personas have you defined? What research did you do and what were the findings? What were the work processes? What were the results on the ground? Here’s a great example of a detailed case study belonging to ZEIT – a fictional tourism company created by DesignLab, but the entire research work, and the website it’s based on, are completely real.
- Show the tools and means you usedsuch as persona analysis, user journey mapping and wireframes.
- presenting the products themselves. It may sound trivial, but it is important to present the products clearly, using large, high-quality images. An unclear presentation of the project’s products will make it difficult for the recruiters to be impressed, and more importantly, it may create the feeling that the cobbler is walking barefoot.
3. Use the wisdom of the masses
When you design a user experience, you do research and know the client’s business environment, right? So this is exactly how you should do it when building a portfolio. What it means? that it is important to look for portfolio examples of colleagues in Israel and abroad in order to enrich your page and get inspiration. These examples will help you add features you didn’t think of, open your mind and create a reflection: why you connect more and why less – in the portfolios of others and in your portfolio .
4. Design the user experience
As people who come from the field, it is important to make sure that your portfolio is user-friendly and gives expression to your abilities, by adhering to a few key elements:
- Usability and accessibility – Make sure that the users (in this case the recruiters) can reach the relevant information easily – enter a specific case story, view one of the products, find you on social networks or contact you, access information from the main menu or from buttons embedded in the various screens. Each of the actions should be accessible and inviting on a visual level as well.
- Personalization – Make sure your case stories speak the language of the recruiters and touch on the points that are important to them, using an attractive copy that presents the work process correctly.
- Design and aesthetics – Along with high usability, it is important to create an inviting and attractive Look and Feel that will make wandering through the portfolio a pleasant experience.
5. Second before the messengers: lick the diamond
Before you launch the portfolio to workplaces, it is important to do a tool test and send it to people from your immediate environment: friends, family, and if possible then also to UX/UI people who will give you feedback on the user experience. The feedback you receive will help you reduce blind spots, provide important insights and reveal elusive bugs.
It is worth remembering that building a portfolio is not a one-and-done process. It is a living and breathing product that reflects your added value and the professional evolution you go through over the years. That’s why it’s important to take the time – to reflect, create, change and, if necessary, make adjustments to who you are and the role you desire. Just like in UX/UI design, so too in building the portfolio – a thorough and thorough process will help you reach the desired result and job.