In today’s competitive job market, your income and career path depend on your ability to communicate your skills and experiences. To do this, you can choose one of the primary tools: the resume or the portfolio.
Portfolios – What Are They?
Resumes – What Are They?
Choosing the Right Tool
Portfolios vs. Resumes
Portfolios and resumes help job seekers get a job, but they have key differences in vision, tradition, and review processes.
Portfolios – What Are They?
A portfolio is a collection of work samples that showcase a person’s skills and experiences. Portfolios were previously reserved for creative fields.
However, the modern job market has seen an increase in professional portfolios thanks to the gig economy.
The culture of career life has shifted away from singular jobs. While there may be a unique employee in your office hired directly by your company right after graduation, it is rare.
Workers are not only changing jobs regularly, but they are also switching career paths more frequently.
Christina Wallace, a writer and faculty member at Harvard Business School, described putting yourself in only one job as “the riskiest move you can make” in her book “The Portfolio Life.” She estimates that 29% of workers have changed their career paths since graduating college.
This need for professional portfolios has increased. These repositories are a way to showcase your work that focuses on demonstrating skills rather than summarizing experience. Professions that operate this way are on the rise.
It’s called the “portfolio career,” encouraged by the gig economy, where workers exchange one full-time salary for contract-based roles. This state of economic uncertainty is fueled by events like pandemics and recessions.
A portfolio includes details such as the type of work you do and your experience. It can also include any multimedia that showcases your skills and experiences, such as: images, videos, audio files, video testimonials, a statement of philosophy, endorsements, and written reviews.
Advantages of Portfolios
When does a resume excel over a portfolio? Let’s look at the main advantages of using this tool to showcase an individual’s qualifications.
You can showcase skills definitively. A resume is a brief description of your experience, while a portfolio is a complete set of a person’s skills. It doesn’t require you to take complex projects and summarize them in a brief paragraph.
No need to summarize an entire career path to fit two pages or one page.
A portfolio displays all your skills, experiences, and past successes in one simple package.
Attorney Ahn Min Hwan said, “In the rapidly evolving professional landscape today, the lines between portfolios and resumes are becoming increasingly blurred.” “Many professionals choose online portfolios or personal websites where they summarize their resumes and showcase examples of their work and testimonials,” he says.
Visuals show instead of tell. While portfolios were historically used by web designers, writers, and others in creative industries, they have become more accepted with the rise of the portfolio profession. This was seen as the key difference between a portfolio and a resume.
Portfolios are strong and persuasive, especially when it comes to showcasing creative talent.
Gab Maruska, founder of Digital Finest and an experienced web designer, said, “As humans, we are emotional decision-makers and often act based on what we find visually appealing.” “In the creative field, having an eye-catching portfolio not only makes you stand out among competitors, but it speaks louder than words,” says Gab.
You can demonstrate capability. In a world where more than half of Americans admit to lying on their resumes, portfolios cut through the noise. They show potential clients and employers money.
Amanda Sixton, founder of FocusWorks, said, “While the resume tells me the history, the portfolio shows me the capability.” “A portfolio is essential if you’re in a field where your work can be visualized, experienced, or interacted with – like design, content creation, or web development. It provides tangible evidence of your skills and achievements.”.
Examples
On Portfolios
The resume is limited to just two pages and follows a strict format, but a digital portfolio can take almost any shape to showcase your skills. Let these examples inspire you to start designing immediately.
This portfolio example from Nesha V. Frazier features a variety of writing samples.
What we like: This portfolio showcases writing examples categorized by type. It spans multiple pages, which is easily achievable in a portfolio thanks to its flexibility.
The next digital portfolio example is from Ralu Enea, highlighting her skills as a web designer and emphasizing her volume of positive feedback.
What we like: The shots featuring happy clients make this portfolio feel authentic and incredibly compelling.
This final digital portfolio from Gabe Marusca displays his work in web design.
What we like: This digital portfolio takes large project samples and makes them easily viewable. It presents the work in an easily digestible format rather than leaving viewers feeling overwhelmed.
Expert Tips for Portfolios
The most obvious difference between portfolio design and resume is that the portfolio can take almost any shape or form. Rather than being overwhelming, let it empower you with these tips from resume writing experts for better results.
Use a tagline. While the portfolio is a collection of your work, it can still have a sense of organization and structure. Here, a tagline can help provide a brief purpose or summary statement.
Iran Mizrahi, CEO of Ingredient Brothers, said: “An attention-grabbing tagline is a great way to inject individuality into your portfolio while giving companies a brief overview of what you can offer them.” “Bring a little excitement to the mix by adding a memorable statement or tagline.” Ingredient Brothers summarizes their product with a memorable tagline on their website:
Keep your portfolio focused. A portfolio does not need to be an all-encompassing summary of your career. While you may have work samples that span many years and different projects and industries, a focused portfolio helps hiring managers or clients feel more excited than a broad portfolio.
Gabe Marusca said: “To create an awesome portfolio, I recommend showing off your best projects that highlight your ideal clients.” “In fact, the images in your portfolio should be high quality and focused on grabbing the viewer’s attention.”
Resume – What Is It?
A resume is a document that summarizes your work experience as it applies to a specific job. It typically spans one or two pages and is accompanied by a cover letter, showcasing relevant experience in reverse chronological order and tailored for individual job applications.
The concept of the resume hasn’t changed much in your lifetime; in fact, it’s one of the few aspects of the hiring process that hasn’t changed.
A well-designed resume will showcase relevant skills in a quick and easy-to-read format. Generally, a resume should include any relevant accomplishments that demonstrate the person’s qualifications for the job.
Some standard features of resumes include: personal skills, contact information, work experience, relevant skills and life experiences, academic and professional qualifications, relevant volunteer jobs worked, and a professional summary statement (sometimes called a professional summary statement).
Although the resume itself hasn’t evolved much, the way it is reviewed by hiring managers has changed. It is estimated that resumes are reviewed for less than 10 seconds by a potential employer.
Job seekers can still enhance their resume writing and see better results. Here are some advantages of using a resume over a portfolio.
Advantages of a Resume
How can a document made up of one or two pages outshine a portfolio? Here are the advantages of using a resume in your job applications.
It is
A universal tool. While designing a creative portfolio can take days or weeks, a resume is a straightforward and universal tool that doesn’t need to keep up with trends (no matter where you are applying for a job).
Amanda Augustine, a certified professional coach and certified professional resume writer, and career expert for ZipJob said: “The moment you decide to start looking for a new job, you immediately become a marketer, and your resume is a key part of your personal marketing toolkit.” She added that “the resume is often the first point of contact between you and a potential employer and will shape their first impression of your qualifications.”
You will create a snapshot. While a portfolio gives a sense of endlessness, a resume is a concise and convenient view of your professional qualifications.
Getting to a great resume takes much less time, thanks to its concise and expected nature. Additionally, not having to reinvent the wheel saves you a lot of time.
Brad W. Minton, certified career consultant and founder of Mint To Be Career, said, “The resume is a glimpse of your career for employers.” “If it is well-crafted, it provides an overview of your best accomplishments that are relevant to future targeted roles so that employers can get a quick indicator of your added value.”
Resume Samples
Let’s take a look at resume samples provided by professional resume writers and career experts. These resumes focus on different roles, fields, and levels of experience.
This first resume example was provided by Andrew Fennell, director of StandOutCV. It is an example of an entry-level job focusing on academic achievements:
What we like: This resume format utilizes color and design while maintaining readability.
The following resume example was provided by Sylvia Glenn, executive resume writer for Ultmeche. It is based on the well-known Harvard resume template:
What we like: This simple design without embellishments is best for AI readability, showcasing all the relevant skills and experiences that hiring managers need to see.
This last resume example was provided by Brad W. Minton, certified professional resume writer and founder of Mint To Be Career.
What we like: This resume features a straightforward design that passes AI checks, but it also includes some subtle design choices that will showcase your personality to employers.
Expert Resume Tips
Is your resume ready for your job search? In that case, it should be well-designed, updated, and ready to impress hiring managers. Use these tips from expert resume writers to achieve that.
Translate experience, skills, and talents to the desired role. A generic resume submitted to many companies will not achieve the same results as a resume that details your skills and experiences as they relate directly to the desired role.
Brad W. Minton said, “A truly strong resume depends on how well you translate what you have done into what you can do for the next role.” “How you do that is by researching the position and the company, showcasing how you have developed your relevant skills for the role you are now pursuing, along with creating a quantitative and qualitative impact.”
Design resumes for functionality. Designers, writers, and other creatives will be tempted to add unique and eye-catching touches to their resumes, but this style should be reserved for your portfolio. Overly creative designs cluttered across a two-page or one-page layout lead to confusion and sacrifice functionality.
Andrew Fennell, director of StandOutCV, said, “When formatting and structuring your resume, you should think about its functionality rather than just making it look pretty. It should be easy for recruiters to read and find the information they are looking for.” Fennell recommends clearly defining sections with distinct headings and white space. The text should be broken into bullet points, and the color and font scheme should be clear to make the text perfectly legible for readers.
Do
By updating and including your LinkedIn account. Resumes and portfolios are not independent sources, as resumes can contain clickable links to other sources. Hiring managers often rely on another snapshot of your skills and abilities: your LinkedIn account.
Mike Basso, founder and CEO of Sales Talent Command, said, “My first piece of advice for a resume is simple, but we often see it ignored as hiring officials. Include a clickable link to your LinkedIn profile right under your name on your resume.” He added, “Due to its expected format, many hiring managers and recruiters love reviewing a candidate’s profile for additional information.”
If you need convincing of the power of LinkedIn for job seekers, look for someone active on the platform and check out the work experience section of their account. You may see the phrase “LinkedIn helped me land this job,” which you can see on my account for a job at an SEO company forank:
Mike Basso said, “Your LinkedIn profile can do a great job of distinguishing you from other candidates if it is well optimized. So, make it easy for hiring managers to find that great LinkedIn profile when considering you for opportunities by optimizing it.”
Choosing the Right Decision
When making a decision between a portfolio and a resume, check whether a decision has already been made in your favor. The first question to ask is: what does the hiring manager or potential client want to see?
The discussion of portfolio versus resume ends if the hiring process has already been clearly defined. When the hiring process is less clearly defined, think about how to best embody your experience and skills and assess those factors.
What resumes are other candidates presenting for this position or contract to showcase their skills? Does your work require a detailed explanation of information, or can it fit on two pages or one page? How can you prove your success in previous roles? Do you have visual examples of your work?
As you gather all the evidence of your skills, you should consider whether a portfolio or resume can better showcase your skills and experiences.
If work samples and examples of your work will help you stand out to the hiring manager, then aim for a portfolio. Designers, writers, and anyone working with multimedia will be able to showcase their skills better through a portfolio rather than a resume.
However, most open positions will require a resume so it can be scanned using AI and sent through standard hiring pipelines. Sometimes, there is a case for using both tools. When should both be used?
When choosing the tool that can help showcase your professional abilities, the answer may be both. When used correctly, a portfolio and resume can work together rather than against each other.
When hired correctly, they work in your favor.
Neil Djeric, founder and career consultant at CareerBoost.io, said, “In some cases, using both a portfolio and a resume can be extremely beneficial. For example, if you’re applying for a marketing role that requires both strategic thinking (resume) and creative execution (portfolio), presenting both can give you an edge.”
Include a link to the digital portfolio directly in your resume and also use the portfolio as an excuse to connect with hiring managers and provide additional information.
Getting Started
Creating an effective portfolio or resume is a necessary task when presenting yourself to potential employers and clients.
With these examples, best practices, and expert tips, you are ready to showcase your talent and impress every hiring manager.
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