My portfolio doesn't showcase the product. It became the product

Careers & Mentoring
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#1

Everyone keeps recommending that us new ux designers stop uploading pretty screen shots and show us our thought process. I may have over done it. A few professionals said “good job with explaining your thought process” and others say “i have no idea what is your product and what is your portfolio”

My portfolio gets most recruiters to look at it and respond. But unfortunately, the response is always “you have an impressive skill set, but we found a candidate more qualified for this role.”

I didn’t do any internships and don’t have official agency experience. My resume confuses people because I had to take a year off. What now? :confused:

#2

Are you comfortable sharing your portfolio and resume publicly? That would help us with guidance.

#3

Found it in the welcome topic: http://www.vitaliydesigns.com/

It is beautiful. :slight_smile:

Your case study certainly outlines your processes! It would be great to see another couple of projects documented – perhaps you could split some of the processes across them so that each case study isn’t quite so long.

Aside from that I can’t really fault your portfolio. I’d recommend having a very frank discussion with people that interview you and say no. I’d ask for feedback on how you could interview better and I’d ask them (in a non-confrontational way) how they think you could approach getting experience.

#4

@vitaliy_kharch I am on the same road, I am sharing my portfolio and trying to figure out what they want to see, what exactly blow their minds and pick me.

Today I got an email, this automatic email saying, Hey you are great but NO. So I answer that email asking why? They said:

Your CV is pretty well laid out, but it’s hard to see any of your work. A product designer is sold by a portfolio and all of our candidates clearly state their online portfolio at the top of their CV. I’d maybe also include your linkedin profile, as that helps with transparency.

But I don’t remember where I applied and I think it was through those platforms that only share the info that we feed on the account, so there is no place to upload my projects, only my resume, which means I need to think on my resume and add some works or links to my portfolio or something from there.

Hope this help you with your issue :wink:

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#5

My apologies for my late response. Thank you for taking the time to reply to my question and the constructive feedback! I find it encouraging to hear, especially after met with rejection multiple times.

I have reached out many times with little response. However, one individual was great and left me a thoughtful message. I found it very insightful hope this helps anyone experiencing what I am.

General rule:

there’s more to recruiting than just the candidate their experience. Often times, people forget that timing is an incredibly large factor as well. Sometimes a company may be looking for a candidate who is a very experienced veteran to the field, while other times a company may be looking for somebody a bit more junior and is somebody that can be molded into the ideal employee. The type of work coming into the company typically drives the experience level of candidates that the company is looking for.

Specific to my portfolio:

while the two case studies are great, there is some value in showing the amount (and variety) of work that you’ve done in the past.

One comment I never got to follow up on:

be sure to do your research on the company that you’re applying to, and then tailor fit your communication style to that particular company

My assumption is that this pertains to the cover letter. With that said, I have read that you should tailor your portfolio to the specific company you apply to.

In my situation, should I assume that a portfolio should be thought of as a template that can allow for you to quickly adjust its style of presentation?

Since I invested a lot of time in designing my portfolio a specific way, it would take considerable time to readjust it without a template or design system in place.

Sorry in advance for the large reply. Thanks to anyone that takes the time to read it!

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#6

Looking back at my resume, I am considering placing those links front and center. Possibly adding icons to help catch their attention.

A few times I received questions about my portfolio and whether I have one.

I appreciate you sharing that!

#7

I’d say yes. You should always expect to have to tailor your presentation to your audience and be prepared to pivot.

#8

Hey @vitaliy_kharch, I can totally relate to your pain. I’ve recently revamped everything! CV, Portfolio everything and without success (at least know how to fix some aspects now…). I think there are a few things to take into consideration.

  • Does the company know what they are looking for? Cause if they don’t then how will they know if you meet their requirements,
  • Companies serious about candidate quality will look for metrics. It’s great to have all the user journey maps, personas, research walls, sticky wall etc etc but what was your business impact? I sometimes think that people in UX (especially in South Africa) spend 80% of their time creating beautiful and cutting edge assets but forget that UX should impact business. So make sure to state that!

As for your portfolio:

  • Portfolios can easily be info-overload and people usually just scroll through your case studies, opening a few images and scroll on (I’d suggest some kind of summary of your case studies indicating final results) Almost some kind of “at a glance” view of the post-implemented results… And yeah, preaching to myself as I still need to do that.
  • I agree with the feedback that the showcasing of your case study BECAME your product. This could mainly be because your case study’s presented in the same way that you’ve laid out your website. You need a clear split in “Brand” if I could state it like that. You can have a look at the way I’ve approached my case study showcasing: http://inspiringux.co.za/case-study-2.html - hopefully some tips or techniques for you to split your work from your brand.

Lastly:

  • Do exercise projects where you can get more case studies - even if it’s just from research through to pre-implementation. GIves hiring managers insight into your thinking process and how you approach problems.

I hope this is meaningful information - just remember it’s not always you that’s lacking. In the meantime, keep the good fight going!

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