Career, Marketing, Writing, Content Creation

How To Build A Portfolio (Even If You Don’t Have Experience)

Newsflash: You can!

I know how hard it is to be in the creative and digital marketing industry where portfolios can be one of the deciding factors if you’re going to get hired. It’s not like other jobs where we can walk in there, smash our interviews, and get hired because, in this industry, we need to walk to the talk. They need to see what our works look like and our creative process.

If you’re from a different industry and want to join the creative or marketing side of the world, I’ll show you how to create a portfolio even if:

• You don’t have experience
• You’re in the middle of a career transition
• You don’t have actual output to include in your portfolio

1. Create sample works

If you don’t have experience yet, you can still create sample works by doing pro bono work, designing pseudo brands, and more. I’ll break down a few creative areas and cite some examples.

Writing:

• Long and short-form articles
• Re-writing a copy from advertisements (for Copywriters)
• Sample sales pages, newsletters, etc. for a pseudo or existing brand (without claiming you worked with them)
• Offering to write social media captions for your friends or anyone who runs a business on social media

Design:

• Creating random designs, really, to showcase your style
• Creating designs for social media businesses (doesn’t have to be a long-term project)
• Making web mockups, wireframes, etc

Website development:

• Creating web mockups can also work here, but you can create sample websites to showcase your web development skills
• Prepare a presentation detailing your website, like the process, research, goals, etc.

Social media:

• Take on pro bono clients or short-term internships to manage social media accounts
• If not social media management, you can create a strategy for a brand or client of your choice
• Create your own social media account (not personal, if possible) and use that as a case study
• Make social media designs to highlight your content marketing and creation skills

There are still more things you can do but these will help you kickstart your portfolio, especially if you really have nothing to showcase.

In my case, I created 3 web mockups and told the details behind them — my process, brand positioning even if the brand doesn’t exist, some social media posts, outdoor advertisement, web copy, etc.

2. Compile your works

This isn’t limited to the ones you created on your own. You can include your work in school and put them in a file. Literally, anything that you think can work, compile them. If there are some adjustments needed, do them. Once you have all your work compiled, it’ll be easier to create your portfolio.

You can use Google Drive but some use this as their portfolios as it is. They just send out the links, but it’s your choice.

3. Create your portfolio

There are different ways to create your portfolio and to be honest, each of them serves different purposes. That’s coming from someone who made a website, PDF file, presentation, Instagram, and other platforms as her portfolio (AKA me).

PDF file

You can create a PDF file through Canva, Photoshop, or Figma but the easiest is Canva if you’re just starting out. You can have it in A4 or a presentation size, but I personally prefer the latter.

The thing about PDF files is they’re kind of limiting. You can’t just paste the links or attach them anywhere, but it’s doable. You can include them in your:

• Cover letter, CV, or resume (but you need to use cloud or file sharing platforms, like Google Drive or Dropbox)
• Attach them to emails

Creating a PDF file for your portfolio is a must even if you have another one because some companies require you to upload a PDF file.

Canva

Canva lets you create a static website. It looks like your regular presentations or slides but you can have a URL or domain as if it’s your own website. You can also create a presentation template and export it as a PDF file, like what I mentioned earlier.

Website

If you want to go all out, creating your own website is the best option for you. You have your own domain and space on the internet. You can create a portfolio website on:

• Squarespace
• WordPress
• Carrd
• Cargo

This is perfect if you have the budget, though. Since perfecting your website can be hard and pricey. I do not recommend this if you’re still looking for a job.

Social media

Surprise! My social media platforms have been my opportunity magnets. It’s also funny (in an amazing way) because I get interviews for potential positions (the ones companies haven’t established yet) through social media.

If you’re a designer, you can create an Instagram account to showcase your design. This also connects you to other designers in the industry and makes you more discoverable.

Blog

For writers, it’s important to make a space that highlights your writing. This means you need to choose a platform that supports heavy text content. You can create a blog through these websites:

• WordPress
• Medium
• Wix
• Your website

If you have a website, you can create a blog section. If you’re not buying your own domain, a WordPress, Squarespace, or Wix website should be enough. They have options where you can use their domain instead of a .com but you need to pay to get your site published on Squarespace.

Wrapping up

Even if you don’t have a job yet, it doesn’t mean you can’t create something on your own. In the creative space, a portfolio is one of the most important things that can make you employable.

If you need advice, don’t hesitate to connect with me on LinkedIn.

Disclaimer: Creating a portfolio is different for everyone. Take my tips as an opinion.

All words written in here are originally from me and based on my personal experience. Don’t copy or redistribute.