Use a Portfolio in your Next Job Interview

Lowell Sanborn

November 22, 2023

Preparing for job interviews can be stressful. The regret felt after leaving a poor performance haunts. By preparing a portfolio prior to your next interview, you can review your most valuable milestones and present organized support for your claims.

One of the most harrowing situations in career changes occurs when a candidate sits across from an interviewer or a panel of interviewers armed with nothing more than charisma. Right up there with greetings that read “To whom it may concern” this rings hollow and forces undue pressure on a delicate dance of eye contact. Not to say all successful applicants need overwhelm with documentation, but some support is easy and helpful to bring with you.

A few things to consider before your next interview:

• A good resume is a table of contents of sorts for your portfolio. Prove it!

• Every position requires organization

• Similarly to looking put together, presenting a put together portfolio checks boxes

• Interviewers are hoping to trust successful applicants

• Eye contact is tiring

• Speaking about your skills is subject to scrutiny

If these considerations are valid, you gain to benefit from preparing documents in advance. A collection of your work and that packet of documents you will need to actually land the position will show interviewers your skills. Showing interviewers your skills brings the focus of all involved to work and not directly into each others souls. This sharing of notes is more indicative of an actual situation that would occur at work. Something you would like to do…

Ideally, in your next interview you will say everything you can to secure the position. Preparing evidence can help prove what you say. Simulate collaboration while disengaging from tiring eye contact by sharing examples and looking at them together. Successful candidates develop enough trust with interviewers to be offered new opportunities. Prepare a portfolio with a few organized items to support your candidacy.