Portfolios
A portfolio provides tangible evidence to potential customers of your accomplishments, skills, and abilities. It shows the scope and quality of your experience and training.
Unlike a gallery, portfolios explores each item in-depth to provide a convincing representation of your knowledge and professionalism. A single item in a portfolio may contain a gallery of content related to the subject, resulting in a single portfolio of several galleries.
In most creative fields, such as photography, a portfolio is required to secure a client. If you’re expected to produce creative work for a customer, they will want to review and assess your past project performance.
In fields where a portfolio isn’t expected, it’s still a way to stand out. You might want to include presentations and pictures or samples from projects you’ve completed. Make sure you’re not sharing proprietary information without permission, of course.
If you aren’t sure if you need a portfolio, reflect on your field and consider the tangible items your business has produced. Anything you’ve created that reflects well on your work capabilities should be a part of your portfolio. If you’re still unsure, talk to colleagues in your field about whether or not they use a portfolio.
