You’ve done your research to find an opening well suited for you, you’ve put together a killer application specific to that position, and now you’ve been called in for an interview. At this point hopefully you’ve had the chance to ask questions about the upcoming interview and what to expect so you have a decent idea of what the expectations are on the interviewer side of things. Perfect, It’s now time to put together your portfolio.
Be Selective
The first thing to remember is that you won’t have time to show everything in your complete portfolio, and to be honest, you shouldn’t even want to. You want to make a careful selection of work that allows you to show and speak to your strengths and to your ability to fit the role the company is looking for specifically. Additionally, you want to edit your portfolio down to only the number of pieces that you can confidently speak about in the time allotted. Remember if you only have on average 15-30 minutes to present, you’ll only have a precious couple of minutes to present each project you’ve selected.
I’ve found that most candidates can easily use up two minutes on any one project. I’ve also found that when they spend less time than that, I find myself feeling like they didn’t have much to say about the work, and that it should have been cut or better prepared. Exceptional candidates seem to be able to engage me on some level using 2-3 minutes per project and reserving 3-5 minute time slots for only one or two select projects that emphasize something really special.
Consistency seems to play an important role as well. I’ve noticed that when one project is singled out for reasons that aren’t clear to me, that momentum is lost and the spell gets broken. This is especially true when the candidate begins pointing out visual components that are already apparent to anyone in the design industry (specific colors, typefaces, number of columns,etc). Once this happens, it is pretty difficult to get a good momentum back for both the presenter and the audience. A good rule of thumb is not to describe the work but instead to talk about the experience of creating the work. This can be the client experience, the decision-making, the process, or the research that may have gone into it as examples.
Your Best Work
Your projects allow you to talk about yourself. This is an important fact that many people don’t consider when they put together an interview portfolio. It’s easy to assemble a neat package of all of your most impressive bells and whistles, but don’t underestimate your audience. It’s pretty likely that they have already taken a look at your online portfolio and any other work you have available online. Chances are they have already evaluated the work and if you are there for the interview, then you can pat yourself on the back, they see good potential in the work itself.
Though this should alleviate some of the worries that they won’t like your work, it instead puts the pressure on your personality, your process, and your ability to present. This is where choosing projects that allow you to really shine is crucial. Choose projects that you put your heart and soul into, projects that when you talk about them, you come to life. Choose projects that allow you to talk about things that are important to you. It may seem risky, but the best thing you can do for yourself in an interview, is show off what makes you tick as a designer and to a certain extent, a person.
My favorite interviews are ones where the interviewee is able to use their projects as tools for sharing actual experiences they have had. I learn a lot about a candidate from hearing how they worked through a difficult design challenge, how they handled a certain client interaction, or even how they had to hang upside down from a rooftop to get a certain camera angle. These details tell me more about what I can expect from this person than 1,000 portfolio images. These details are also great for helping to imagine how a particular candidate will fit into or adjust to the company climate and what they will be like to work with on a project. These things are much more important than whether or not a candidate has had experience using one technology or software over another, or can recite typefaces by memory.
The Most Relevant Work
You’ve more than likely done some pretty serious research on the company you are about to interview with. If you haven’t, stop reading this and do that right now. You may also want to check out Issue 2: Applying for a Job Is a Design Problem where I spend some time working through the responsibilities and opportunities of the job seeker and outline the job hunt itself.
Let’s assume you have done your research. You’ve studied the case studies and any portfolio work this company has. You’ve read through their blog and any other available material authored by the company or its employees. This should give you a very solid sense of what kind of work they do and the processes they use to get to those end products.
Hopefully, it is because of the things you’ve discovered in your research that you have decided to apply for an open position with this company. It’s also because of all this research, and of course from a very careful reading of the job posting itself, that you should have a very good sense of what kind of work, skills, and process they are looking for in a candidate. With this information you can make sure to include projects that demonstrate your skills, interests, and experience designing using similar processes or for similar clients, subject matter, companies, industries, products, etc.
Fill in Gaps as Necessary
Once you’ve identified the projects that are most relevant to the position and those that best allow for your personality to shine, look for gaps. Make sure that you have covered all your relevant skills somewhere in the portfolio. Common things missed are long-form typesetting (things with tons of text, like articles and books), large-scale organizational experiences, (things where you had a mountain of content that you had to organize into an effective design), teamwork (if applicable), and if you are a student, it is great to make sure to include something from an internship to allow you to talk about client work, working under an art director, and any other relevant business experience. Also, double check that if you have any other special talents or skills that those are included. These can be things like photography, illustration, hand-lettering skills, community or volunteer experiences, etc.
For each open position there will likely be several candidates called in to interview. Each one will have been selected based on potential seen in application materials and any available portfolio samples. The actual interview is where the cream floats to the top. Once you’re in that interview room you can be certain that the company already thinks you meet the qualifications and that your work is strong, that part has already been decided. What is being decided during the interview is which of the candidates will be the best fit for the work, for the company, and for the culture of that company.
Focus on preparing to present yourself as a person, a designer, and a colleague. You aren’t presenting work, you are presenting yourself. By the time you find yourself in an interview room, your work is simply a visual aid, a storytelling tool expertly used to clearly demonstrate who you are, how you work, and what they get when they hire you.