Thumbs UP :)

Garry

That’s a brilliant question, Tony. I’m going to write up a response as a blog post today or tomorrow. Do you mind if I quote your question?

That’s an excellent couple of points, Troy. And thank you for sharing a perspective from the other side of the interview table!

If anything on UX How is helpful, it is only because I have learned the hard way or from Patrick Neeman, Lynn Teo and the many fine articles and resources here on UX Mastery.

I just spent 4 hours sorting through applications for a role and there were two things that helped me most in deciding whether to engage in a phone screen interview:

1) An online portfolio and
2) A complete LinkedIn profile.

Why an online portfolio?

I have hundreds of applicants for the role and we use a management system, but do you really want me to lose, misplace or forget your attached PDF portfolio? A link to an online portfolio does wonders without the worry – and has the added benefit of being trackable. (Wouldn’t you like to know for sure that someone looked at your portfolio?)

To Gary and everyone else concerned with visual design – I recommend using your preferred portfolio service or simple framework to start: Behance, Coroflot, Cargo Collective, Bootstrap, etc. In the end, products change and at some point you will need to show your work as a series of images, videos or artifacts in most cases. Why not just start the archive process now?

Another benefit of using a service: I will not be judging the UX of the website, WordPress theme or hand-coded HTML – I will be focusing on the content.

If you choose, however, to publish your own site, I will assume you are making deliberate choices in how I experience your content. If the worst part of your portfolio is your website, how many projects do you think a hiring manager will look at?

Why a complete and up-to-date LinkedIn profile?

I whole-heartedly agree with keeping your LinkedIn updated for one reason any designer should love: Consistency. I can quickly and consistently view your employment history (and even featured work) and compare to the job description and other candidates.

Resumes come in every flavor of length, format and quality. After a couple of dozen, it feels like a usability test for a product landing page, over and over again.

I can’t help but echo what Steve Krug taught us: “Don’t Make Me Think”

Best of luck to everyone out there in your next UX role and beyond.

– Troy Parke

If not, you could try:

• asking someone at one of your local meetups and offering an exchange of skills
• asking colleagues for feedback on your own original layout (see point 9 above)
• checking what other UXers have done in their portfolios (but remember you’re wanting to express your own style, not copy theirs)
• using a suitable portfolio template

There’s a lot to be said for minimalism – keeping things clean and simple will let the content speak for itself and help stop you getting tied up in visual knots. Practicing some focussed design when creating your portfolio will also help you apply these skills in future UX projects. It’s a very handy skill to have as a UXer.