I need a little help.
Maybe more than a little. I have been freelancing for the past 13 years and I have decided to look for a full-time position. The problem is I don’t know what hiring managers are looking for in a portfolio anymore. I have thrown together a site with a bunch of my work on it and I need some advice on how to make it look more professional. The link is below. Any advice is welcome.
Showcase your designs on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a great place where recruiters look for talent.
I had to hide my resume on Linkedin from everyone except those to whom I applied.
I kept getting approached en masse by AI recruiters. That alone would not have been so bad despite most of them offering me jobs on the opposite coast of The USA from the one on which I live or even halfway across the world - but the last straw was when I got an email claiming to be from an AI chatbot recruiter telling me to CALL their AI Voice Chat bot to proceed!
I replied with vast amounts of profanity and accusing them of exploiting unemployed and desperate people to train their bot for free. Then asked how much they’d pay me to talk to it.
AI is a great tool and even a fun toy, but if you are as offended as I am by people putting it in roles that actually make decisions about people’s lives (rather than just forward info to a human who can do so for first contact) I would suggest avoiding Linkedin.
If that doesn’t bother you, ignore me.
Just fair warning about what you may be getting into using that site.
But desperate times and all that, so to @Kevlar ; do what you need to do to survive.
Good luck!
LinkedIn’s value depends on the individual. It works well for some but not others, and success relies on identifying legitimate recruiters versus scammers.
Before I semi-retired, I spent years reviewing portfolios and deciding which design applicants to hire. Who to hire varies from one art director and position to another, but I have a good sense for what works and what doesn’t.
The first thing I noticed was the need to improve the kerning on your first page. There is far too much space between the letters k e v. If it were me, I’d tighten it up with inline CSS. Edit: I just noticed you’re using Adobe Portfolio, which doesn’t allow custom coding, so you might want to use a different font or even an SVG file.
However, the biggest problem is the volume of work in your portfolio. A portfolio should showcase only a handful of your very best work, not everything you’ve ever done. A portfolio review will always focus on the best and worst pieces, so grab a knife and start trimming until you’re left with only what you consider your best work.
Very much so! Kind of what I was saying, just less cynical, but as our Resident Pessimist I phrased it as I did.
I know it works for many people, but I just got a bad feeling from the flood of AI stuff that was obviously absurd and used another site more aligned to the work I was seeking (I’m not an Artist by trade, but it’s a hobby and a good side thing and while unemployed looking for work as a Chemist, it’s my best source of income).
Thank you all for replying. This has been helpful. I have been making some changes to the site. If you have the time, take a second look and send me some more tips.
I’ve already taken a look at your portfolio. You have 5 designs, which seems sufficient. Have you tried applying for any jobs yet? And as I mentioned before, please add some images to LinkedIn so they catch the attention of recruiters (just be careful of scammers).
Thank you for responding.
I am a little confused. Currently there are WAY more than 5 designs on there.
Agreeing with Just-B’s point about volume — I’ll add a practical way to cut it down without losing the work you’re proud of.
Curate for the job, not the archive. Most reviewers spend under two minutes on a first pass, so lead with your 8 to 10 strongest pieces and put your absolute best one first. Everything else can live in a “more work” section for people who want to dig deeper.
Give each piece one or two lines of context. A short caption like “Brief: rebrand a local bakery. Result: new packaging increased their shelf presence across 12 stores” turns a pretty picture into evidence that you solve problems. Clients hire for outcomes, not just aesthetics.
Fix the small details before you send it out. Things like inconsistent kerning or mixed presentation styles stand out fast to reviewers, and they undermine otherwise strong work. A quick proofread pass on every page is worth an hour of your time.
Good luck with the job hunt — showing 13 years of experience is a strength, and a tighter portfolio will let it shine.
thank you. I will take this advice to heart