Through our research at Center Centre, we’ve noticed a change in demand for UX portfolios. Today, more hiring managers require UX candidates to have portfolios that showcase their UX skills and experience. Job titles and descriptions on a résumé don’t always show a hiring manager if you have the skills they need. Hiring managers need to see evidence of your design experience to know if you’re a good fit for their team.
Hiring managers want to see more than just finished work in a portfolio. They want to see your work process, from start to finish. An up-to-date portfolio can help you land an interview, and it can help you tell the story of your work process.
The best way to keep your portfolio up-to-date is to is to document and collect your work over the lifetime of a project. Sit down regularly—about once a week—and take stock of the project. Take photos of your sketches. Collect screenshots of your process. Take photos of the sticky notes on your office wall. For each project, record notes about the challenges, the process, the solution, and the outcome of that project. Your goal is to collect materials that help you tell the right stories in your portfolio.
Keeping an up-to-date collection of your project work allows you to have the materials you need to update your portfolio quickly. You avoid the daunting process of trying to remember everything you’ve done since you started your current job.
An up-to-date portfolio also allows you to make career moves more easily. When your collection is up-to-date, you’re prepared to apply for a job because you can assemble a portfolio in a short amount of time. You don’t have to spend extra time gathering materials to put into your portfolio.
Creating a portfolio doesn’t start when you’re ready to find your next job. It starts long before a hiring manager asks you for a portfolio. It starts when your work starts.
Creating a portfolio at Center Centre
Shortly after students start classes at Center Centre, we’ll help them learn how to build a collection of materials for their portfolio. As students approach graduation, they won’t rush to create a portfolio from scratch. Instead, they’ll have the pieces they need to construct the story they want to tell through their portfolio.
Become a Center Centre student
Would you like to graduate from Center Centre as an industry-ready, junior UX designer with a portfolio that helps you land an interview? View our full program or apply today.
More resources on UX portfolios
To learn more about creating a UX portfolio, pre-order Ian Fenn’s upcoming book, Designing a UX Portfolio. You can also purchase Ian’s seminar, Sharing Our Stories: Designing and Reviewing UX Portfolios, from the All You Can Learn video library.