When I (or anybody looking to hire someone) ask you to bring your portfolio, I’m hoping to learn more than just what projects you’ve been a part of in your career. (Check out my previous post about what I’m looking for.) As a potential employer, your portfolio is very important to me because it allows me to determine

• what skills you have
• if your experience complements the skills already present in my business
• if you’re starting out in your career, it tells me how much mentoring I’ll be doing
• your potential
• if you’re able to follow instructions
• how I can expect you to  treat my projects if you become a part of our team.

If you don’t want to come to work for me (or for anyone else), here are five sure-fire ways to blow it.

1. Your portfolio is the box you pulled out of the attic

I definitely want to see things you’ve done. I don’t want to have to help you carry a box of “stuff” up the stairs. I don’t want your portfolio’s cart to roll over my foot as we make our way to the interview room. Nor do I want sneeze over the billowing dust when you start digging things out.

Your portfolio is a representation, not an encyclopedia. Pull out the best pieces that show what you can do. If you have a manual, pull 4-6 representative pages out that will tell me how you handle different formatting issues, writing/editing, and that could possibly be a talking point about how you play well with others. If you can’t manage to carry your samples in the crook of your arm in a tasteful binder (that you can manage effortlessly and still shake my hand), you’re bringing too much!

2. Your portfolio is a bunch of loose pages thrown into a manila folder

Every time I see this happen (and I see it more often than you’d think!), I cringe. I mean, REALLY! If you don’t care enough about your work to doll it up a bit, do you really expect an employer to bring you into the fold? I’m not saying you need to go out and spend tons of money on a portfolio. There are inexpensive ways and professional ways to present your work (stay tuned for posts about how to present your work).

Employers are looking for organization and a presentation that is easy to pass around as we’re talking. I’ve been a part of interviews (on both sides of the table) that have had up to 10 people in them. Loose pages are worthless in this situation.

3. Your portfolio is filled with stuff that is CRAZY old

I recently  had a talented candidate bring in work that had been done 25 years ago. Yes, you read that correctly, 25 years ago. A victim of a layoff from a company who had contributed to proprietary projects for 20 years, this candidate didn’t have anything else. Or at least that was the perception.

Potential employers understand holes and even appreciate your ethics in not sharing proprietary information. In fact, if you show something in your portfolio that you shouldn’t the interview is usually over. You’ve just given a very strong representation that you can’t be trusted.

If all you have is something that you did eons ago. No worries, you CAN use it. You simply need to revitalize it. Take a bit of time and redo the piece the way you would do it today. It’s a great before and after opportunity. This simple exercise will show how you’ve grown (or not grown) and adapted to changes in technology over the years. It sets the stage to allow a conversation about special skills or training you’ve had.

4. You have no idea what is actually in your portfolio

It kills me when I sit across from someone who fumbles through their portfolio for something that may or may not be there! Your portfolio is a tool that you use to represent yourself. If you don’t know what is in there and can’t turn quickly to something that supports the conversation, you’re literally throwing red flags at your potential employer’s head. And, quite likely hitting them square between the eyes.

A potential employer wants to see you have a command of what is in the portfolio. If you are one with your portfolio and can use it as a tool to show how your skills you’re discussing, you’re not only displaying your skill set, you’re giving a VERY strong indication of how organized you’re going to be as an employee.

Not only do you look silly and incredibly disorganized, you’re taking up valuable time that can be better spent in other ways.

5. Your portfolio doesn’t leave your hands during the interview

Your portfolio is supposed to show off your skills. Let it out of your hands and let your potential employers actually SEE what you’ve got to show. I can’t see how your sentences are constructed or the fine details of that form you made across the table or room.

When a potential employer says they want to see your portfolio. They literally want to see it. They want to be able to look at the pieces and ask questions about it. They don’t want to sit there and watch you turn the pages and listen to you tell them what you think they want to hear about a project.

When you sit across the table from someone and go from page to page or project to project, you’ve quite likely lost your audience. Instead of wanting to get to know you better and learning how your unique skills will benefit the company, your potential employer is quite likely trying to figure out how to get a word in edgewise and end the interview and get back to the large pile of work sitting in queue and is quite likely the reason why you’re there in the first place.

Don’t want to blow the interview? The basic thing you need to remember that your portfolio’s purpose is to reperesent you and give you a common area around which you and potential employers can have  a conversation about how you are the perfect person to be a part of company or project.