I have a confession, this read was more of an audio book, but learn nonetheless I did! The audio book was about how to present a creative portfolio during an interview. Essentially simple steps like 'be professional', 'share your skills' and 'dress appropriately'. For creative folk though, we also need an outstanding portfolio to get hired; but how do we talk about ourselves and our work? Thinking back to my first creative interview fresh out of high school, Lord knows I bombed that one. Mixed with my own experiences, here are some short tips for your next portfolio review:
- be yourself, quirky, knowledgable, passionate, you
- have a story, don't just say "here's a logo I designed", always think of the "yes, and" technique
- tell them who you are as a creative and why you want to be in design / advertising / architecture....
- talk about your work like you know what you're talking about, use industry lingo that makes sense
- address the content of your portfolio and why what you've designed is better
- talk about your skills, not in percentages but with proof
- professionally walk into their office, and have a strong close