By Brenda L. Peterson, The Layoff Lady

Employers are trying to find someone to solve the unique problems their business has. Recruiters and hiring managers will want to make sure that candidates have the skills and competencies included on their resume. Let's look at a few ways employers might verify candidate abilities during the hiring process.

Depending on the company, the newness of the position, and the level of the role, there may be more to the interview process than talking with all the stakeholders.
Potential employers may want additional assurances that you are able to complete the key functions included in the job posting.

Many employers will verify the information included in your job applicaiton to ensure it is accurate. It is common for a company to confirm your previous employment, certifications, education, and references. It is also common to ask to see previous work samples, often in the form of an online portfolio, for them to get examples of your previous work. For some roles, the organization, or a hiring manager, may ask you to do even more to ensure that you are the best candidate.

These additional steps often include two key components: pre-employment assessments or role-specific projects. 

As someone who works in the field of learning and development, I expect a potential employer to ask to see my portfolio. During the application process, they often ask for a link to an online collection of work samples. Sometimes, during an interview, an employer will ask me to "talk them through" my portfolio and highlight examples of a specific skill that they find particularly relevent. Alternatively, the hiring manager may commit to looking at my work samples later and ask which ones they should focus on to get the best sense of my skills.

Since I often work in roles where I present in front of groups, I am always ready to make a 10 minute presentation to the hiring team. While most interviewers let me know a presentation is expected, I have also had people ask me during the interview if I could "teach them something" right then. 

For higher level roles, I've often been asked to create a "back of the napkin" plan for how I would onboard myself to the new organization. For example, for a Learning & Development Manager role where I would create the learnign function from the ground up, I was asked to create a 30-60-90 day plan outlining what I would do to get to know the organization and prioritize projects. 

I also have a few additional insights from all of these company-specific I have completed for this laundry list of jobs I did not get.
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• By the time I was doing more elaborate company-specific projects, I was in the final round of interviews for these jobs. 
  
  
• Much of the work I completed specifically as a part of these interview processes I now include in my professional portfolio.
  
  
• I often built relationships with people at those organizations which will help me in the future.  
  
  
• I always had lessons learned from each of those experiences about how I now approach conversations about a new role with potential employers. 
  
  
• I found important boundaries that will serve me well in the future. 
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• I identified a few key red flags I now use to evaluate companies, job opportunities, and hiring managers. 

• Decide in advance how much time you are willing to spend completing projects as part of the job application process. For example, would you be okay with 1, 2, or 5 hours of project work to demonstrate your skills? Determine the maximum hours of work you are willing to do before you are in front of a potential employer. This will help you make a better decision when the situation arises. Only you can decide how much unpaid work you’re willing to do for any given job. 
  
  
• Think about how you might communicate your boundaries during the interview process. You might commit to a specific number of hours of work, offer to do paid work for a reduced hourly rate, or decide to withdraw. Thinking about this before an actual situation is presented to you will help you make a better decision when the question comes up for you. 
  

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• Consider having a conversation with the hiring manager. Typically, I've been pretty far along in the hiring process before custom projects became part of the equation. If you are a strong candidate, and know what you are and aren't willing to do, having a frank conversation with a hiring manager could help resolve the issue. 
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• Assess the projected workload against your interest and likelihood of getting the job. You may need to revisit your previously made decision at the time the work is presented.  As you are closer to the final stage in the hiring process, you may be more willing to take part in a project. Know that your decision on what or how much to do will vary with each opportunity.

What are your personal guidelines for how much time you will spend creating custom work samples during the interview process for a given job? Share your thoughts in the comments. 

By Brenda L. Peterson, The Layoff Lady

Depending on your chosen field, you may be asked to submit work samples at some point during the hiring process. The collection of examples of your work product is often called a portfolio. The content of your portfolio will vary depending on your goals, your industry, and the type of roles for which you are applying. 

Earlier in my career, I had my "me book" that I woudl bring with me when I had in-person job interviews. It was a three ring binder the included neatly organized printed samples of my previous work. I did not give this to a hiring manager, but I would do a brief show and tell and explain each document. In addition, I also included a copy of my resume, certificates from classes I had taken and certifications I had achieved, and transcripts from college and graduate school.

When I attended and interview with a hiring manager or potential coworkers, often someone would ask if I happend to bring any work samples with me. I would often walk them through one or more of my work samples, described the design decisions involved in its creation, and told them the story of how I solved a work problem and how that work sample fit in.

Now, typically a portfolio is expected to be available online. You should have a link that you can share with a potential employer. In some cases, employer may review your work samples later on in the hiring process. Many times, employers may ask for a portfolio link during the application process. Depending on the role and organization, companies may even not consider applications for some jobs which do not include a portfolio link. 

When it comes to determining what to include in your portfolio, it comes down to your overall goals. At it's most basic, you need to make sure you include samples of your work that align with the tasks and projects included in the jobs you would like to do. Here are a few examples:

• If you are a web designer, you may include a brief description of three websites designed, unique featurs of each, and URLs for each of those sites.
  
  
• If you are an eLearning developer, you may include a few examples of eLearning courses you created leveraging different technologies and topics. Perhaps you would would share a Rise course on a new process, a video on customer service skills, and an online assessment on an industry-specific compliance topic.
  
  
• If you are a software trainer, you may share a webinar recording of you facilitating a software training session, a video where you did the voiceover and were on-camera, and a job aid you made including tips and tricks.

Overall, you need to figure out what skills are required, and show examples of how you have done that type of work in the past. 

Your overall goals for your portfolio will help you determine what to include. Depending on what skillset you are trying to demonstrate, here are just a few of many possible focus areas for someone who is an instructional designer:
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• Show skill mastery. Include lessons from eLearning modules created in the same technology, but demonstrating different features and how they can be used for varying types of content like compliance, customer service, delivering presentations, and completing a process.
  
  
• Show range. Include a video, an eLearning module, a job aid, a quick reference guide, and a facilitator guide created to support a team responsibile for customer-facing new product training. 
  
  
• Show a project: Show the process and materials created to do initial training needs assessment, course design, creating course materials, facilitating learning, and results. 

None of these examples is right or wrong. Instead these are alternate approaches you might want to take to support your overall professional goals. 

What skills do you want to showcase in a portfolio? What skills and work examples might you include? What approach might you take to organizing your portfolio? Share your thoughts in the comments. 

By Brenda L. Peterson, The Layoff Lady

If you work in an industry where potential employers want to see examples of your previous work, putting together a portfolio is a good idea. As someone who works in the field of learning and development, I know that it's valuable for me to have additional evidence to prove that I actually have all of those skills I brag so much about on my resume. Whether you're job searching or building your overall career resilience and opportunity readiness, having an online portfolio is a good step to take.

Like any new endeavor, figuring out where to start can be challenging. There are countless options, and even more opinions, on what the ideal portfolio looks like. Here is my five-step process for helping you to create a portfolio that works for you.

This is the step you might be tempted to skip. However, if you don't take a little time to figure out what you're trying to accomplish with your portfolio, you most certainly won't reach your goals.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself to help you clarify what you want:

• Who do you want to see your portfolio?
• When do you want them to access your portfolio?
• Which of your skills do you want to showcase?
• What stories are you trying to tell?

Depending on your answers to these questions, your goals may include one or more of the following:

• Have work samples available on-demand.
• Share lessons learned with select people.
• Tell the story of past projects.
• Showcase evidence of specific work skills.
• Support a job search.
• Build opportunity readiness.​

The answers to these questions will influence your portfolio creation choices.

The specific content you include in your portfolio will depend on your overall goals. In my chosen field of learning and development, here are a few of the kinds of work samples I might want to include:

• Communications plan
• eLearning module
• Facilitator guide
• Job aid
• Learning strategy document
• PowerPoint presentation
• Project plan
• Storyboard
• Technical documentation
• Video
• Webinar recording

Remember, your portfolio is not just about the documents you include. It's also about the story you tell about how you solved a problem and how the artifact you include supports that narrative. 

Once you have identified your goals and thought about the skillset you want to showcase, it's time to choose the specific documents you will include. Here are a few possibilities for locating or creating your actual work samples:

• Class projects
• Previous work (anonymized as needed)
• Projects completed for other organizations
• Publicly available resources
• Re-creations of past work
• Sample projects
• Work samples created as a part of a hiring process

Whether you have existing documents you used in previous roles, re-create samples similar to past work projects, or re-purpose project documents created as part of another interview process, determine what you will include.

Since you are creating an online portfolio, choosing the underlying technology is an important step. While there are countless options available, here are three viable choices to consider:
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• A file-sharing platform: Using Google Drive, DropBox, or OneDrive is a way to stand up a portfolio quickly. You can enable sharing for anyone with the link or set permissions for each person who you might want to access your work. If you have a Gmail account, you already have access to Google Drive without any extra cost.
• A Canva portfolio: Canva includes templates to create a free portfolio. Canva provides video tutorials and several examples from which to choose. Overall, this is a website with a specific focus. While there will be a bit of a learning curve to set up the site, you'll also have additional options for including the story behind each work sample instead of just a list of documents. 
• A website: While most people think of WordPress when they think of website creation, tools like Weebly and Wix have free options with more user-friendly interfaces. You can create a website with multiple pages or a page on an existing website accessible by a direct link. Websites have various options, meaning you have more control over how you create a site but have many more decisions to make upfront.  

Depending on your goals, you may have your portfolio as a website that someone could discover on their own or a link that can only be accessed after you share it with someone. Regardless of your portfolio format, there are a few cases where you will proactively share your portfolio link: 
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• In a job application.
• Included with your contact information in your LinkedIn profile.
• As a link at the top of your resume or cover letter document shared online.
• In an email to a colleague or hiring manager.

At this point, you may be excited about all the possibilities and overwhelmed with uncertainty. Here's my recommendation for creating at least a starter portfolio for yourself.

• If needed, create a Gmail account, then access Google Drive.
• Create a folder called [FirstName]  [LastName] Portfolio. In my case, Brenda Peterson Portfolio. 
• Upload six documents you created that showcase your skills. 
• Set sharing options to view only and copy the link for later use.

Congratulations. You now have a portfolio. Take a week off from looking at it, and then make an appointment with yourself to revisit your portfolio goals and next steps. 

What goals and design choices did you make with your online portfolio? Include your thoughts in the comments. 

By Brenda L. Peterson, The Layoff Lady

Here are a few questions to ask yourself as you determine your portfolio goals:

• What is your main purpose for having a portfolio? Do you need work samples to show hiring managers? Are you interested in sharing examples of websites you've built to entice potential clients to want to work with you? Is your goal to start to gather and label what you have just in case you need a portfolio at some point? Is it just because someone told me I should have one? Figure out your why, then plan accordingly. 
  
  
• Who is your primary audience? Who specifically are you creating this for? Answers may include recruiters, hiring managers, potential employers, colleagues, or people who may be looking for a freelancer.

 

• Who are your additional audiences? Who else might you want to access your portfolio? Perhaps the main goal is to share this with hiring managers, but a secondary goal is to share it with a colleague looking for ideas.
  
  
• What would you like your primary audience to learn about you from your portfolio? Is your goal to show your wide range of skills? Are you trying to do a deeper dive into your whole work process by going deeper on one comprehensive project? Do you want to show how you've used project management principles by highlighting projects in three very different industries? Choose your focus, then create accordingly.
  
  
• How much context or positioning does each work sample need? Can your primary audience just look at a work sample and garner what they need? If not, what context is needed, and how can you provide that?
  
  
• How and when do you want to share your work samples? Do you want them readily available? Does a potential employer ask you to include a link when you apply? Can you share work samples as needed? Or with a URL not just anyone can access?
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• How fancy does it need to be? This will help you decide what technology to use, your budget, and your minimum viable product (MVP). 
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• What is your level of commitment?​ Consciously decide how much time, energy, brainpower, and money you are willing to dedicate right away and on an ongoing basis to creating your portfolio. Be sure to get good and honest with yourself. 

A few years ago, when applying for jobs, I realized I needed an online portfolio to show hiring managers supporting evidence that I could use the learning and development skills included in my resume. I looked at job descriptions for training leadership roles that interested me and noted the specific keywords and skills that were most often included.

From there, I chose work samples to showcase those identified skills. For each sample, I included a brief introduction to position the value of each artifact. I shared a project plan, a pitch deck promoting a company-wide change, a facilitator guide, and microlearning videos on technical, soft skills, and business-related topics. 

​From a technology standpoint, my portfolio was a hidden page on my existing website. That portfolio page was non-searchable and not listed in website navigation, but it was available directly through the page's web address. As needed, I could include that URL on my resume, email it to hiring managers, or include it in an online job application. 

What are your goals for your portfolio? What kind of content do you think it makes sense for you to include? As you are comfortable, share your ideas in the comments.