Increasing Your Freelance Work Portfolio

It goes without saying that to increase your chances of getting that dream job; you will need a dynamite portfolio to impress your potential employer or your client if you are self-employed. How do you go about doing this? There are several ways to do it, but first let's look at what a portfolio is and why it's important, for those of you that don't already know.

What Is A Portfolio?

A portfolio is an assembled collection of your completed works. It is basically a highlight reel of your career and showcases what you have done and can show what you're capable of. A good portfolio can be vital in securing a job or a client so it needs to look good and really show off your skills. Now, let's take a look at some ways to do just that.

The Right Stuff for the Right Viewer

What this basically means is that you may need more than one portfolio. Sounds like a lot of work, right? Well, it might be but it is well worth it. You need to be good at gauging the type of person your potential employer or client is. Some may want flash, others may want just function. You'll have to find out whether the viewer wants the details of everything you've ever done or if they're someone that just wants the bare bones of your works. Also, you need to factor in relevance. For example, if you were doing architecture and IT and are applying for an IT job, you'll want IT-related works in your portfolio first, not a blueprint of a house you designed at the top. Ok, so now you know that relevance to the viewer is important, as well as the style or substance question. What else is important? Can anything be important?

Anything May Be Important

Even if you personally feel something you've done isn't important or isn't enough to enrich your freelance writing portfolio, it very well could be. For example, if you're looking for your first job after just graduating from school, you want to set yourself apart from your fellow graduates in your class. Projects that you worked on for grades can be included in your portfolio and it highlights two very important facts.

1. You showed up to do the work.
2. You were paying attention and put forth your best effort to complete the project. You show that you have understanding of what was to be done.

Over time, some projects that you included in your portfolio may become irrelevant, but if you're just starting out, keep everything as it could help you land a job. You can even include awards that you received such as for attendance or for your GPA.

Organization and Style

You need to be organized and you also need to have some style when you make your portfolio and organize yourself accordingly. If your portfolio is sloppy-looking, you likely won't even get it looked at much less hired for your job or secure the client that you're after. This is perhaps the most important element you need to focus on.

Conclusion

Increasing your portfolio can be easy; you just need to remember that virtually anything you've worked on can go into it, unless it carries some sensitivity which disallows others seeing it. If this is the case, perhaps in your spare time you can do something similar but without the proprietary or sensitive information so you can demonstrate that you did something without breaching any confidentiality or other agreements that you made. Keep yourself organized, use a little style, arrange it according to the relevance to the viewer, and keep everything around in case you need it. Make sure you're adjustable in case you encounter a different style or type of client or employer. Doing all these things will increase your portfolio, especially if you land that job or client which leads you to other projects that you'll be able to include in the future. Good luck.