Why Having an Online Portfolio is Important?
Let me start by saying that having an online portfolio is crucial if you want to build your brand, particularly in the US or even across the globe. For those who don’t know, a portfolio is a website having a compilation of materials that tells about you, your work, skills, qualifications, etc. In short, it’s your brand online. They allow you to show and not just tell, what you have achieved in your life so far.
Everyone should have a brand, even if it is low-key. The method of marketing yourself is a skill and comes from practice. To all those introverts out there, including me, who don’t want to boast about anything, let me tell you that you have to boast in today’s world if you’re going to get noticed. One should market and talk about themselves from the perspective of sharing and collaboration and not arrogance or ego.
“Having a consistent, online record of your accomplishments will make you visible on the web and stand out to recruiters,” Angela Hills, Executive VP, Pinstripe.
A portfolio should have an about page where you put some paragraphs about yourself. It can be anything you have done in your field, work you are currently doing, your hobbies, etc. It should have a contact page where you put all your social links, including Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. The last thing that the portfolio should have is a project page where you have all your projects listed for others. These three things would make a simple portfolio, and everyone should at least have this. Almost everyone nowadays asks for a portfolio, whether you are applying for jobs or introducing yourself to another person.
“People with particular technical skills, like engineers and programmers, can show examples of websites they’ve built or projects that used a particular programming language. Don’t just tell me you have this knowledge; show me how you used it.” Angela Hills, Executive VP, Pinstripe
If you write blogs add those also to your portfolio. It would be best if you hosted all your blogs on your website rather than using services like Medium or Blogger. Moreover, if you give talks, then add those to your portfolio as well. It is the best way to show how you contribute to your field.
“You should update your portfolio in the same way you update your resume or your LinkedIn profile.”
I had made my portfolio a year back, and since then, whenever someone asks about me or what I do, I usually send them my portfolio link. Since then, I have been updating my portfolio regularly and included things like projects, talks, blogs, and research work. You can look at my portfolio at https://apurvsinghgautam.me and start making yours if you haven’t already.
It’s straightforward to make a portfolio website, you can get free templates online or use some free portfolio making services to make it, and you can host the portfolio on sites like GitHub for free as well.