With all the calls and emails I’ve fielded over the past two years, this week was the first time that someone looked at my online portfolio before contacting me. (LinkedIn recruiters are shockingly lazy!)
The opportunity wasn’t a good fit, but we had a great conversation, and I learned about an exciting position to share with younger architects.
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My portfolio is a simple WordPress site with the Twenty Fourteen template and these plug-ins:
- Disable Comments
- Fourteen Colors (to change the colors in the template)
- Really Simple SSL
- SSL Insecure Content Fixer
- WP Meta and Date Remover
If this looks like too much, remember the imperative is to have a portfolio. Use a free site builder. (The creative director that I met had their work on Behance.)
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I’m a paranoid employment prepper. I graduated into the dotcom bust of 2001 and finished my masters in 2008. An online portfolio is an essential piece in my professional go-bag (along with a current resume, LinkedIn account, and preprinted work samples).
More than forestalling doom and gloom and compiling old work, building a portfolio signals where you want to go.
It forces you to write.
Writing makes you think.
I built this iteration in 2020. Amidst the global chaos, it was salutary to appreciate my career and ponder the future. As always, the process is more than the final product.
Go make a portfolio!
You’ll get more than a portfolio.