What is a portfolio? 

A portfolio is a visual account of a candidate’s education, experience, and skills. Unlike the words on a resume, a portfolio provides proof of a potential hire’s abilities with concrete samples of their work. It can also include important documents like letters of recommendation, school transcripts, and newspaper articles. 

Professional portfolios are often referred to as career portfolios, job portfolios, or interview portfolios, while digital portfolios are also known as EPortfolios. Despite these varying monikers, they all amount to the same thing—a visible representation of who a candidate is. 

What are the benefits of requesting a portfolio? 

Now that you’ve discovered what a portfolio looks like, it’s time to examine how a portfolio can benefit your hiring process. Here are some positive aspects of using a portfolio:

• Provide concrete proof: A verbal description of a candidate’s abilities can have little meaning without tangible evidence of their skill. Imagine you need to hire an artist. The term “artistic ability” is highly subjective and can translate into several different outcomes. By viewing real-life samples of a person’s artwork, you will possess a better idea of whether or not their skills match the requirements of the position. It also allows you to quantify the abilities listed on their resume.
• Showcase technical proficiencies: It can be tricky to measure someone’s technical know-how without witnessing it in action firsthand. This is where a portfolio is helpful. If you need to hire a web developer, for instance, a portfolio can reveal vital information. Without perusing a web developer’s creations, it’s impossible to assess their skill level, how well they can meet client objectives, or how effective their designs are.
• Demonstrate the candidate’s style: A candidate can list the right skills on their resume, but how they use them may not be ideal for the position. A writer may be highly skilled in their field, but their writing style may be ill-suited to the role of a technical writer. A portfolio of a candidate’s work can help you choose a writer whose voice matches your company’s needs.
• Accommodate remote hires: If you recruit remote employees, a digital or EPortfolio can be a game-changer. Thanks to these online portfolios, you can access a visual representation of potential hires at your convenience. These can be viewed before any telephone or online interviews are conducted, enabling you to formulate related interview questions in advance. 
• Reveal a candidate’s personality: A portfolio can communicate a great deal about a person’s personality, especially when used in tandem with an interview. Why are personality traits important? When hiring a candidate, it’s wise to determine how well they will mesh with other team members and navigate your company’s culture. 

What are the potential limitations of a portfolio?

All hiring tools have certain limitations. This is why it is wise to incorporate resumes, interviews, and portfolios into your hiring mix. Here are some problems associated with using portfolios in the recruiting process: 

• Include irrelevant information: Some candidates may have one “catch-all” portfolio that they use when applying for a variety of roles. As a result, the skills highlighted within the portfolio may not be relevant to the position applied for, making the portfolio of little use.
• Require explanation: A photo of a completed job can be deceiving. Without a description of a project’s goals, the hurdles overcome, and the candidate’s role in its completion, it isn’t easy to measure their skill. In the case of an interior designer, a picture of a kitchen remodel doesn’t communicate the client’s requirements, the budget constraints, what problems they were confronted with, or how they were solved.
• Emphasize quantity over quality: A portfolio should streamline your hiring process. Unfortunately, some portfolios are packed with outdated and unnecessary documentation, requiring recruiters to sift through volumes of information. For instance, a content writer with several years of professional experience does not need to include articles written for their high school newspaper.

How can you use a portfolio effectively? 

Successfully integrating portfolios into the recruiting process hinges on your organization’s ability to maximize the benefits while managing the limitations. Here are a few tips to help you use portfolios effectively:

Not all jobs require a portfolio

Examine the role’s requirements and responsibilities. Does it lend itself to a career portfolio? Portfolios are a must-have for positions that require a creative or technical output. Some of these positions include graphic designer, writer, web designer, interior decorator, advertiser, model, makeup artist, marketer, or architect. Ensure that the role’s requisite skills and abilities can be better assessed using a portfolio.

Identify measurable criteria

It’s easy to form a subjective opinion of a candidate’s portfolio. As such, it is imperative to develop a set of quantifiable criteria to measure how well their skills meet the demands of the job. For instance, if you are looking for a content writer, you may wish to assess their tone, mechanical accuracy, research abilities, voice, SEO prowess, originality, and how well their style matches the role’s requirements.  

Ensure consistency in rating

In order for a portfolio to be assessed fairly, it is important to establish a consistent and objective rating system. Begin by formulating a rating scale and scoring sheet that each reviewer thoroughly understands. Select several reviewers to assess each portfolio and use the same people to evaluate each one. Ask the reviewers to conduct their assessments independently without talking to other reviewers. These guidelines can help negate outside influences and subjectivity, making the process more equitable for candidates. 

Evaluate portfolios before beginning interviews

By reviewing a candidate’s portfolio before the interview, you can form a more objective opinion based solely on the quality of their work. If you review it during the interview, you may be influenced by factors unrelated to the portfolio’s contents.

Query candidates about their portfolios

After the portfolios have been reviewed, it’s time to conduct a job interview. Now’s your opportunity to ask questions related the candidate’s portfolio. These responses can yield valuable insight into how well their efforts met their client’s requests, what hurdles they had to overcome, and what their creative process looks like. This exchange can help you select the best candidate for the job and foster a stronger relationship with them. 

You now know what a portfolio is and how one can be used to select an ideal new hire. By following a few guidelines, you can integrate this valuable tool into your recruiting process with ease.