Don't obsess over your portfolio. Focus on your CV instead.

View profile for Laura Baker

Managing Director @ Fearless™

Might be a bit of a controversial one but worth sharing because a few people asked off the back of a recent post. Most designers obsess over their portfolio. They: - slave over it - redo it - polish it. - chuck it out and start again And don’t get me wrong, a folio is important. But it often doesn’t hold as much weight as people think. It’s a stepping stone to an interview. It won’t ever really get you the job on its own. Meanwhile, the CV, which can be just as, if not more important, often doesn’t get nearly the same care and attention. For context, in the last four roles I’ve hired for: Content + Marketing roles → 100% - CV, no folio Service Design → ~90% - CV, folio was more of a sense check Product Design → ~60/40 split - leaning more towards folio Even in the Product Design case, that CV was really important. It’s the thing that gets you through the first filter, frames your story and gives weight to the work that follows in the folio. So my advice: a) don’t kill yourself over the portfolio. b) put a decent level of care / thought into your CV. (FYI - please leave off those silly slider things … they’re not helping anyone 😬) #Design

Laura Baker

Managing Director @ Fearless™

2w

Appreciate that this is just my personal (hiring) sentiment and others maybe care about a CV more or less then I do. That said, can't hurt to think about your CV also :)

Agree with all of this, especially the sliders!!

Craig Jamieson

Building products, teams and experiences people simply love | Top 1% Mentor in Design on ADPList | Expert in Digital Product Design, UX, UI, Design Ops, Design Systems, Design Sprints and Creative Strategy.

2w

Rating your skills has to be one of the most off-putting things on a CV. I do not care how you rate yourself, there is no way to measure that factually. I will see what you can do through your work and your experience.

Carlo C.

FREELANCE - UX Manager and Product Designer / Webflow developer / YouTuber / Dad :-)

2w

balancing your cv and portfolio is such an eye-opener. quality over quantity.

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Matt Bailey

Design Leader | UX, Product, Design Systems & Design Ops | I connect people, ideas, and opportunities to drive impactful, scalable solutions.

2w

The sliders, lols!

Jessica 🐕 Goldman

Senior product/UX designer focused on craft, growth and strategy

2w

Designers will do this because there are other hiring managers out there saying the opposite … with all of the conflicting needs and wants of hiring managers out there no one knows what to do, hence the constant reworking of one’s portfolio

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