A tip or two to keep your boss' (and legal's) eyebrows low and your portfolio current.
There’s been some increased sensitivity where I work about what can and can’t be included in design portfolios. Previously, there hasn't been an established guideline when it comes to the work we produce and showing it off for the world. Recently, our team met with our legal department to discuss the do’s and don’ts and I thought I would summarize them here. Let it be known that I’m not a lawyer. I don’t play one on TV. I didn’t sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night. I'm just trying to keep it simple.
In my world, we have a lot of partner relationships. Some of them are quite sensitive. The good folks in Legal simply want to make sure we’re not risking any of those relationships by exposing something we shouldn’t or, worse yet, exposing any customer information.
First, it was made very clear that new found interest in our portfolios is not a gotcha moment. Not surprisingly, this was met with skepticism from the team, although it wasn’t voiced at the time in the meeting (and that’s a problem for another day). The primary question around the virtual water cooler was this… How can I “officially” update my portfolio without giving the impression that I’m leaving?
The answer to this is actually quite simple. Update your portfolio frequently.
If you have to submit portfolio additions to your boss or legal team, do it at the end of the project you’re working on. While you’re at it, do the write up for it and add it to your portfolio and resume, if appropriate. It makes the most sense to do it now since everything is still fresh in your mind. Making your request for portfolio additions at the end of a project or milestone doesn't put you on anyone’s radar. That said, if you wait for a couple of years and submit 6 projects for review at the same time? People are going to assume you’re on your way out.
Process
For us, the process was simple. I recently created a pitch deck that was laden with corporate branding and mentioned some partners. I took the branding out and partner mentions out and submitted it to legal in an email saying that I would like it reviewed for addition to my portfolio. Two days later a response came back. Approved. I will file that email safely away FOREVER. You should keep emails like this, too.
If you wait until you’re ready to leave (or worse, already left) your current gig before you update, you’re waiting too long. We all know it. We all do it. We all curse ourselves for it. Same with tracking yearly goals 2 weeks before they’re due. Updating stuff is the easiest to get de-prioritized. That’s a mistake. We all have made it.
Resumes and portfolios are the lifeblood of the design job seeker. Given that gigs eventually end and some not on our terms, we would do well to keep them updated. Don’t get caught scrambling when you’re already in a stressful situation.
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