What do you think matters more to employers, your resume or your portfolio? It will always be what’s in your portfolio rather than your resume.
You may ask, what’s the difference between your resume and your portfolio? Your resume will be where you’re going to college or clubs you’ve been involved with, while your portfolio will show the work you’ve completed in your lifetime. Which one do you think will give you an advantage? Of course, it’s going to be your portfolio.
Why do employers prefer your portfolio to your resume? Because your portfolio will depict the work you’ve done and not the work you say you would do. Anyone can go into a job interview and say that they’re a hard worker and that they produce results. But how can an employer believe you?
It’s one thing to be good at school, while it’s another thing to translate your school success into your real-world success. How can someone believe what you will do if you’ve never done it?
It will always be easy to say what you will do. Everyone can say what they will do, but there will only be a few people who actually do it. Your portfolio says what you’ve done, you can’t make anything up. You can apply for a job as a social media coordinator, but what does it matter if you’ve never created a social media account? What about the person who has created a social media account and grew its following? Your actions will speak louder than your words. But just because you know your portfolio will outperform your resume, you may not know where to begin.
Where should you start? If you’re like many people, you haven’t put too much exemplary work into your resume. This is especially true if you’re in your twenties. You’ll be able to put what college you attended, but beyond that, you will not have much to work with. You will need to do something that will allow yourself to stand out.
The best place to start is by reading books and taking online courses. By reading books and taking online courses, you will be gaining skills you can use to help boost your portfolio. You will want to do this for a few months before you apply for online jobs, which will take us into our next subject.
Once you feel comfortable with the skills you’ve acquired reading books and from taking online courses, you can either start a company, apply for freelance jobs, or do both! I’d recommend starting off by using your skills to start a company. This doesn’t have to be an in-depth company but something you can also use in your portfolio and while applying to online jobs.
After a few months of working on your company, you will have utilized the skills you gained from reading and taking online courses. You’ve been in the trenches, and you’re learning what works and what doesn’t work.
This is the time you can start applying for jobs online. I’d recommend using a service like Upwork where there are thousands of remote job postings every day. You can apply for jobs that don’t pay you as much in the beginning. What you’re doing is getting some smaller jobs for yourself while boosting your portfolio once more. Over time, you can apply for jobs that pay you more and more. Within two years, your portfolio is going to better than most of the population, especially if you’re younger.
As you will have noticed, building your portfolio will not be something you’re able to do overnight. If you have nothing on your portfolio, you can’t expect to add accomplishments right away. This will be a process. But during the process, you’re going to develop habits that will serve you for the rest of your life. You will gain invaluable skills and a mindset that will be unrelenting.
How else can your portfolio help you besides standing out? With a service such as eMINDSCLUB, entrepreneurs can look at your portfolio and barter with you for equity in their company. If they really like your work, they can bring you along as a co-founder. You may not think that your portfolio matters that much, but it’s the difference between landing your dream job or doing something you hate. It’s also perfect for the entrepreneurs you meet because they won’t have to be spending their hard-earned cash. And always remember that people will care about what you’ve done rather than what you say you will do!
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