Secrets of making irresistible portfolio - Even as a beginner

Free. Welcome, welcome, welcome to this Design for Change podcast. Everybody. I hope everybody is fine. So today we are going to actually see how you can get started to design a portfolio. If you are a beginner in design or if you are experienced guy, how do you iterate your portfolio? Or how you can just update after a very longer time. You're very lazy to start. You wanted to restructure your portfolio. So for all these people, this podcast is going to give you answers. Everybody. Okay, so let's, let's take a lot of notes because if you're not taking action, you're not going to change anything.

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So with that being said, we'll start and let's dive into this topic. Yes, everybody. So portfolio is one of the very important things when it comes to being a designer.

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So all of the people who have a resistance also, oh, I need to make a portfolio. I am very much like it's important and people don't give me job. Again, everything is myth. Okay, so portfolio is first reflection of yourself and your business behavior.

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Yourself and your behavior. So there are five elements. If you take care, you have an excellent portfolio in your hand.

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So just make a note of it. The first thing is you will have to create a blueprint of yourself. It's very important to create that. Because if you wanted to make a portfolio of you, first of all you need to know about you, right? Do not jump into making some websites and all initially. That's like completely waste of time. Every student does it, okay? Everybody does it. Do not do that. First try to write about yourself. Write about your strength, your weakness, yourself, your emotional moments. Why you choose design what you wanted to showcase. Because showcase. If you have that kind of a clarity, only you will know how to project your portfolio, right? If you start blindly that everybody is doing portfolio. Let me also make a portfolio. No, you are just becoming out in the stage one itself. Because design is all about uniqueness, how much flavor you bring in. Again, I've seen people who have got job without a portfolio. Also that's a different topic which I'll definitely talk to you. But this is for people who are getting started. So they should have that confidence, right? So that's why I'm recording this. So you need to write about yourself. Try to take a paper or a diary or something. Try to write 5,000 words about you. Jagdish. It's really high here. How should I write it? At least thousand. That's also too high here. At least 500. You will have to just start Writing about yourself. See, if you are not able to write about yourself, then how will you able to make a portfolio? Right? No problem if you're not. If you're stuck. If you wanted to know about yourself in a slightly deeper way, there is a resource which I put in this podcast also. You can just click that and download it.

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That's like my workbook, which I give for my students. You can keep that as a boundary. See, before taking that workbook, try to start yourself first. If you're stuck, then you can come back to this workbook again. You can take a color printout and you can write it by your hand. I would suggest do it in that manual way. If you're not able to do. No problem. We can take a PDF copy and fill it. Okay, so this is going to help you to create a very good blueprint. This is step one. Step two is you need to prioritize what you wanted to show, what you wanted to not show.

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That's where students are missing clarity. They want to put everything like there. That's like a dump yard. It's not a dump yard.

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So you need to prioritize which you wanted to showcase. Like let's say if you want to showcase your strength, you want to showcase your sports achievement. If you wanted to showcase your skills, which is in research. So try to do that, okay? Try to try to prioritize about who you are, okay? It need not have to always be technical. It need not have to always be hobbies. It has to be in that priority which you wanted to showcase yourself, okay? That is very important. Prioritization and sequencing.

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Third is you'll have to align to different industries. See, certain industries will expect skill set of maybe a good researcher, a good UI UX screen building guy, maybe people who are good in 3D modeling, people are good in rendering, people are good in product management, project management. So make sure you read the description of the company and align your portfolio accordingly. Do not send one portfolio to everybody. That's like complete waste of time and effort. Do not do that. And I also did that and I also got more than 100 plus rejections initially.

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So do not do that. And also try to have two, three projects with you, which is catering different skill set. Jagdish. I don't have any project in one day. You can do a good project. Guys, dive in into my course. I'll teach you how you can do it, okay? You don't need to be genius to do projects. And all you can do a dummy Project you can do one day live project. Also you can do one day a kind of a short what you call copy paste project which is available free templates in online.

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So it's about how you get started and do it. Once you have that materials, you have a sufficient confidence to build your portfolio. I don't have anything, how will I build something that itself is a barrier break that you don't have to worry about it.

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So when you have that projects, try to align with the different skill set of the company and approach there. Even if you send two projects in a portfolio, that's very well enough to make sure that interviewers are getting impressed by your work and they get a notice, they get a a call, they get a call back to you, they get an email to you. So make sure you just place it properly based on the company.

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Fourth is you will have to choose the medium where you wanted to build. Like let's say if you are a fresher, I would say start with Google Slides guys. It's as simple as that. Start with ppt, start with basic word file and convert it into a PDF. That's more than enough to share with every people. Be happy and proud to do that. Okay, if you are something like intermediate and pro, yeah you can start building some website but that's not really what you call cool way. See there is two things called static and dynamic portfolio.

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If you're building a normal PDF which is not interactive, you can just keep it like a static portfolio. You can share it and everything. Behance website and all these things would be like a dynamic portfolio. Again don't get overwhelmed by this terminologies and all. So just be calm, okay? You just have to share what you wanted to share. That's it. Even you can just take a small project which is like in your home there is a grocery which is being delivered. Okay. You find some problems in that grocery delivery system. You can just reiterate that application and create your own project. Simple. It could take hardly four hours of continuous effort to build that entire project. Simple. You can just document that. Simple. You don't have to make a six months quantitative qualitative analysis research. Then only it will get qualified as a project. Again throw this jargon words and everything. People who get selected for most creative fields, they really look for people who are out of these norms. Okay, so Jagdish, what's the point of studying formal design education? That's also needed. But the thing is the end of the day you'll have to strip away and make sure you are very naked. Naked in the sense mindset, like how you can go and solve that problem. That is a big quality which you'll have to put in your portfolio if your portfolio is reflecting that. Let me tell you guys, you don't need a portfolio to get selected if that quality is there with you. So develop that mindset and ability. If you have that clarity, you can talk to people and just get an interview again. I'll be recording a separate podcast also. How you can handle phone call interviews, how you can handle video call interviews, how you can just hook people to start interviewing you if even if you're a fresher, don't have degree, don't have job. But this podcast is going to be helping you to just choose the medium just to start. Okay, initially in this particular fourth point. So you can start with that. You don't have to build fancy stuffs and all. Okay, so either PPT or Google Slide or if you're an intermediate or expert, start using some wix website. It's a very good for building. You can use free plan. You can use slightly upgraded one. It's. It's really good, has a cool features. You can use squarespace. If you're very pro, you can use webflow. Webflow is like amazing tool. Okay, you can use it and this is how you start building your platforms and you can start pasting it in Behance. You can right now create an account in Behance. It's very easy. You can do it in a PDF way also. It's totally fine guys. Okay, so this is a fourth way. So just to recap. First is drawing about yourself a blueprint. Second is making a priority what you wanted to show, what not you wanted to show. Third is how you can align your skill set based on the industry without just blindly applying all the portfolio resume to everybody, even resume. Also you need to restructure yourself based on the company. Make sure everything is editable format. Okay, you can re edit it. Fourth is choose the medium which you really wanted to get started with based on your level. And the fifth and very important thing is what students miss is hook. You need to create a hook in your portfolio. See if you're. If you're sending something to somebody, somebody needs to have something to open it, right? So there are different type of hooks which I'll be telling you.

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The first hook is see in the curiosity section mean in the hook section. The first is a curiosity hook. What is there in your portfolio for the people to just open it and see, do not put everything in page one. Just try to create a snippets, Try to create a small picture where you can also try to create a hook statement like a curiosity where people will go and open your portfolio. That's how you take it. Second is open hook where you can keep collaborations where people to come and just comment on your portfolio. Or you can keep that as an open. If you're building some website or portfolio behance or something where people will come at you so that you can establish that connection and you can make a job or you can make a freelancing, you can make a design consulting, all these things could be done. Third, hook is like a closed hook where you target only certain people for showing your portfolio. Let's say if you're building like let's say if you're a branding designer, if you wanted to build a brand, if you're good in branding and all these steps, make sure your portfolio is like aligned to that particular skill set where you focus only on the people who are branding designers and they'll be having only the hook to just target with you. This is like more in a very higher level. If you're building for an experienced guy, make sure you don't build everything from the beginning. You just make a very closed hook so that only that particular audiences are connected. If you're a product manager, make sure your products, your products and projects are showcasing that manager level skills so people can able to connect with you in that particular aspect. Okay, so that's like a closed hook which you can create. The next hook is you can also try adding some kind of elements where people will just come and interact with you. Like let's say if you're, if you're a free to freelancing, you can put that freelancing project. If you wanted to showcase some kind of like you can just like when kids come, people put a chocolate right? So that they come and take it. So you need to create that kind of a chocolate in your portfolio then. And only that kind of a need and necessity will get fulfilled and matched. Supply and demand, right? Of course people are looking for skills. If you showcase, they'll take you. Which recruiter will tell no? If he is telling no, then why would he come and even interview you? Recruiter's job is to really fulfill their needs, right? That's where their performance and appraisals and everything is dependent. Same like for designers, more concepts we make, that is actually going to count, right? So no recruiter is going to stop you until. Unless you're not projecting yourself properly. Okay, so the fifth hook is you need to make sure you're making an uncommon portfolio. See, everybody knows what will be there in a portfolio, right? Please bring a very surprise element. Start this thinking from day one, guys.

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You can bring a very uncommon element in your portfolio that will create a different kind of a hoop for people who are going to read your portfolio. Make a very different page layout where it's like something like left to right if you have written or maybe if you put 90°, like some kind of a different crazy element you can bring in. I'm just giving you an example in visual language. But craziness or uncommon things could be very different way. You can, you can even break all these heuristic laws and also create a different way so that you can tell people like, hey, recruiters will be like curious, hey, why did you do this? I'm like, I don't understand why you did this in your portfolio. Like this. Like that will trigger a conversation. You can just go and talk to them. Hey. Hey. Hi, I'm Jagdish. I'm so and so. I'm designer. I literally meant it to just create a hook for you guys to interact with me. Because being a fresher, I've been rejected with a lot of industries and some of them are even not showing taking my portfolio here. At least you came till now. So to create that kind of a hook, only to create that kind of a curiosity, I made this. Okay, so yes, this is me, Jagdish. I have got this much of knowledge and I'm really interested to work for your industry. Are you interested to interview me? You know what? 90% of the time you will get that interview selected. Okay? Did you hear it? Only 10% of the time you get. Maybe that person is really not in that creative zone to recruit you leave that. That's the possibility. Or else you will definitely get selected when you create this kind of a who.

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So being a fresher, you have to follow all these things, guys.

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All these elements are very important. If you're building, the first is writing about yourself and building. Okay, let's say if you're building a portfolio for somebody else, then you don't have to write about yourself. If you're building portfolio for your company of your product or service, then you'll have to go and write about their company first. Their products, their offerings, their mission, their vision, their value. Then you will get a clarity how to build your portfolio for that company. Right? So making a Blueprint is very, very first thing I used to give activity for my students, like in a chart paper. They'll have to do it first before writing about themselves. I mean, if you, if you're diving into my community, I'll help you. I'll handhold you to guide all these things because people get lost by the steps.

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The very nuances are kept each and every steps and elements. Second is, yeah, you need to be prioritizing your skill sets. Third is you need to allocate your skill sets for different industries and target it. Fourth is you have to choose a medium. Fifth is you have to create hook. If you're doing it, then there is nobody to stop recruiting you to their companies.

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So go and take action of whatever is being discussed, guys. I hope this podcast has bring you a value of how you can get started being a fresher in designer and making a portfolio. So take action. Take action. Because my mentor always says if you're just listening and not taking action, nothing is going to happen.

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So just take action. And if you feel free to comment on this podcast, you can do it. You can connect with me if you need my support in terms of helping you out. And I'm also having a journey for teaching and coaching students. I don't take a lot of students. If you're interested, you can just hit me like, or you can just message me. I'll be happy to help you out. Or if you wanted any kind of additional pain points to be addressed, feel free to also text me. I'll be recording more of these episodes, guys. Okay? So thank you so much for tuning in this podcast for design and change. I think it has gone a little deeper also of 15 minutes. But if you're staying till now, I believe you're really serious. Go and take action. Okay, thank you so much, guys. Thank you so much. Take care. All the best. Bye. Bye.