A New Graduate’s Guide To Remote-Work Portfolio Strategies
The year 2020 reordered many aspects of world businesses, but one that disrupted the conventions of employment is the booming need for remote workforce. Humans discovered an unappreciated side of technology — the way it can change the way we work, from four walls of a cubicle to the couches of our own homes. Within a short time, we got accustomed to this ‘new normal’ which provided many industries around the world a huge opportunity to survive the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
The flourishing #WFH culture is now likely to change the types of jobs available too. A Gartner study found that more than two-fifths of the employees are likely to continue remote even after the economy restores. And vouching for this new structure are the IT giants like Microsoft, Amazon, Twitter, and Google, who have announced that a lot of their jobs are going virtual. Meanwhile, smaller companies are adapting to accommodate remote workers as a way to continue building their talent pipeline.
As appealing remote-work is to an employer, the work-from-home culture can be of great advantage to you as an employee too. The statistics speak for itself! A study by Buffer reports that 99% of the workforce expressed an interest to work remotely at least some of the time for the rest of their careers. 95% of the existing workforce would also recommend it for the work-from-office bunch.
To make use of the escalating opportunities in remote and gig economy, your portfolio has to display a distinct skillset than an employee with a 9–5 office job. This can be particularly challenging for new graduates with employers being extra sceptic about what they can bring to the job.
To get unstuck from this catch-22, here are some tips that can help you win a great remote-job offer.
1. Read more, connect more
Before delving into the specifics of how your portfolio should look, it is important to know what ought to be in there. And there is no better way than talking to people with similar interests and analyzing job listings that match your profile. Participate in online and offline professional events and know what projects and tools others are working on. You can also be a part of Archi’s Academy’s free webinars and events to keep you on track of the latest trends in the IT industry. Another way to identify the skills to showcase in your portfolio is to analyze job postings. Hiring managers often include the skills they are looking for in the job posting on LinkedIn, Glassdoor and other job search engines.
2. Identify your assets
Take a minute and think about your biggest strengths. Do you have a way with codes? Are you good at designing? Identify your best assets and promote yourself for the services you can provide. Are you still figuring it out? Then go with the skillset that made you stand out during your degree. The key is to present your talents confidently because there is always room to get better.
3. Let your design speak for you
A great way to highlight what’s in your portfolio is by how you present it. Portfolios don’t have to be complex, multi-page websites. A simple, elegant design can speak a lot for you. Put yourself in the shoes of your viewers and organize your information with incredible navigability. If you do not have the designer’s eye, or simply don’t want to spend the time hard-coding a portfolio layout — that is okay! Browse a free template from the Internet and customize it in your style, but make sure you have a responsive design adaptable to mobile devices too.
For inspiration, check out these portfolio websites from our gang:
4. Portray your personality on portfolio
An employee’s personality is a critical judgement point for an employer to make sure if he is apt for remote work. Many employees struggle to keep up with their tasks when they work remotely with distractions at home, difficulties in communication and sometimes loneliness. So, if you want to get a #WFH job, make sure your portfolio screams that you are ready for it.
Make sure to inject your personality on your “about” page so that a potential employee knows you a lot more than your background and education. Toss in a cool photo of yours alongside, and that way the prospective employers will be able to put a face with your name. Touch on what makes you who you are personally — whether it’s a love for the outdoors or a passion for cooking.
But nothing shouts your readiness like a line about a real remote work experience. Archi’s Academy traineeship gives you a complete #WFH experience, engaging you with cohorts of different profiles, age groups and even time zones!
5. Make use of your social profiles
Your social profiles say a lot about you. Be it professional accounts like LinkedIn and GitHub, or social accounts like Instagram or Facebook. Use them to your advantage by posting content that can show off your talents. Let your designs fill your Instagram feed, and honours and awards brighten the LinkedIn profile. If you are a programmer, your GitHub repository is a treasure you want to keep. Make sure all your repositories contain a readme file that explains the organization and description of every file.
Bonus tip: Include a PDF file in your repositories which discusses the business problem you were trying to address and a critical reflection about your work.
6. Befriend remote-working skills in advance
Get acquainted with some quintessential remote-working skills and tools in advance so that you scuffle less on hurdles of distant working while confronting the challenges of the work itself. Be it an MNC or an SME, collaboration is impossible without communication across a range of channels including email, messaging, video, and project management tools, so make sure to add them in your portfolio. Practise time management skills and try to improve your written and verbal proficiencies.
Want to know more about how to shine on your remote job, join our next webinar!
7. Grab every opportunity
Do you feel like you do not have enough work to build a portfolio? Your prospective employer doesn’t really care whether your work was a leisure-time project or a highly paid job. They just want proof that you can get the job done in the present. If you design websites or write codes for fun, include your best projects in your portfolio with an explanation of what specific features you included. If you haven’t already done some work, but you know you’re capable, invest some time into building a portfolio. A great way for this is to join Archi’s Academy traineeship where you get opportunities to have hands-on experience on real-time projects. You will work from the initial phases of requirement gathering to the finality of deployment, making your effort amazingly portfolio-worthy with involvement in every step of the product cycle! An alternative way is to work on collaborate on open source projects. Up for Grabs is a great platform to find projects that actively need help. You could also follow others’ projects on GitHub and Kaggle for inspirations on your own project ideas.
Last but not least, be proud of your works. Every move you make takes you one step closer to a perfect work-from-home job!
