Build Your Portfolio As A Novice - Part 1

Having only recently graduated college, I am still living through that "transition" period - partially because I was a liberal arts major, and mostly because I have varied interests and projects. But whether I am working on translation or web development, I still need one thing to get my career going - a portfolio.

The concept is nothing new  - but my experience has been in the art world. So now that I'm experimenting in a different venue, I've written down a method that I (and others) can reuse when trying to figure out how to start their portfolio without much experience.

There are general tips: use whatever you already have, for example. But there are many cases (especially if changing careers), when you may need to create a few new items.


1) First you'll need to write down a list of skills you have and skills you need for your profession. Are you specializing (PHP over Ruby, business German over tech, etc)? Once you write down the broad skills, write at least 5-10 concrete actions.

For example, if I want to learn about business in German, I can look an example proposal letters, cover letters, etc. And then work on learning the vocabulary and structure from scratch.

2) Trends are important, even if they don't seem like it. Knowing trends and updates will keep you current and relevant with other professionals.  That doesn't mean the hottest plug-in or theme on Wordpress will do your portfolio project any good - you have to know how to use it.

When I went through my web development goals, I wrote down mastering CSS3 (before I knew basic CSS). One thing I did was to write down selectors that seemed relevant to me and were widespread - at least 5-6 - that I could work on first.

3) It's just as important to research relevant associations and possible mentors. Organizations like ATA, the American Translators Association, or profession specific websites like Github offer countless resources that can only help you in furthering your experience.

Selecting and approaching a mentor will also give you a more nuanced view about the nitty-gritty details of the business.

All of these things are fairly straightforward, even intuitive - but that isn't the end of the list. Next week I'll be covering the more pertinent time-management portion of building a portfolio.