Kyle Soucy Follow

Founding Principal, Usable Interface. UX Research Consultant. www.usableinterface.com

Jun 30, 2016 7 min read

What Do Recruiters and Hiring Managers

Look for in a UX Portfolio?
My notes from the NH UXPA June 2016 Meeting

Left to right: Roger Soucy, Michael Hawley, Kate OConnor, and Rob Fitzgibbon at PixelMEDIA in Portsmouth, NH

The NH chapter of the User Experience Professionals Association (NH

UXPA) held an excellent panel about UX portfolios during their June
meeting on 6/28/16. The panel included actual hiring managers and a
recruiter

Panelists:

Michael HawleyChief Design Ocer, Mad*Pow (Agency Hiring

Manager Perspective)

Kate OConnorBusiness Development Manager, Onward Search

(Recruiter Perspective)
 Rob FitzgibbonSr. UX Designer, Wayfair (Internal Hiring Man-
ager Perspective)

Moderator:

Roger SoucyLead UX Designer, Deka Research & Development

Roger: Creating your portfolio should be an on ongoing project. You

want it ready when you need it, not just thrown together quickly when
youre under pressure. Constant curation of your work is key.

Check out http://theworstportfolioever.com/ for a satirical view of

some things NOT to do.

Example: Dont use a bar graph to show that you believe you know
80% of a tool or skill. Its completely subjective and does nothing
to truly demonstrate your proficiency.

Question: How do you deal with showing

deliverables that are confidential?
Rob: If youre going to show it, make sure you have permission. If you
dont have permission, white label it or put things in a directory behind
a password. This is a way to demonstrate your credibility and ethical
standards. Or, just show it in person. Dont put confidential files online
in a directory that a web crawler can find.

Question: How do people get your

attention in a portfolio?
Rob: You must demonstrate your strengths and passions. Always play
to your strengths. Rob reviews anywhere between 1250 portfolios for
a position. One memorable candidate branded their entire experience
(cover letter, resume, etc). It showed that they thought about the expe-
rience from the hiring managers perspective and took the time to re-
ally design it.
Question: Is personal stuff good to put in a
portfolio (i.e. I love to ski, married with
two kids and a dog, etc.)?
Mike: Personal stu, whether youre married or have kids, is not impor-
tant. The best UXers live it. Its best to demonstrate your passion. Did
you participate in a hack-a-thon? Do you volunteer your time at indus-
try events? Do you have relevant blog posts? These are the things that
Mike wants to know. At a minimum, candidates have to get a Square-
space website. Boring resumes that are just a template dont even get a
second look.

Kate: Keep the portfolio CLEAN and really highlight your work.

Roger: Make your portfolio a demonstration of your UX chops not just a

place to put artifacts. Tell the story of how you got to the solution your
sharing, but dont be long-winded.

Rob: Has a team of 75 folks. He wants to know if you can hop in and
start rowing with the team.

Mike: Im not going to read an entire 10-page case study on some-

thing. Keep it brief!

Rob: Sometimes we only have 30 seconds to look at an online portfo-

lio Your online portfolio is just a way to get in the door. Once youre
at the interview, have 34 projects to walk through.

Question: What to do if you dont have a lot

of work to show?
Mike: Having transitioned to UX from Product Management, Mike sug-
gests that you get some credentials. Degree, certifications, take a Gen-
eral Assembly course, whatever. Then, take a stepping stone job if you
need itthe job that will get you the title you need, but not exactly the
pay or work that you want to do. If youre not happy, leave after a year
and you should be able to land the job you really want now that you
have more experience.

Rob: Go redesign airbnb.com. It doesnt matter if you were paid or

not for the work. You must somehow demonstrate your knowledge.
When showcasing your work in a portfolio, remember to orient the user
(i.e. hiring manager). Ask yourself the question that theyre asking,
Why is this [case study, wireframe, etc.] important? Then, make sure
the answer to that question is loud and clear.

Rob: Sometimes he views portfolios on his phone. Rob typically spends

30 seconds looking at a portfolio to try and decide who to bring in for
an interview. Once the pool has been narrowed down to 34 candi-
dates, hell spend 34 minutes on each portfolio.

Mike: The person responsible for the careers@madpow.com account

sees a portfolio first. If they like it, they send it out to the team. We
hire people we know someone we met while participating in a hack-
a-thon or met at a networking event.

Kate: Make sure its mobile-friendly. Kate will actually look at the port-
folio FIRST before the resume. She knows what the hiring managers
are looking for so she will make recommendations for changes, if nec-
essary, before passing it on to the client.

Roger: Make sure to give credit where its due. No one works in a vac-
uum and you should call out the areas of a deliverable that was some-
one elses responsibility.

Question: Should a candidate bring in a

hard copy portfolio or an iPad/computer?
Mike: We do group interviews to save time. They use a projection
screen to bring up the candidates portfolio website and talk through it.
Or, if something is brought in on a USB stick, they project it. He hasnt
seen too many iPads being passed around.

Rob: You want a frictionless experience. You dont want to have the
added stress of your website being down. Have your portfolio on drop-
box, USB stick, and computer. If you really want to be impressive, bring
in a bound portfolio with the managers name on it.

Question: Should we show case studies or

actual end deliverables?
Rob: Prefers to see the detailed work during the interview. Well grill
you in the in person interview.

Kate: Hears from managers all the time that what matters in a candi-
date is 40%skills 60%culture fit. If you have the skills you can
build on them, but if you cant fit in with the team, then its going to be
challenging.

Rob: Soft skills matter. You can learn any tool. Were a consultancy.
Can you be a good consultant with our clients? Can you command a
room? Can you take feedback and critique well? We ask candidates to
come in and present. Its also a turn o for Mike if candidates dont
know who they are and what they do.

Rob: I expect your portfolio to reflect back on the role you want.

Question: Design challengeshow much

time should a candidate spend on a
challenge and how is it judged?
Rob: Gives candidates a time frame. An example challenge may be to
redesign the wayfair product page. We want you to walk us through
what it is that you created. Why did you make these changes? Did you
conduct any competitor research?

Rob: White boarding is big and the hard thing is that you dont know
the real objective behind the exercise (i.e. what hiring managers are re-
ally trying to learn about you).

Rob: Dont let rejection stop you. Learn from it and keep going. Rejec-
tion is all a part of this process. Just keep applying! [mic drop]

Question: What are some of the worst

portfolios youve seen?
Rob: Someone once showed him 40 projects. He doesnt want to talk to
someone for 30 minutes about a project they did 3 years ago.

Rob: Brevity is key with an online portfolio.

Question: Can I send you a consulting
website for my business (that includes case
studies) instead of a pure portfolio website?
Kate: Its OK as long as your voice comes through. Is it you or a bunch
of people doing this consulting, etc?

Question: Should you include a picture in

your bio?
Rob: Federal government jobs do not want to see your picture on your
portfolio. He tries to avoid looking at the picture if he can help it.
Wants to avoid ageism, etc. Just concentrate on demonstrating the
work.

Kate & Mike: Most likely theyll see your picture anyway on LinkedIn.

Question: What social media platforms

should candidates be on?
Kate: Everyone should have LinkedIn. A Dribble or Dropbox account
with samples posted or an online portfolio is necessary. If you have
Facebook or Twitter, keep it appropriate and be careful.

Mike: Put all your links in the contact information area on LinkedIn. I
dont even look at resumes. I look at LinkedIn and the candidates
links to Behance or whatever portfolio websites they have.

Rob: You may not want to be on Behance or Dribble. Think about it as

a bluewater strategy. Its hard to stand out when youre surrounded
by other designers. You want to be in a blue oceanan uncontested
market space.

Kate & Rob: Its always much nicer to have something on your own do-
main than on Behance or Dribble. Your website is completely yours and
it shows more of your design skills.

Rob: It all ties into your personal brand. What you create and how you
choose to present it to hiring managers. You could also send someone
an invision prototype as a portfolio as well (Kate has seen this a few
times, but Mike has not seen this yet).
In Summary
Roger:

Capture your audience

Tell a story

Curate your projects

Credit your team

Make it usable

Let your personality shine

In August, NH UXPA will regroup to have a portfolio

review night. Come and share your work to get a
friendly critique from your peers!

Thank you to the host, PixelMEDIA, and to Onward

Search for sponsoring this wonderful meeting.

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