By Kayla Schilthuis-Ihrig

In today’s competitive job market, your income and career rely on knowing how to communicate your skills and experiences. To do so, you can choose one of two primary vehicles: a resume or a portfolio.

As a freelance writer and author, a portfolio is my greatest asset (and one I’ve been building since my first article was published at 19). Yet, when job searching over the years, a resume has been required by many positions.

Both a portfolio and resume display a person‘s professional skills and experiences, but what are the differences and unique opportunities that each presents?

Let’s look at the key differences between the two to help you pick the best tool for the job (search) at hand.

Portfolios vs. Resumes

Portfolios — What are they?

Resume — What are they?

Making the Right Choice

Portfolios vs. Resumes

A portfolio and resume help job seekers land work, but they have key differences in visibility, convention, and the review process.

Visibility

A resume is tailored for specific job applications. It’s most commonly updated and used when applying for jobs. Further, resumes should be tailored to each specific job application.

A portfolio, on the other hand, is a collection of a person’s professional skills and abilities available online 24/7. It may be viewed by a broader audience beyond just potential clients. Portfolios aren’t necessarily tailored to a specific job.

Convention

Resumes come with a very clear convention. These documents are one or two pages maximum, with experience listed in reverse chronological order. Resumes display your relevant qualifications while being as concise as possible.

A portfolio can be an interactive, creative, and extensive display of a person’s work. You can crumple up the concise document approach and share in-depth information.

That includes real-life samples, exercising any number of portfolio tactics, and creative ideas.

Review Process

A resume isn‘t only reviewed by potential employers; it’s first uploaded to a resume reader and scanned by artificial intelligence (AI).

As a result, following a strict format is often to your advantage, as it makes the document more scannable.

A portfolio is a collection of work samples that can only be reviewed by a real person. Creativity is your friend, as it’s another way to showcase your skills and abilities.

Portfolios — What are they?

A portfolio is a collection of work samples that demonstrate a person’s skills and experience. Portfolios used to be reserved for creative fields.

However, the modern job market has seen an influx of professional portfolios thanks to the gig economy.

Career culture has shifted away from single-job careers. While there may be a unicorn worker in your office who was hired at your company straight out of school, it’s a rarity.

Not only do workers change jobs regularly, but they also change careers more often.

Author and Harvard Business School faculty member Christina Wallace describes pouring yourself into one single job as “the riskiest move you can make” …read more

Source:: HubSpot Blog

Author: Aaron