The Right Stuff: What's in YOUR Portfolio?

What’s in YOUR Por1olio? The Right Stuﬀ Tech Jobs LA July 21, 2012

Our hosts License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 2

About us* Lane Halley Chris Chandler @thinknow @chrischandler *Shannon O’Brien, @Shannon_Obrien License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 3

OpportuniTes abound New devices Web-‐connected world Every business an e-‐business Social media revoluTon Sounds good, how do I get started? License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 4

Interviewing is a two-‐way street How do your skills match their needs? What kind of work do you want to do? A good por4olio supports this conversa9on. License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 5

What’s your skill set? License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 6

What is User Experience (UX?) Dan Saﬀer “ The disciplines-‐of-‐user-‐experience” 7

Where’s your focus? PRODUCT DESIGN MARKUP / VISUAL CODE DESIGN License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 8

The elusive unicorn PRODUCT DESIGN UNICORN MARKUP / VISUAL CODE DESIGN License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 9

Diﬀerent work styles One domain In-‐house Startup Roles & Generalist specialTes Agency Freelance Many domains License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 10

Designing for mobile License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 11

Hot topics HTML5, CSS3 Web Frameworks (Ruby on Rails) Responsive design NaTve applicaTon vs. mobile web Cross pla1orm work Web, Android, iPhone License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 12

Hiring managers say… “We don’t hire speciﬁcally for mobile or desktop. We have some clients where we design for all pla4orms-‐-‐ mobile, Web, Facebook. Being able to design cross pla4orm is very important.” License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 13

Hiring managers say… “We don’t have mobile specialists, we have mobile projects.” License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 14

Hiring consideraTons An experienced mobile designer: •  ArTculates pla1orm choices •  Knows common convenTons •  Thinks through and communicates interacTons and transiTons •  Knows the device resoluTon landscape License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 15

Senior and junior roles Senior Junior Generate ideas Know the tools Make pla1orm Domain knowledge choices Show that you can Lead projects do the work License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 16

Don’t put yourself in a box Mobile is “hot” Best soluTons are not pla1orm driven Design for mulT-‐pla1orm experiences AnTcipate conTnued tech. changes The best career strategy? Stay balanced. License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 17

The interview process License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 18

How to ﬁnd a job (YMMV) Hiring manager Personal referral Recruiter Job posTng License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 19

The interview process Small company Large company Direct hire HR department Either may use a recruiter License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 20

The mulT-‐step interview ApplicaTon Cover leper, resume, links to work Phone screen(s) ConversaTon about work, process In-‐person interview(s) AddiTonal work samples, design acTviTes License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 21

Hiring managers say… [I want to talk to a] “designer who can express and ar9culate their process, the problems they are trying to solve and the steps they took along the way. It’s important, and rarely seen.” License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 22

Hiring managers say… “When they can provide sketches early on, all the way through to a ﬁnished product it gets me excited.” License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 23

Your Web presence mapers Hiring managers want to know: Professionally acTve? InteresTng side projects? License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 24

Building your por1olio License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 25

Por1olio formats Web site Web links .pdf Other formats License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 26

Hiring managers say… “We expect someone to have a por4olio site. They can send a .pdf, but you’re working for screen-‐based users, it’s essen9al to have a screen-‐based por4olio.” License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 27

Hiring managers say… “A por4olio is a showcase. It should catch the eye and tell the story that you can do the work.” License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 28

What goes in your por1olio? Who you are 3-‐7 pieces of client work Frame the deliverables Show your process Demonstrate adaptability License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 29

Tricky situaTons Team Projects ConﬁdenTality Explain role Anonymize Credit others In-‐person only A personal project or two can help round out your por4olio License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 30

Por1olio bloopers Too large, work too similar Fail to frame the work Show only the ﬁnished product Show a small sliver of the product Show work that is not yours License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 31

Hiring managers say… “I’m incredibly busy, I want to get a good ﬁrst impression, not slog through a lot of stuﬀ.” License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 32

Hiring managers say… “We see a lot of por4olios, I want someone to tell the story quickly about key projects they are proud of.” License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 33

Case studies License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 34

Where’s your starTng point? Already working in ﬁeld Just starTng out Changing careers License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 35

Let’s review some examples License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 36

Thank You! Lane Halley Chris Chandler @thinknow @chrischandler License: CC BY-‐NC-‐SA www.lanehalley.com 37

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The Right Stuff: What's in YOUR Portfolio?

by Lane Halley on Jul 21, 2012

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The Right Stuff: What’s in YOUR Portfolio? Webinar Transcript