Career Portfolio Basics: Examples & How to Create One

If you’re new to the world of freelancing, you may be wondering, “What is a career portfolio?” and “Do I need to create one?”

In this article, we’ll discuss:

• What a career portfolio is
• What jobs require a portfolio
• What to include in your portfolio
• How to select your best work samples
• Career portfolio samples

What a career portfolio is

A career portfolio is a collection of materials that showcase your work experience and skills to potential clients and employers. A portfolio may also be referred to as a “work portfolio,” “professional portfolio,” or “job portfolio.”  It’s much more detailed than a resume or a cover letter and can be a very effective way to bundle your work accomplishments, education, skills and training, work samples, testimonials, and more into one appealing package. We discuss this in more detail in the what to include in your portfolio section.

Not all jobs will require portfolios; however, a portfolio is a common request from clients and employers seeking to fill writing, design, publishing, or even tech roles. For example, a client in search of a content writer is more likely to hire a writer who includes samples of their best work with their application. These samples provide clients with proof that the writer is capable and can meet their demands.

What jobs require a portfolio

As mentioned above, not all jobs will require you to put together a professional portfolio. However, for some types of work, it’s as essential as, or sometimes more important than, your resume.

For independent professionals, roles that almost always require a portfolio include:

1. Graphic designer
2. Web designer
3. Photographer
4. Videographer
5. Video editor
6. Writer
7. Software developer

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Some roles will require more visually impactful content in portfolios, while others may require text or data to show proof of work. If you’re an independent professional in one of the above categories, be sure to click on the links to check out how the top professionals in your field use career portfolios to showcase their work on Upwork. You may also find skimming details for some of the other professions valuable to see how different fields compare.

For more inspiration on how to make a portfolio that stands out, check out some of our portfolio samples below.

What to include in your portfolio

Learning how to make a portfolio is key. You want your portfolio to effectively “sell” you to your potential clients or employer as the best candidate for the job. Different roles may require different kinds of portfolios; however, certain elements of a career portfolio are the same for all.

Whether you’re applying for freelance jobs on Upwork or looking for full-time work elsewhere, your career portfolio is made up of a few essential elements. Below we discuss some of the top items to include, with special mention of how to incorporate them into your Upwork profile.

1. Biographical information

An “about me” section in your work portfolio is an opportunity to tell your potential clients or employer a bit more about you. This is a good place to showcase your personality and establish a human connection with the client.

Your bio doesn’t have to tell your whole life story but including a few details that give clients a peek at who you are and the work you do will work great. Talk about your work history, experience, and accomplishments and don’t be afraid to sprinkle a bit of your personal life into it as well.

For most portfolios, it’s perfectly fine to write your bio in first person, e.g. “I am an amazing writer.” (Don’t say it quite so literally.) Think of this as answering the “tell us a little bit about yourself” questions at an interview.

On Upwork: Your biographical information is best included in the profile overview section.

To add an overview to your profile

1. Go to Find Work › Profile
2. Scroll down to the Overview section and click the ✎ icon
3. Type in the message that you want clients to see about you first and click Save

Remember that only the first 250 or so characters will appear in the freelancer search results list so make the most of it! For more advice on how to create a great overview, check out: Upwork Profiles: Why a Great Title and Overview Can Make a Difference.

2. Skills and abilities

What is it about you that makes you uniquely qualified and valuable to potential employers and clients? Prove it by highlighting your skills and abilities within your Upwork profile and your portfolio.

Include technical or hard skills that are specific to your role but also consider highlighting your soft skills. For example, if you’re a web developer, you obviously need to include your skills in web development or specific programming languages. Additionally, you may also want to mention and demonstrate how you’re skilled in problem-solving, time management, and effective communications.

On Upwork: Describe your skills briefly within your profile overview. Additionally, you can also tag your profile with relevant skills.

To add skills to your profile

1. Go to Find Work › Profile
2. Scroll down to the Skills section and click the ✎ icon
3. Start typing the name of a skill, then select the best match from the list and click Save
4. Repeat to include your top 15 skills

If you’re unsure of which skills to add, get some inspiration from this article: 100 Skills to Include on Your Resume with Examples

3. Education and certifications

Above all, your professional portfolio should always provide proof of your qualifications for the role or job you’re applying for. Adding your educational qualifications and certifications is a great way to do this and highlights your credibility further.

On Upwork: You can easily add your degrees and certifications to your Upwork profile.

The Education section lets you add any degrees or diplomas you have earned. To add your education:

1. Find Work › Profile
2. Scroll down to the Education section and click the Add (+) button
3. Enter your school and degree details and click Save or, if you want to enter more, Save and Add More

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You can also include a brief summary of your education, including any awards you received or your grades.

You can add certifications to your Upwork profile in two ways. If you have a Credly account, you can now add your certifications from that account to Upwork with the Credly import feature. If you have certifications that are not issued by Credly or don’t have a Credly account, you’ll still be able to add your certifications through the manual option. Learn more about how to add certifications.

4. Resume

Your resume is an important piece of your portfolio. It should include a professional summary, your work experience and history, achievements, skills, and any relevant education and certifications.

Here’s more advice on how to create a resume that stands out.

On Upwork: Your Upwork profile serves as your resume on the work marketplace.  It’s your introduction to prospective clients, an important opportunity to grab attention and set yourself apart from the competition.

The most successful independent professionals have profiles that are complete and accurate and paint a compelling picture of their services, skills, and accomplishments.

Check out these 9 Tips to Help You Create a Freelancer Profile That Stands Out.

5. List of accomplishments

Have any awards, achievements, or accomplishments in your professional career that you’re particularly proud of? Highlight them in your portfolio. Feel free to mention scholarships, academic honors, and your salesperson of the month or similar awards.

Explain the impact of these accomplishments and why you were chosen for a particular award. Highlighting these awards is a great indication of your value to future clients and employers.

If you’re a military veteran, mention your military records and awards, as many clients and employers appreciate the value veterans can bring to a role.

On Upwork: Make sure to add your professional accomplishments to your profile overview. Additionally, you can also discuss them in the employment history section of your Upwork profile.

To add your work history to your profile

1. Go to Find Work › Profile
2. Scroll down to the Employment History section and click the Add (+) button
3. Enter the employment details and click the Save or, if you want to enter more, Save and Add More
   

You can also add your military veteran status to your Upwork profile.

6. References or testimonials

Most traditional employers will require a professional reference or two to back up your experience, professional qualities, and abilities. Include managers or colleagues you’ve previously worked with, along with their titles and contact information.

If you’re an independent professional, most clients don’t really need references but a good testimonial or review from previous clients can go a long way. If you’re new to freelancing, ask an ex-colleague or a professor for a testimonial to back up your work.

On Upwork: Client feedback is crucial for ongoing success on Upwork. When a contract ends, clients usually leave you feedback as part of that process. This feedback shows up in the work history section of your profile. A good review shows potential clients that you’re capable and have impressed other clients with your work.

Upwork also enables you to add testimonials for work you’ve done outside of Upwork. Learn how to request testimonials from external clients.

7. Samples of your work

Samples of past work are a key part of what’s in a portfolio. It’s your opportunity to show clients what you can do through projects you’ve worked on. Whether you’re a writer, a graphic designer, or a project management professional, samples of work can be useful to showcase a range of skills. Some quick tips:

• Be selective and show your best work, rather than everything you’ve ever created
• Highlight skills and technologies
• Keep your portfolio updated; as you complete new projects, remove examples that are outdated or irrelevant

We share more advice on this in the upcoming how to select your best work samples section of this article.

On Upwork: Samples of your work go in the portfolio section of your Upwork profile.

To add a project to your portfolio

1. Go to Find Work › Profile
2. Scroll down to the Portfolio section and choose the Add (+) button
3. Enter the details of the project and select Publish Project

Check out this article for four more tips on how to leverage your portfolio, especially on Upwork.

How to select your best work samples

Work samples in your portfolio are actual proof that you’re the best person for the job. Depending on your line of work, your portfolio should include samples of your writing, photographs, design work, project outcomes, data-backed reports etc.

You want to make sure you’re including the best possible samples to represent you. Here are three tips to help you decide which samples to feature in your portfolio.

1. Take your reviews into consideration

If a particular project garnered you great reviews from a client, definitely include that in your portfolio. It’s a powerful double whammy as it shows future clients an actual example of your work and also highlights how a previous client was very happy with the work you delivered.

2. Use samples that have earned praise or awards

Similarly, if a particular project or piece of work has earned high praise from clients or better yet, won awards, that’s worth bragging about. Include it in your portfolio and don’t forget to mention the successes your work achieved. Once again, it shows clients you’re not only capable but your work is very impactful as well.

3. Showcase work that demonstrates a broad range of your skills

Finally, showcase samples that demonstrate your skills in multiple ways. For example, if you’re a graphic designer, you may want to include a sample logo design you worked on, a business branding package, and a marketing flyer for a local business. While each sample highlights your design skills, the collection shows how you’ve put your skills to work across a broad range of work.

Career portfolio samples

What better way to demonstrate what goes in a portfolio than showing you samples of portfolios?

Below we’ve selected examples of portfolios from independent professionals on Upwork. We hope they inspire you and give you ideas for your own portfolio too.

Francis Oh, motion and visual designer

Francis Oh’s portfolio is made of fantastic visual samples of their work. Each project includes multiple images and even video to demonstrate the professional’s work in action.

Oh also includes keywords that describe project deliverables, skills used, and a short description alongside each sample to really show prospective clients how they put their skills to work for the project.

Here’s an example of one of the projects from their portfolio:

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Elham Ali, project management professional

Elham Ali’s line of work is much less visual than a designer; however, they still make great use of their portfolio. Multiple items included demonstrate their broad range of skills, along with images of relevant certifications.

Similar to Oh’s, Ali’s portfolio items include a description of the project and keywords that describe skills, tools, and software used for the project as well as the deliverables required.

Despite the lack of eye-catching visuals, the samples of work still clearly demonstrate the freelancer’s abilities to prospective clients.

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Kai Casey, animator and videographer

As a content creator, Kai Casey has work that is very visual. While their portfolio includes only two items, these two samples say everything. Each sample is a reel of work completed over a year.

View the 2021 reel, which includes a variety of Casey’s work put together appealingly in one video. While there’s no accompanying text, the video communicates more than any words could say.

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Olivier Travers, business analyst and solutions architect

Portfolios can be handy in any line of work, and Olivier Travers demonstrates exactly that. Despite not working in a creative field, they make good use of their Upwork portfolio by showcasing different projects they worked on, including descriptions of project goals and deliverables, as well as visuals and explanations to explain how they helped the clients achieve their objectives.

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Pro Tip: Not sure where to start? Check out this Upwork Academy course to learn how to build your portfolio.

Laura Robson, web developer

Laura Robson’s portfolio is made up of samples of their work building websites for clients. Each website is unique and is for a different type of client. Some were built using Magento, others using WordPress or Shopify. By being presented  different samples, potential clients can easily see the broad range of skills at work here.

In addition to the visuals, you’ll notice Robson’s profile also makes use of the certifications section to showcase their skills in development. Their employment history section also highlights their professional achievements further.

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Find more web developer portfolio examples here.

Grigorij Richters, PR, strategy and digital media consultant

As a PR specialist, Grigorij Richters wears multiple hats for their clients’ public relations campaigns. Richters’ portfolio items are a mix of images, video, and detailed descriptions of the work carried out for clients. They describe project goals and deliverables and include information about content types used in the campaign and public relations services provided.

Richters’ profile includes a number of five-star reviews for their projects on Upwork. However, they take this a step further by making use of the testimonials section of their profile. Their professional work is backed by glowing endorsement from three clients, further cementing their capabilities as a skilled PR and media professional.

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Lex DeVille, copywriter

As a copywriter, Lex DeVille is best able to demonstrate capabilities with their words. They make very unique use of their portfolio by using each item as a way to demonstrate their copywriting skills in a different, creative way.

Each sample includes a similar visual, but the text is unique, and engrossing—an apt selling point for a copywriter. Each sample also links to the writer’s professional website which has more information about them.

DeVille’s profile overview is also well written and is an effective introductory section for a writer. It starts with clever copywriting and then goes on to describe their specific skills and achievements.

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Leonardo De Vita, web designer

As a web designer, it’s key that Leonardo De Vita has a portfolio that includes highly appealing visual samples of their work—and that’s exactly what they deliver. Each of their samples showcase website or landing page work, including project descriptions and keywords that explain the web design languages and skills used as well as website builders and other tools that bring the project to life.

The freelancer provides links within the samples so prospective clients can get a real-life look at their work as well. De Vita’s profile is also fully optimized, including a great profile overview, multiple external testimonials and five-star reviews from clients on Upwork, employment history, education information, and certifications. All these elements work together to create an effective career portfolio.

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Find work with your portfolio

Our final bit of wisdom is to always keep your portfolio up-to-date. As you hone and improve your skills, make sure your portfolio reflects this too.

Every project you work on comes with a hefty side dish of experience and growth—both of which will help make you a more valuable professional in the market. This improvement is what you want your clients to see, so don’t hesitate to display your excellent work each and every time. As soon as a client gives permission to use the finished project in your portfolio, upload the screenshot, paste the link, and point it out to the next client to come your way.

As we’ve demonstrated above, Upwork makes it easy for independent professionals to create and update a comprehensive professional portfolio and profile that help you attract clients. A great portfolio of work to show off can be a very useful tool in helping you find freelance work.

Sign up to Upwork today and start putting your portfolio to work for you.

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