Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1378252
20 KEYFRAME HOW TO CREATE A WINNING ONLINE PORTFOLIO A strong online portfolio is a key promotional tool to get you hired. Preferably, this portfolio is presented as a dedicated website that is clean, organized, and easy to navigate, with information and artwork that lets you shine. INTRODUCE YOURSELF BE SELECTIVE: As you choose the work to include in your portfolio, keep in mind that whatever you pick is "what you're going to get more work doing," Huang says. So not only choose your best work, but the work you like doing best. LET GO: If work doesn't represent the best that you can do, don't include it just to have a larger portfolio or to show your range. Experts agree that quality will always beat quantity. GET ORGANIZED: Your website should be easy to explore. According to McAteer, a disorganized website can "drive away traffic, deter interest in the work, or hinder a recruiter's ability to see the range in the work." STAY FOCUSED: If your portfolio is all over the board, it's hard to know what you're good at doing and what you want to do. If you have more than one area of expertise, Keesling suggests creating an easy-to-navigate tab to a separate page for each skill and making "the things you want to be hired for really findable." DIVVY UP: While your social media can showcase your work, consider it a separate entity from your online portfolio. Keesling notes that on your Instagram page, she might have to sift through photos of your cat to find your art, which is fine if there's a place she can go—your dedicated online port- folio—to get a clear understanding of your talent and skills. FIND A HOME: Along with free website builders such as Wix, Weebly, GoDaddy, and the like, a common place for online portfolios is Artstation. Avoid any type of blog-style platform that requires scrolling through dated entries to explore your work. SHOWCASE YOUR BEST WORK JUST BE YOU: Use a URL that includes your name. Huang says websites and social media pages that use nicknames can be hard to find and make it difficult to contact a person. MAKE AN IMPRESSION: Along with your resume, include an "About Me" page to convey your personality—a few paragraphs describing your background and your goals. When evaluating many people with similar experience for the same position, Spence says this "can be very useful in helping me make a decision about who I contact." SPECIFY: When you apply for a job, Roberts recommends curating your website to that position. This doesn't require a complete overhaul, but "submit a link to the specific section that's relevant to what you're applying for; we can always explore the rest of your site if we want to see more later." F E AT U R E ONLINE PORTFOLIO SOCIAL MEDIA MARKET YOURSELF 20 KEYFRAME