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My old teacher said to put 20 pieces in my portfolio, but I got a job with 6
In school, my design teacher always pushed for a 'full' portfolio with at least 20 pieces. When I started applying for jobs in Austin, my first portfolio had 12 projects and felt messy. A mentor told me to cut it down to my 6 strongest pieces and really explain my choices. My next interview went way better and I got an offer. Has anyone else found that less is more when showing your work?
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logansullivan2mo ago
But six pieces only shows one kind of work, you need volume to prove you can handle different problems.
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christophermurray8d ago
Six deep dives where you walk through the actual thinking and failure points usually do more than twenty quick hits, honestly. Hiring managers want to see you reason through a tough problem, not just that you can post consistently. Pick one case where you started with bad data and had to pivot, that shows real problem solving better than volume ever will.
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lucas9722mo ago
What specific problems are you looking for proof of? A portfolio with six deep case studies on different project types, like a brand launch, a crisis comms turnaround, and a failed product relaunch, shows more range than twenty similar social media posts. Are you talking about technical problems, creative problems, or client problems?
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