It’s incredibly important to build professional skills and create a portfolio that will help you land a job and advance in your career. Doing so will allow you to align your skills with your current role and take advantage of your talents. Here are some ways that you can grow your professional portfolio.
Volunteering
During your free time, you can explore other ways to develop new skills and enhance your existing ones. For instance, volunteering with a non-profit organization or start-up can give you more autonomy and allow you to control the type of work that you choose to do.
There are many different types of volunteering opportunities that you can choose from, such as event-based activities and those that require a lot of commitment. Before you commit to a project, make sure that you have the necessary skills and knowledge to help the organisation.
If you are volunteering, you will most likely feel very grateful and fulfilled to support the organisations and people that you care about. Doing so will enable you to build a portfolio that showcases your skills and connect with potential employers.
Passion projects
You have the power to manage your own projects and outcomes. Although it won’t show much in terms of teamwork or collaborative skills, you can still showcase the work that you have created.
Before you start a project, it’s important that you identify your interests and hobbies. This will allow you to develop a strategy that will help you build the skills that you need for your future career.
For example, if you enjoy traveling and want to improve your skills in video production and editing, you can create YouTube videos from the clips that you took on your last adventure.
Rather than “tell” your skills, use your portfolio to show them. For instance, if you’re a good writer, you can use it to promote your writing skills by creating articles or other written content. You can also contribute to organisations’ newsletter programs.
Collaboration
You can also ask other people or organisations that you know that could use your skills to collaborate or receive your work. In order to connect with them, send them a message asking if they are interested in working with you.
In your pitch, explain what you’re willing to provide them and see whether they’re interested in working with you. It could be something as simple as a blog post or an event that you’re planning on running.