Hi guys, I'm trying to put together a portfolio site, showing off what I can do, however all of my work is 'internal' and business sensitive. What's a good way to go about talking about these to promote my skills, without 'giving anything away?'

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Hi guys, I'm trying to put together a portfolio site, showing off what I can do, however all of my work is 'internal' and business sensitive. What's a good way to go about talking about these to promote my skills, without 'giving anything away?'

2 Answers

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Answer 1

Great question Chris!

I guess there are two things you can do:

1) Try and incorporate similar elements into your portfolio website.

For example, if one of your major accomplishments at work was to create a database-driven application using PHP, then perhaps you could recreate an example of this on your website - without any of the branding or sensitive information.

This will show off your capabilities to a potential employer, but it'll also highlight the kind of project you'd be capable of pulling off in a very practical way.

You won't need to rely on a database of sensitive information, and you won't have to spell out how the the app is used internally in your current company. A good recruiter should be able to see how your skills would be applicable to their model regardless.

2) Be honest and explain why your online portfolio doesn't include work samples.

Let's say you're afraid to post examples of your work online in case someone copies your client's work.

Simply throwing a line saying something like:

"Due to confidentiality and contractual obligations, my portfolio is only available for review in person."

will go someway to explaining why specific work samples are missing from your portfolio.

This shows two important things:

a) you do have the work to back your claims up, and are happy to share them in an environment where you can guarantee intellectual property rights aren't being broken.

This will also communicate a level of integrity and honesty that any good employer will only see as a positive. This will reassure them that you'd treat their own sensitive information with the same respect, and aren't willing to jeopardise other people's business for your own benefit.

There may be some employers who are put off by a lack of work samples, but to be honest they are probably not the kind of people you'd want to work for anyway!

Answer 2

Chris Spalton answered

Thanks Kass and sorry for the late reply, cheers for your ideas. I've just had a project go live a week or so ago so have attempted to write a bit about it, in fairly generic terms. At least it's something... You can have a read here if you're interested : http://spalton-creative.com/?p=158