Mistakes to avoid as a new designer

I have been creating my portfolio for three months now. Do you feel the same as a new designer that constantly feels defeated by all the beautiful, well-written portfolios I see on bestfolio.com? Or stressed about I might never create a “job-ready” case studies? Or you get lost and have no idea which case study represents your best work and likes by the hiring managers?

I feel you….🥺

Creating a “good” portfolio is the most important and stressful thing for new designers who lack real working experience or minimal experience.

After reading so many different kinds of portfolios and tortured by the creating process, here is what I learned:

1. Be patient

I know time is tight. You want to lose the opportunities for those big companies’ hiring deadline. You can learn from my failure: I was too rushed to create my first portfolio and apply for all the jobs I saved online. Did I think I probably could get a few recruiters’ messages on LinkedIn or email?

None! None of them reach out to me….because my portfolio is NOT “job-ready”!

The purpose of creating a portfolio is to show your work, showing who you are and how you will behave in a team.

It’s not just about catching the recruiters’ eyes; pass the first round of the hiring process and STOP there for good.

So my advice for you is to “be patient.” Please focus on the quality, the content, the process of finding problem solutions, Gain more design skills and make it visually attractive.

2. Know yourself first

Another thing I realized I didn’t do well is I was too rush to put all my case studies on my portfolio with no intention.

Before creating your case studies, the most important thing is to get to know yourself:

• What kind of designer are you?
• What is your personality?
• What’s your strength?
• If you worked in other industries before, what experience can make you stand out?
• What’s your ideal company or team look like? Which industry?

After figuring out all these questions, you will have a much clearer career goal and then thinking about what type of case studies to put in your portfolio.

3. Drop the case studies you don’t like

I have spent almost one month revising one of my studies. I was in a dilemma because I know it’s not my best work, but it looks like a “good” case study to show.

So I was constantly editing it every time I saw a “great example” and waste plenty of time on it.

From a psychology perspective, people tend to hold things tight and not willing to drop off for the things they have put a lot of effort into.

I have spent so much time on this; I’m hesitant to remove it from my portfolio. BUT, if you are reading this and in the same situation as me, please take my advice: Drop it!

It will show! People can tell you don’t like it. Not to mention when you got a chance to present your case study, your emotion, your feelings will show to the hiring managers, and that’s the worst thing ever!

As a new designer, I know it’s kind of hard to build many “great” case studies compared to experienced designers. But at least, show your “ best and liked” ones.

4. Stop comparing your work with others

Last but not least, stop comparing your portfolios to other designers. First, we compare our work with others to get inspiration about the design system: the color, layout design, the fonts, etc. But when you have found your best work to show and start to build your portfolio. Stop compare it to others as every portfolio is unique, just like every individual is unique.

We can learn from the best, but we will always be ourselves. Another way to improve your portfolio is to get mentors to read it. They can help you improve the process or other details. But as a whole of a portfolio, it only represents who you are and what you think.