Since I'm recently sharing how to present a planner's portfolio with my students, I'd like to share it here for everyone to know.
The purpose of a portfolio is for the recruiter to read it and assess that you are a suitably qualified and interesting planner to invite for an interview.
The portfolio usually consists of 3 parts:
- Part 1: Resume/CV
- Part 2: Professional Work Showcase
- Part 3: Personal Work Showcase
You can handle Part 1 yourself; present relevant experience—I won't go into detail on this as it's about CV-making.
Part 2 is the most important part. In this section, you need to showcase your thinking as concisely as possible through the cases/work you've done. Each case in your portfolio should be written very concisely (which my students will understand as a really mini version of the Think Sheet), and should include the following points, each ideally written in just 1 sentence:
- Background & Marketing Objective
- Communication Objective
- The Killer Insight
- Brand Communication Strategy
- Creative Way-in/Idea
If you wrote well in the original proposal, copy & paste it. If you're not satisfied, don't hesitate to revise it.
If the work was actually executed, include:
- Screenshots of the hero activities/key assets + a link.
- State the results underneath (e.g., awareness increased by 5%, 1 million reach, 3 million views, 10k participants in something, etc...) depending on what impressive numbers you have.
For those new to the profession who don't have much work to show, write mock cases—rewrite the strategy for any brand and brief you encounter. I once heard an ECD recall that when he was a junior copywriter, he would wait for everyone to leave, grab all the briefs from other teams, and practice solving them himself. That's how he built his impressive portfolio 😂
Oh, and remember that each case should only be presented on 1-2 slides; I personally prefer 1 slide.
Part 3 is for things unrelated to planning that you enjoy doing, such as opening a fashion shop, making handmade crafts, photography, blogging, cosplay, being a top server gamer, etc. This section demonstrates that your life is interesting enough to enhance your planning work, and that you don't just live in the marketing, media, and advertising bubble.
I hope this helps you a bit and leads to many interview invitations.
