Build Your Course Design Skills with a Portfolio

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Why a portfolio matters for your development

A resume lists what you’ve done. A portfolio shows what you can do. For e-learning designers, that distinction can make all the difference.

A portfolio has three jobs:

• It showcases your skills
• Documents your experience
• Demonstrates your qualifications.

When you’re being hired, the portfolio does what a text-based resume can’t, it shows your skills in action.

When I review candidates for instructional design roles, the portfolio tells me more than the degree does. Someone might list years of experience and education on a resume, but without samples I can’t see what they can do.

If you want people to notice your skills, you need somewhere to put them.

Getting past the common roadblocks

Most people know they need a portfolio. Finding the time to build one is another matter. Here are a few solutions to the most common obstacles. The most common problem is time. If you’ve been putting it off, start small.

The second common issue is proprietary work. If your projects can’t be shared, here are three ways to handle that:

• Replace all proprietary content with placeholder text or generic images. We use a fake company, Glivy, for all of our demos. Create your own fake company. The good thing about AI is you can quickly create good enough fake content.
• If you can’t show an entire course, capture a few key screenshots and explain what you designed and why.
• No one wants to sit through the whole course which is probably redundant. Instead, rebuild the most interesting part of a project using your own content.

Using your portfolio to document your learning

You’re probably already learning even if you’re not documenting it. Heck, you’re reading this post. That counts for something. You read blog posts, watch videos, and take courses. What you’re likely not doing is capturing any of it.

Adding a blog to your portfolio is one of the best ways to turn passive consumption into active learning. Write a quick post after finishing a video, reading an article, or completing a chapter in a reference bookl. You’re not writing for an audience, just for yourself. But write as if you’re explaining it to someone else. Over time, those short posts build a real record of your growth.

Here are some prompts to get started:

• Watched a useful video? Write “Five things I learned from XYZ.”
• Finished a chapter? Jot a few thoughts about what stuck and what surprised you. Write about something you can apply at work.
• Read an article? Note what you agree with, what you’d push back on, and how it applies to your work.

Using your portfolio to build skills

It’s easy to spend years at a job building the same type of course over and over. Let’s face it, a lot of corporate e-learning isn’t very good and you probably don’t get to stretch your creative muscles. You’re not building a hundred different skills. You’re using one skill a hundred times.

Your portfolio is the place to practice what you don’t get to try at work. The weekly e-learning challenges are a great source of prompts. Here’s a simple approach:

• Start with one challenge per quarter.
• Share what you create and ask for feedback.
• Write a short post about what you tried and what you learned.

Matching your skills to what the industry needs

Knowing which skills to build is half the battle. Years ago I decided to transition to from media production to training. I went online and reviewed all of the training-related job postings and then I created a two-column list. On one side, I listed all desired qualifications and on the other, my corresponding experience. Needless to say, there was a big gap between what companies wanted and the skills I had.

So I went out and acquired the skills by volunteering or participating in projects. Then I created a portfolio to document what I was learning and the types of projects on which I worked.

I think that’s a still a good way to do this.

• Look at job postings in your field, even if you’re not looking for work. Compare what they’re asking for with what you currently do.
• Make a two-column list. One side gets the desired qualifications from the postings. The other gets your matching experience.
• The gaps become your development plan. You can then go find projects to get experience and close the gaps.

For skills that are hard to find on real projects, try volunteering. Local non-profits, community groups, and government organizations often need training materials. Offer to build something for them. It doesn’t need to be complex. The goal is to document that you did it.

Key takeaways

Starting a portfolio doesn’t require a polished website or a stack of completed projects. It requires a habit. Pick one thing to document this week and then do it again next week. As your portfolio grows, so will your clarity about where you’re headed and what skills will get you there.