How to Use a Portfolio Career as an Asset When Applying for Jobs

How to Use Your Portfolio Career as an AssetOne of the small complications of being a portfolio careerist is figuring out how to present your overlapping permanent positions and short-term projects on your resume, and then talking them through in an interview situation.

Chances are if you are applying for a position at an established, large organization, your recruiter is likely to start asking questions to the effect of “Are you going to use your time on the clock for us and our resources to pursue outside unrelated projects?” Which is why you need to head off that line of questioning at the pass by incorporating your portfolio career as part of the pitch for why you’re the right hire for the position.

Having been through this conversation a number of times over the course of my career, I’ve found the key factors for navigating this topic successfully are:

  • being transparent about your overlapping projects
  • reinforcing what you learned from the projects
  • clarifying what overlapping projects, if any, you have at the moment
  • ensuring you gain understanding from the recruiter and the hiring manager on the organization’s policies about concurrent projects

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Evolve Your CV Into a Results-Oriented Resume

Turn Your CV into a Modern ResumeAre you still using a curriculum vitae (CV) to apply for corporate positions in the U.S.? If so, you may be selling yourself short.

Although the factual, comprehensive CV is still alive and well in academia and in other parts of the world, it typically doesn’t do a good enough job of selling an employer in the U.S. on why you—and not the hundred other applicants for the position—should be called up for an interview. But the good news is, your CV provides a great base from which to construct a results-oriented resume.

Overcoming the hurdles

That said, I’ve seen two recurring hurdles when working with professionals in transitioning from a CV to a results-oriented resume: 1)  getting over feeling uncomfortable about self-promotion and 2) finding the right results and accomplishments to focus on. So let’s start by focusing on overcoming those hurdles.

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One Change to Make to Your LinkedIn Profile Today: Improve Your Professional Headline

Professional HeadlineWhen I was poking around on LinkedIn today, I noticed something —many of my former colleagues are still using their current job title, i.e. Marketing Director or Senior Manager, as their LinkedIn headline. While it’s better than not having a headline, it’s a missed opportunity. Especially if you’ve got a portfolio career in the making.

So if you only have time to do one 10-minute task this week to focus on your professional development, make that task be to take a hard look at your LinkedIn headline, and give it an edit to better reflect the unique and marketable skills you want to apply in your work life.

LinkedIn headline

3 Steps to a Better LinkedIn Headline

1.) Take a look at the skills for which others have endorsed you.
Are these skills you want to put to use in future positions, even if you aren’t using them now? Do they lend themselves to a unique and specific title, such as Editor, Coach, Illustrator, etc.? If so, make sure to include that as one part of your headline. This is especially helpful for those who are pursuing portfolio careers.

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