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National American University Online Library: Business/IT Portfolio Development

(The new library site includes APA 7 guidance, a getting-started video, and slides describing the library resources and how to use the online library.)

Why is a Portfolio Important?

A Business/IT portfolio is an essential tool for showcasing your skills, gaining a competitive edge, and positioning yourself for future opportunities in both traditional employment and entrepreneurial ventures. Explore the resources below to get started on your portfolio or strengthen the content of your current portfolio!

Business Portfolio Guidance

Creating a Business Portfolio is an excellent way to showcase your skills, experience, and achievements to potential employers or clients. Here are some recommended resources and tools to help you build a comprehensive and professional business portfolio:

Best practices for building your business portfolio:

  • Showcase a Range of Work: Include case studies, business plans, market research, and reports to demonstrate your versatile skills.
  • Provide Context: For each project, provide background information, challenges faced, and the solutions you developed.
  • Focus on Results: Highlight measurable results from your business projects, such as increased revenue, improved processes, or successful campaigns.
  • Keep It Updated: Regularly update your portfolio with new projects, skills, and certifications to ensure it reflects your current abilities.
  • Make It Accessible: Ensure that your portfolio is easy to navigate and professionally presented. A clean, user-friendly design is key.

Review the resources below for developing your Business Portfolio, but in the meantime be sure to create/update your LinkedIn profile as it can incorporate many important elements of a portfolio. Review the Career Services > Networking page for more information on LinkedIn. 

Business Portfolio Resources

Personal Website Builders

A personal website is a great way to present your portfolio online. It allows you to organize your work, highlight achievements, and present yourself in a polished, professional manner.

  • Wix: Offers user-friendly drag-and-drop tools and customizable templates ideal for creating business portfolios. *This resource also has built-in options for video embedding from YouTube, Vimeo, or direct file uploads.
  • Squarespace: Known for clean, visually appealing templates, Squarespace is easy to use and great for a professional business portfolio. *This resource also offers templates with video integration capabilities.
  • WordPress: A versatile platform with many business-oriented themes and plugins, perfect if you want more customization options.
  • Weebly: Another user-friendly website builder that allows you to create a professional-looking portfolio with minimal effort.

*If you're creating your own video content, Adobe Premiere Pro / Final Cut Pro are professional tools that will help you create high-quality videos that can then be uploaded to your portfolio.

Portfolio Template Sites

Some platforms offer pre-built templates for creating professional portfolios, allowing you to focus on adding content rather than design.

  • Adobe Portfolio: If you have an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, you can use this tool to create a personalized portfolio with polished templates.
  • Clarity: Offers portfolio templates specifically designed for business professionals.
  • PortfolioBox: Provides a customizable platform for creating business portfolios with various layout options.

Notion (Organizational Tool)

Notion is an all-in-one workspace that can be used to organize and showcase your projects, tasks, and business ideas. It’s especially useful for:

  • Creating a project dashboard that tracks your achievements and goals.
  • Storing case studies and any notes or detailed plans you’ve worked on for clients or projects.
  • Collaborating with others, allowing you to document and track feedback.

Trello / Asana (Project Management Tools)

These project management tools help you showcase your ability to organize, plan, and execute business tasks.

  • Trello: Ideal for visualizing the workflow of projects, providing a breakdown of tasks and milestones you’ve achieved.
  • Asana: Useful for documenting detailed project management processes and the steps taken to complete business objectives.

Canva

Canva is a graphic design tool that allows you to create visually appealing presentations, infographics, and documents, which can be used to showcase business strategies, reports, or market analyses in your portfolio.

  • Create professional-looking reports, charts, or presentations to include in your portfolio.
  • Design custom graphics to enhance the visual appeal of your case studies or project summaries.

Behance (For Creative Business Professionals)

Behance is a great platform for creative professionals in fields like marketing, brand management, or business design. You can showcase:

  • Creative business projects, including branding, campaign design, or marketing strategies.
  • Case studies and visual projects that reflect your ability to think strategically and design compelling business solutions.

Google Analytics / HubSpot (Marketing Analytics Tools)

For business professionals in marketing or data analytics, integrating analytics tools into your portfolio can demonstrate your proficiency with data-driven decision-making.

  • Google Analytics: Show your ability to analyze website traffic and make data-backed recommendations.
  • HubSpot: Showcase your experience with inbound marketing, lead generation, and customer relationship management (CRM).

IT Portfolio Guidance

Creating a strong IT portfolio is essential for showcasing your technical skills, projects, and achievements to potential employers or clients. Here are several key resources and tools you can use to create a comprehensive and professional IT portfolio:

Best practices for building your IT portfolio:

  • Showcase Diverse Projects: Include a variety of projects that demonstrate your technical versatility (e.g., web development, database management, app development, etc.).
  • Highlight Problem-Solving: Focus on the problems you solved with your projects and the impact of your solutions.
  • Include Testimonials/References: Add positive feedback from professors, mentors, or employers who can vouch for your work.
  • Keep It Updated: Continuously add new projects, skills, certifications, and accomplishments to keep your portfolio fresh.

Review the resources below for developing your IT Portfolio, but in the meantime be sure to create/update your LinkedIn profile as it can incorporate many important elements of a portfolio. Review the Career Services > Networking page for more information on LinkedIn. 

IT Portfolio Resources

Personal Website Builders

Creating a personal website is one of the best ways to present your IT portfolio. Many platforms allow you to easily create a site that highlights your projects, resume, and contact information.

  • Wix: Offers drag-and-drop website building with customizable templates for portfolios. *This resource also has built-in options for video embedding from YouTube, Vimeo, or direct file uploads.
  • WordPress: A powerful platform with flexibility for creating detailed portfolios, especially if you have some technical expertise to customize it further.
  • Squarespace: Known for its clean, professional templates, and ease of use, ideal for showcasing a portfolio with little design experience. *This resource also offers templates with video integration capabilities.
  • Weebly: A user-friendly option for beginners to create a portfolio site with ease. 

*If you're creating your own video content, Adobe Premiere Pro / Final Cut Pro are professional tools that will help you create high-quality videos that can then be uploaded to your portfolio.

Portfolio Template Sites (for Structured Portfolios)

If you prefer a ready-made, structured approach to creating a professional portfolio, consider using a template site that provides clean, polished portfolio templates.

  • Adobe Portfolio: A sleek portfolio builder, especially useful for those with an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription.
  • Clarity: Provides easy-to-use templates for creating business-focused portfolios.
  • PortfolioBox: Offers customizable templates, especially for those working on web design or other digital portfolios.

Trello / Notion / Asana (For Project Management)

While not specifically portfolio tools, these project management platforms can help you organize and showcase the complexity of the projects you’ve worked on. You can use them to display:

  • The planning and management process of your projects.
  • Detailed breakdowns of tasks, workflows, and progress.

Recommended Uses:

  • Display how you approach project management, including timelines, goals, and team collaboration.
  • Document work processes or team projects in a visual and interactive way.

Canva / Figma (For Design or Visuals)

If your IT work involves any visual or design elements (such as UI/UX, web design, etc.), tools like Canva and Figma can help you create visually appealing elements for your portfolio.

  • Figma: A powerful design and prototyping tool ideal for UI/UX designers and front-end developers.
  • Canva: A user-friendly design tool for creating graphics, presentations, and social media posts.

Behance

While Behance is traditionally used by creatives, it’s also an excellent platform for IT professionals in fields like UI/UX design, web development, or graphic design. You can use it to display high-quality images, wireframes, and case studies for projects.

Recommended Uses:

  • Share visual projects like website designs, app mockups, and UI/UX work.
  • Include project descriptions with challenges faced and how you solved them.

GitHub

GitHub is an essential resource for IT professionals, especially those in software development, to showcase your code. It allows you to:

  • Host your projects and share code publicly.
  • Demonstrate your understanding of version control and collaboration tools.
  • Highlight contributions to open-source projects, which can be very appealing to employers.

Recommended Uses:

  • Upload personal projects, code samples, and technical contributions.
  • Link to repositories in your portfolio to show your programming skills and coding style.

GitLab / Bitbucket

Similar to GitHub, these platforms offer version control for your code, with GitLab providing additional DevOps tools and continuous integration features. Bitbucket is popular for private repositories and integration with other Atlassian products, such as Jira.

Recommended Uses:

  • Showcase complex or private projects with advanced DevOps or software engineering practices.
  • Create a more secure, private repository if needed for sensitive work.

Stack Overflow

For IT professionals, being active on platforms like Stack Overflow can be valuable. Answering questions, solving coding problems, and contributing to discussions help showcase your problem-solving ability and expertise.

Recommended Uses:

  • Link to your Stack Overflow profile to show your contributions to the developer community.
  • Highlight specific challenges you've solved that demonstrate your knowledge.

 

Business/IT Portfolio Help

Need Business/IT Portfolio Help? 

Email National American University Career Services at: naucareerservices@national.edu OR click HERE to schedule a meeting with Career Services on Zoom!  Career Services can then put you in contact with Business/IT Faculty Leads for more specific guidance! 

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