How To Update Your Portfolio When You’re Going Through A Career Transition

Career transitions have a way of getting you to buckle down on where you’ve been and where you’re going. As of 2024, it’s been reported that “59% of U.S. professionals were actively looking for a new job.” Many women are looking for a better work-life balance, are interested in pivoting to a new industry, or have simply fallen out of alignment with their current job. Regardless of the motive, your work portfolio has to be updated so you’re ready when the transition comes. 

Here are three focus points women can use when updating their portfolios that don’t call for them to start from scratch during a career transition.

When making a career pivot, some women think their previous job title carries the weight of their qualifications. But according to a recent study, 90% of executives said they are actively experimenting with skills-based approaches to attracting and retaining workers. If you’re not highlighting how your past work experience relates to the current industry you’re applying to, then it doesn’t matter.

Transferable skills are the abilities you’ve gained that can translate well into another job position, industry, or career path. And according to a LiveCareer study, “58% [of people] aren’t sure how to include transferable skills on their resume.” Don’t think of the job title when updating your portfolio. For example, you could be a journalist, but you have transferable skills to work in public relations or communications. The transferable skills like pitching, writing, interviewing, and relationship building align with the role requirements of someone who is in public relations.

Your career portfolio isn’t just about what you created or achieved. Believe it or not, storytelling is very important when it comes to your resume. In what some call a “narrative resume,” it explains why what you did in your previous roles mattered. 

Think about this: You list your deliverables and work where you crushed KPIs in the Construction management industry, but you’re looking to transition into project management. That recruiter or hiring manager may look at your resume and not understand fully what you contributed because they don’t share that same background.

Painting the picture of your work experience is what makes storytelling the new resume skill. The S.T.A.R Method is an example of storytelling that integrates brief explanations that highlight your role, goals, and outcomes. It’s less about how you did the work and more about what it accomplished.

Affiliate Marketing Manager at Event Tickets Center, Jesse Morgan, shared in an article that “portfolios tell us who’s evolving, not just who’s experienced.” 

Even when titles change, a digital portfolio is something that remains active compared to just a traditional portfolio or resume. An article in Today News talks about how digital portfolios trend for data-driven transparency and design as a strategy. 

LinkedIn’s 2024 Global Talent Trends report states, “candidates with visible project portfolios or work samples were 2.5 times more likely to advance to final interview stages than those relying solely on experience descriptions.” Women are enhancing their portfolios with links like articles, social content, websites, and other projects. 

You can’t wrap all of your work relevance on a one-pager resume. These clickable links can show hiring managers how you think and communicate, instead of using bullet points and descriptive context for them to imagine. 

Remember, as you’re transitioning careers, that your work portfolio is a high-level one and not meant to explain your entire career. It’s simply a conversation starter for someone to learn more.