Focused conversation: Portfolios

Join us for a focused and friendly conversation about portfolios. A portfolio of writing samples is essential for job applications, but creating a portfolio that really shows off our skills isn’t always easy. Let’s share our experiences and learn from one another.

Here are a few questions to get us started:

• How do you share writing samples? Do you have a portfolio?
• How many samples do you share? What kinds of writing? How do you choose?
• Tell us about the process of creating a portfolio. How long did it take? Was it challenging, or uncomfortable, or rewarding? Why?
• Have you revised--or even completely revamped--your portfolio? Why and how?
• When do you share your portfolio? Do you include a link in your application materials, or do you provide samples only upon request?
• Tech writers often write under an NDA. How have you handled confidentiality?
• Have you seen other portfolios? Without disclosing any identifying information, tell us about some of the best you’ve seen. What made them great?
• What should we avoid doing in our portfolios?
• Where do you host your portfolio? Google Drive? WordPress? A static site generator on Github?

Our Write the Docs community offers these helpful resources:

• Maintaining a portfolio — Write the Docs: Thorough, including links to sample portfolios!
• Building an API portfolio
• Document Yourself: Practical Tips for a Low(er)-Stress Portfolio
• Creating a doc portfolio
• Putting together a portfolio

Bring your thoughts and questions, and attend for as long as your schedule allows. Our goal is to give you an opportunity to support and network with each other.
The discussion is on Zoom. We’ll post the links on the Meetup event by the previous evening. To attend, you must RSVP to the Meetup event. We use the attendees list to screen out Zoom bombers, so it's especially helpful if you have the same display name in Zoom as your name on Meetup.