As a PM, building your Product Portfolio is key. 🔑 Consider the Portfolio as a document to showcase (proudly) all the work you’ve ever done - and that is exactly why it is important to have a stellar portfolio. In context of a job search, you never want to be the candidate who doesn’t have their portfolio when the hiring manager asks for it. Since it's a reflective experience, it can prepare you for interviews and other challenges that require you to share your achievements. Note: Form follows function, so however you build your portfolio, keep your goal in mind. Once you know why and how you are preparing a portfolio, you need to understand what you are aiming to communicate.
Here is the sheet with Portfolios of 250 Top Product Managers —>
General observations:
- Platforms - here is how people usually create their product portfolio:
- Wordpress/Ghost (to build a blog) - eg, #209, #67
- Squarespace/Wix/Webflow (to build a nice landing) - eg, #15, #25, #120
- Notion (to build a mix) - eg, #43-46
- Substack (newsletter/blog) - eg, #12-14
- Tumblr (to build a blog) - eg, #10
- Others - like About dot me or linktree or else (to make a short one-pager with links and maybe a small photo) - eg, #47-52
- Commong things - usually, in their product portfolios PMs have:
- Basic stuff - their bio, resume, education, jobs
- Blog - share notes/thoughts (~45% of the list)
- Projects they work on (~42% of the list)
- Newsletters (~10% of the list)
Here are 26 Tips on what you can write in your Product Portfolio:
- If you have Youtube channel - feel free to include videos from there: #2-4
- Create showreels for your projects for visual demo of what you did: #5, #37
- If you’re product designer/PM, include references to your Dribbble or similar service: #6, #30
- If you’re developer/PM - make sure to include your github links: #64-66
- Position yourself as a maker, to showcase side projects, including no-code ones (eg, #71, #33, #34, #94, #100)
- If you have twitter - share its link as a CTA to ‘connect/follow’ (#7) or embed your tweets (#8)
- Include info about non-work stuff: travel (#11), photography (#31), food (#61), drinks (#114), or even hardware toys (#62)
- If you do coaching/mentorship, portfolio can help you promote them (#87-93)
- If you have Certifications - feel free to attach them as well (#95-97)
- Book recommendations, reviews or just the ‘bookshelf’ (a list) can work as well (#101-106)
- Separate your expertise in ‘areas’ or ‘domains’ in a way like #109-110
- Do something unexpected with design, like following other service design (like Amazon style portfolio #111) or make illustration (eg, #99)
- Include custom tools you’ve created (eg, A/B testing tool #113) or (Keyword research tool #59)
- Include newsletter, or share a free ebook to demonstrate your expertise (eg #68)
- Describe the process ‘behind-the-scenes’ in your Projects, like #73, #108
- Create a chat-like form to increase engagement, like #94
- Check cool design references (personal imho) - #78-84
- Share your podcast, if you have any - like #60
- Embed some cheaper Intercom analogy, so that it’s easier to connect with you - eg, #60
- Include testimonials from your employer/colleagues like a ‘wall of love’ - eg, #57
- Include numeric results of your work - eg, #37-42
- Include press coverage, if any - eg, #29
- Build the whole (side) project for PMs, sharing learning resources, newsletter, tools, etc - eg, #17
- Include the Q&A format - eg, #24
- Showcase your side business(es) - eg, #21, #22
- Include your goals (aka Impossible list) - eg, #23
- Bonus: make sure to update your portfolio regularly. Posts from 2015 don't look cool -_-