The work is the portfolio.

Everything else is just how you choose to share it.

You Already Have a Portfolio

Your work exists. This is how you find it, organize it, and decide how to share it.

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Adapted from the live ATD Orange County session “Own Your Story: Building a Standout L&D Portfolio.”

Any mention of live polls in the videos comes from that session.

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Four videos, in order

Creating a career portfolio starts with identifying your portfolio-worthy work, showing your skills and thinking, deciding how to present the work and bringing your voice to the work.

Watch them one after another, or start with the one that matches where you are stuck.

Open the full playlist

Start here ifI don’t have anything to show

Intro & Recognize Portfolio-Worthy Work

Start by learning to spot the work you have already done that counts. You do not need new projects, only a sharper eye for what you already have.

Covers tool tab 1: Find the Work

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Start here ifI can’t share my work

Show Skills & Thinking

See how to bring your skills and your reasoning into view, not just the finished result. Then work through the decisions about what you can and can’t share.

Covers tool tabs 2 and 3: Show the Thinking, Make the Decisions

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Start here ifI don’t know what format to use

Decide How to Present the Work

Look at the formats a portfolio can take. Learn how to choose the one that fits your work and the people you want to reach.

Covers tool tab 4: Choose the Format

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Start here ifMy portfolio doesn’t sound like me

Bring Your Own Voice & Conclusion

Make the portfolio sound like you, then test it before anyone else sees it. The session closes by pulling the whole process together.

Covers tool tabs 5 and 6: Make It Yours, Test It

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Total series runtime: 64:19

Explore the tool

Work through your own material

This is a thinking tool, not a builder.

It will not build a portfolio for you. It helps you think through your work, one step at a time, across six tabs.

1. Find the WorkSpot the projects and results you already have.
2. Show the ThinkingBring out the reasoning behind what you did.
3. Make the DecisionsDecide what to include and what to leave out.
4. Choose the FormatPick a format that fits your work and your audience.
5. Make It YoursPut it in your own voice.
6. Test ItCheck how it lands before you share it.

BEFORE YOU START

Works best on a tablet or larger screen.
Do not enter confidential or sensitive information.
Working Notes are not saved. Copy them before you close the tab.

Open the tool

Start here ifI just want to explore the tool

Quick tour of the tool

A short walk through the tool so you know what each part does before you start.

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