An Instructional Design portfolio provides a snapshot of your eLearning experience, talents, and work history. So, for you to confidently display your skills and sample works, and for the employer to see what you've got without asking, "What is your best selling point?".

An Instructional Design Portfolio is a must-have tool for Instructional Designers.

What does an ID Portfolio look like?

 "Opportunity knocks only once."

1. Introduction

It is just like replying to "tell me something about yourself." First impressions last.

Tell them about yourself, professionally speaking, and focus on what sets you apart. Avoid generic information, such as those that only include a name and title.

Give them a glimpse of your instructional design portfolio and briefly touch on what they can expect to find.

Offer them your background and expertise, but leave the rest for your biography page.

Ensure that your introduction will make them feel that they need to know you better and in person.

2. Projects

Show them your expertise and versatility by including at least five best eLearning projects. Your projects must combine skills to show them your diverse range of talents.

After viewing your projects, this is the section that they will see.

If your projects made a good impression, they already have a general sense of what you can do; this is the chance to give them a better idea of who you are, your interests, and what excites you about your profession.

Now is the time to offer them a glimpse of who you are and how your experience qualifies you for the job.

If you want to shine, this is your last chance. List all awards, publications, press interviews, and client testimonials that pertain to your Instructional Design career. If you have, you can also see that you have included links to articles you've written so that they can get a firsthand look at your published work.

5. Contact Information

If your portfolio serves you right, this last part is very important. Include a contact form and pertinent contact details, such as your phone number, email address, and social media profiles.

Make it as easy as possible for them to get in touch with you to ask questions or make an offer.

Why is a Portfolio Important for Your ID Career?

An Instructional Design portfolio sums up your work, output, skills, and expertise. It demonstrates your whole creative process; how you work, generate ideas, and create high-quality eLearning courses. In this day and age of technology, there is no excuse for not having an Instructional Design portfolio, where online portfolios or portfolio websites are becoming more and more popular.

Not yet convinced?

Read the following reasons and decide afterward.

1. It Offers You the Opportunity to Stand Out

Your Instructional Design portfolio will allow you to demonstrate your style and all of your talent’s potential without the usual compromises you usually need to make for your client's sake.

To stand out from the crowd, make sure that its web design is clean and lovely. It is a great way to show off without annoying or wasting anybody’s time in a job interview. Make sure you put your best work first; don’t even include your not-so-good eLearning projects.

Select your words describing yourself carefully and help your viewers navigate easily through your creation using a simple yet exciting navigation system.

Pay attention to details and provide your website visitors with an experience they will not soon forget.

2. Your Clients and Potential Employers Can See Your Work Anywhere and Anytime

Anyone with an internet connection and a computer, a smartphone, or a tablet will be able to see your work; isn’t that great?

An online ID portfolio is an excellent way to demonstrate what you are capable of doing and your project management skills, soft skills, and experience.

To make sure that you make it easy for anyone interested to access your instructional design portfolio, design a responsive website so that it shows everything correctly on smartphones and tablets, and optimize its SEO so that it will be easy for the search engines to find it.

Moreover, follow a simple and clean graphic design approach and ensure that the short text accompanying your visuals is powerful.

3. Your Chances of Getting Hired Are Highly Increased

Employers often look up online before deciding whom to call for a job interview. Clients want to know beforehand information such as the prices and conditions of instructional design services.

An online instructional design portfolio will allow you to share such information and the best samples of your work, which automatically facilitates the recruitment process and makes a great impression.

You will be asked to provide examples of your work when you meet with a potential employer or client.

Having a robust, attention-grabbing, and professional-looking Instructional Design portfolio online might get you hired quickly.

4. It Shows All The Experience You Have

An online instructional design portfolio suggests that you care enough to present your work, and you don’t just sit there waiting for things to happen.

Your clients or potential employers will be able to go through detailed documentation of your work and pay attention to your progress throughout your years of experience.

Make sure that the content of your instructional design portfolio is versatile and shows a little bit of everything you can do.

Also, even if you don’t have many projects to show, start with the project you are most proud of to grab your viewers’ attention and finish with an equally strong piece that will leave your visitors wanting more.

5. It Saves Both You and Your Clients Time

As an instructional designer, you know that everyone's time is valuable in the eLearning industry, professionals and learners alike.

This is why your potential employers and clients will deeply appreciate a chance to see what you can do on their own instead of hearing you talking about it during an endless interview.

In other words, an online instructional design portfolio will allow your viewers to see for themselves what you can do because it will speak louder than words, going straight to the point in no time.

6. It Can Be Very Personal and Engaging

Your instructional design portfolio shares a part of yourself. Potential employers are interested in your personality, so you can take advantage of your instructional design portfolio and share a little bit of yourself.

Never forget that this is a professional website, but a concise, entertaining story about a project can make a difference.

Was there a big challenge you faced during a specific assignment? Was there any funny moment while a deadline was approaching? Are you particularly proud of a project? What is the most important thing you have learned so far?

Writing in a personal manner, adding testimonials to provide credibility, and maybe sharing a few pictures will engage the viewers of your portfolio and, this is crucial, reassure them that you are real. You haven’t found your samples on Google. Yes, it happens, and, yes, it is as ugly as it sounds.

7. It Allows You to Make Improvements As Often As You Want

Finally, the best part of having an online instructional design portfolio is that you can add projects to it as soon as you finish them. You can improve its web design from time to time and correct information that may be distracting.

Your instructional design portfolio can grow and improve along with your work, skills, and experience, as it is a breathing record of your career.

You can do everything you want with it and ensure that you are ready when the right opportunity comes along.

What Does an ID Portfolio Look Like?

Creating an instructional design portfolio is arguably the most crucial thing you can do to land a full-time corporate job or secure freelance clients. Before you start working on your portfolio, drawing inspiration from others is a good idea. This will help you better understand the functionality and look and feel that you’d like to see in your portfolio and what’s standard for the industry. A great portfolio will help you generate leads and get interviews.

2. CORINNE FISKETJON ID PORTFOLIO