How To Create A New Online Portfolio In 6 Easy Steps

If your web presence is immaculate and meticulously updated, this post isn’t for you. This post is intended for the dev who’s been so busy shipping code and building awesome apps that you haven’t had time to update your professional site since the original dot com bubble. This post is also applicable to developers without a professional website.

The following walkthrough is an introduction of a very free tool that is quick and easy to use. With this advice and a bit of imagination you will look like a rockstar in your next interview. Feel free to adapt and improve these methods.

Meet the new Perspective Template from Strikingly.com.

Yes, Strikingly is a free website builder. Some free website builders aren't great. Strikingly is, and the new Perspective Template is pretty smooth, and about to help you go from candidate who showed up to candidate who showed up with a link to an innovative online portfolio.

Step 1: Home

In the Strikingly Editor, use the Home section to add a picture of your face or logo. I’ve found that photos look significantly more cool when cropped with a circle, and in black and white, over an epic background. If you don’t own an epic background pic, search free stock photos. If you'd prefer not to share your picture, and you don’t have a logo, Tailor Brands is a cool little site where you can design a logo in a few minutes. It doesn’t have to be perfect. You can always come back and replace it.

Write your name in the header, and add the job title you wish to attain in the subheader. Or, add a choice quote below your name.

Step 2: Stats

Use the stats section to tout some of your accomplishments. Try to quantify 4 KPIs of your development career, and then use the fifth spot to say you accomplished “countless” [additional accomplishment here].

Choose a background photo that shows your personality, but that also relates to your accomplishments.

Step 3: Gallery

Add some screenshots of your previous work, or the logos of the companies that have previously employed you. Use the text boxes provided, but try to limit yourself to 10 words total.

Step 4: Beliefs

This is a great place to express your creativity. Or, just select a photo that might be inspiring and write a few brief words about your values, or what you are looking for in a job.

Step 5: Skills

Use the remaining sections to tout your various skills. Consider using sections to group skills at a general level, and then developing elements on each section to provide detail. When replacing template default images, consider searching free icon libraries to find icons that appropriately represent your value points.

Step 6: Save and Publish

Now that you have very quickly created a web presence, make sure to customize the url to something that is easy to remember and sounds nice when you ask your interviewer to check out what you’ve put together. Use your new web page as a visual companion with talking points as you provide additional detail into areas that match the job requirements for the position you wish to attain.