Why Do You Need a Professional Portfolio?

BA Mindset Mentorship Circle topics

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In our BA Mindset Mentorship Circle meetup this week, we talked about a business analysis portfolio. Do you need one? Why? What’s the benefit?

What is a professional portfolio?

A professional portfolio is a collection of artifacts, properly sanitized and anonymized, that a job candidate can use in interviews to illustrate their skills and experience.

It can take many forms:

• Paper-based (a binder with dividers and quality printouts)
• Digital (a collection of PDF files you can share during virtual interviews)
• Online (a website or blog with examples of your work, or a rich LinkedIn profile)
• Referential (a list of references to conferences, articles, guest appearances that qualifies you as an expert in your field)

I’ve had a professional portfolio for years and always felt it served me well in job interviews. Yet, I rarely see other job candidates bring one. I don’t understand why.

Advantages of a professional portfolio

• Can be used to illustrate your knowledge and skills during an interview.