Tips for your research portfolio

As part of UX Coffee Hours, I've been grateful to connect with so many talented, up and coming researchers and give back to the research community. Because of my experience in hiring researchers, I often share advice on how to improve portfolios and resumes. Below are some of the common tips I often share in how to make sure your resume and portfolio stands out in a crowd:

Be authentic to you.

As a hiring manager, I'm hiring a human, not a machine - so understanding who you are as a person helps me get to know you on a deeper level, rather than just your projects. Look for opportunities to weave your personality, hobbies, and outside interests into your resume and portfolio. It's also a great icebreaker when kicking off a conversation with a prospective employer.

Keep it scannable.

Usually hiring managers will have tens, or in some cases, hundreds of applications to go through in a short amount of time, on top of their day to day jobs. This means that hiring managers often have a couple of minutes to make a decision on whether to move forward a candidate to the next round. Therefore, make your resume and portfolio as scannable as possible to ensure pertinent information (such as your role, responsibilities, and impact) can be easily identified, as well as using bullet points rather than paragraphs where possible.

Focus on impact.

The one thing I am often looking for in previous research experience is the impact of the work. Showing the impact implicitly highlights that you can influence your stakeholders or clients based on your research findings.

The best-case scenario for impact can quantify the impact through improvement in metrics or OKRs, which are often easier to establish with more evaluative research approaches. However, in cases where it's hard to quantify the impact, such as through more generative research, articulating how your research has changed or influenced the product or design direction is just as useful.

Keep it relevant.

You don't need to put every piece of work experience, or research project, within your resume. Make sure you are tailoring your resume, and portfolio, to the roles you are seeking. Emphasizing relevant experience can help hiring managers see that you have relevant work experience without reviewing your profile extensively.

Highlighting relevant experience could mean emphasizing specific projects, within certain industries, or where you had a particular role. If you are transitioning your career, highlight skills in your previous jobs that are transferrable to new opportunities you are seeking.

Create your elevator pitch.

Although elevator pitches are traditionally for in-person meetings, crafting your elevator pitch can help you create a story that you can incorporate into your portfolio, or use as an introduction to potential hiring managers. Use your elevator pitch to outline who you are, your experience, and what opportunities you are seeking.