How to Build an Instructional Design + Technical Writing Portfolio (and what to include in it)

If you’re applying for an Instructional Designer (ID) or Technical Writer role, it’s useful to have a portfolio of projects or samples of relevant work you’ve done. A portfolio allows recruiters and interviewers to get a better sense of your skills, and gives you a chance to show off your best work! Even if you don’t have any work samples or past projects, don’t fret! In this post, I’ll cover a few ways to set up a portfolio and give you some ideas for projects you can create for your portfolio that will both excite and impress recruiters.

Build your portfolio (blog or website)

When you’re starting to build your portfolio, it’s important to keep it clean and simple. That’s why I recommend setting up either a blog or a simple website using a website builder. While you do have the option to create a blog or site from scratch, the benefit of using a website builder is that you can focus less on coding and more on content. Examples of website builders are:

• Wordpress

• Squarespace

• Wix

Once you have your portfolio website or blog up and running, you will want to have a few pages set up.

• About page - a space to let recruiters and site visitors learn more about you and your experience

• Contact page - a place for people to get in touch with you (e.g. an email address or a contact form)

• Portfolio projects page - a space where you can add your portfolio content

Let’s take a look at some ideas of what projects and content you can include in your on your portfolio projects page to really impress recruiters and stand out among the crowd.

Add portfolio projects

Below I’ve listed ideas for your portfolio projects page that will help you showcase your skills. Some of these ideas may be more appealing to you than others, and that’s ok. Pick a combination of projects that you feel excited about and let your creativity shine! Along with each project idea, I’ve also listed ways to make that project stand out. Remember, creating portfolio content is one thing, but making it stand out is what will set you apart from everyone else!

Project idea #1 - Create a blog post tutorial

The first idea is to create a blog post tutorial where you take a complex topic and break it down into easy-to-follow steps. As an ID or Technical Writer, you will probably find yourself writing blog posts for your company to help others learn how to use your software or technology! To create your blog post, pick an industry-related skill and break it down into a logical, step-by-step blog post. This project idea allows you to show off your writing, organization, and teaching skills! If you are looking for a technical role, write your blog post tutorial about a technical programming or software topic. If you’re looking for a non-technical role, you can write your blog post about a less technical topic related to your desired role. Let’s take a look at some example topics below.

Blog post tutorial topic examples:

• More technical:

  • How to create a hover effect using CSS

  • How to iterate through a list using Python

• Less technical:

  • How to add CC and BCC to an email

  • How to create a template in Google Slides/Google Docs, etc.

How to make it stand out:

• Get clear on the audience for your blog post (what skills they have, what career they have, etc.)

• Organize your post in a logical sequence (intro/main idea, sequenced steps, conclusion/wrap-up)

• Add clear screenshots that help the audience understand what you’re talking about

• Consider creating GIFs that demonstrate a short process

• Use clear and concise language to make sure your audience can read/skim easily

• Include headings and subheadings to break up your post into logical sections

Project idea #2 - Create a video tutorial

The second idea for portfolio content is to create a video tutorial where you record your screen and narrate as you teach a topic. As an ID or Technical Writer, you may be asked to create video tutorials or walkthroughs, so having one in your portfolio will help to set you apart from the rest! Video tutorials allow you to show off your teaching, video editing, and organization skills! You can take a skill that you’re comfortable with, write out a short step-by-step tutorial, and then use any screen recording app (e.g. Quicktime or OBS Studio) to demonstrate the process on your computer. Then, you can edit the screen recording with voice narration, callouts, overlays, and text, using video editing software (e.g. iMovie, Camtasia, Final Cut Pro, etc.). Once you create your video tutorial, you can embed it into your portfolio directly or using an embed link to Youtube, Vimeo, etc.

Video tutorial topic examples:

• More technical:

  • How to set up your Python environment

  • How to create a flexbox on your website

• Less technical:

  • How to set up a spreadsheet for [X] purpose

  • How to set ‘Working Hours’ in your Google calendar

How to make it stand out:

• Before you record, set your screen to the highest resolution possible

• Make sure you introduce your topic at the beginning of your video (using audio or text overlay)

• Tell your audience what you’ll be teaching them (using audio or text overlay)

• Record an audio voiceover that explains the steps you are taking in your tutorial

• Align your mouse/cursor movements with your voiceover as much as possible

• Try to make your mouse/cursor movements smooth so the audience can track your movements

Project idea #3 - Create a course

Another idea that combines both Idea 1 (blog post tutorial) and Idea 2 (video tutorial) is to build a course where you teach a topic of your choice! A course can be built using a combination of slide decks (Google Slides, PowerPoint, etc.), videos (embedded via YouTube or Vimeo), and short-form writing (blog posts, documentation, etc.). As you build your course, make sure to include these elements.

• Introduction - where you introduce your topic and the learning outcomes

• Body of content - where you teach the topic

• Conclusion - where you summarize the content you just taught

• Assessment - where you test your audience's knowledge

Note: To add the course elements to your portfolio, you can create a separate page/post in your portfolio, add a course title, and list all of your course elements. Another option is you can create a Zip file that contains all of the course elements and then upload it to your portfolio.

Course topic examples:

• More technical:

  • How to create a nav bar on your website

  • How to iterate through an array using JavaScript

• Less technical:

  • How to create tags and filters in your email inbox

  • How to edit a photo to reduce shadows

How to make it stand out:

• Identify your audience, what you will teach, learning objectives, and course outcome right upfront

• Ensure your course teaches the audience what they need to know to achieve the course outcome

• Use a combination of slide decks, blog posts, and videos to teach your content

• Include assessment questions (quizzes, knowledge checks, assessments, etc.) in your course

• Sign up for free trials of course building software and create your course using it

Conclusion

As you work to create your ID or Technical Writer portfolio, create a combination of blog posts, video tutorials, and/or sample courses that showcase your skills! Once you create those projects, try to take them to the next level by editing well, and adding in additional features such as screenshots, callouts, GIFs, etc. And finally, recruiters and interviewers who look at your portfolio will be looking to see your voice, style, and creativity - so make sure you be authentically you!