So I have been a contractor for a manufacture from Sept 2012 to Jan 2013 and moved to a German consultancy for a internship this year, however now I’m looking for other jobs / internships while I still have my visa for Germany, but beyond my graduate portfolio, I cant show my professional work from the past 2 jobs because they are not released yet or will be untill the end of this year.
How do you get past this and try to prove to a company your value, additional experience while presenting a portfolio from your undergrad studies, and just an updated resume?
Or is just one of those time you just cop it on the chin.
This was my portfolio feedback post - actually more feedback would be appreciated.
First, if you haven’t already, I would double check with your past employer and be very clear about what you hope to show and how (ie. in portfolio vs. only in person in interview). Some projects may allow for showing it before release to non-competitors during in-person interviews. Some projects may want you to show no development work ever. Sometimes timelines change, things get released early at tradeshows, etc. which might allow you to show earlier. I’m sure you’ve gone through this but thought it might be worth mentioning.
I don’t really think there’s any magic solutions, short of violating agreements you’ve signed and risk putting yourself in a bad spot. If your old work doesn’t reflect your new skill-set I would do some new self directed personal projects that will give you the chance to reflect the changes in your abilities.
I’ve seen people with teaser pages in their portfolio that basically say “Hey I did some awesome stuff and I can’t show it to you, but trust me it’s great”. They usually feel like b.s. to me, especially if the portfolio is lacking strong work. I think that you’re better off just adding new work, and talking abstractly and broadly about what you learned/how you matured during the interview.