Whether you are looking to secure your first official writing job or your thousandth, often you’ll be required to showcase past examples of your work. This is where writing portfolios come into play.
Consider your target audiences
The first step to an effective writing portfolio is determining your target audience. This will make narrowing down what examples you include within your portfolio easier. If you work with several different industries or niches, you may want to make several portfolios for each area.
Include examples
Once your target audience is determined, look at a couple of writing jobs you are considering applying for. What kinds of writing are these clients looking for? Is it industry specific blog posts, social media posts, or press releases? Once you have a list of what writing pieces your clients will most likely be looking for, pull up examples of your past work and add any that fall into these categories; if you have work for this specific target audience or niche, even better. If you have any gaps within your portfolio, you can simply write one to fill in the gap.
Consider navigation and design
It is important to consider how you are going to present your portfolio to your clients, whether it is a Google Drive, a dedicated website, or a different platform altogether. Consider what the look and feel says about you as a writer and ensure it is easy to navigate through the different examples.
Securing Canadian writing jobs becomes much easier when you have an effective writing portfolio to back up your application. Just remember to include your contact information in it, and you may even want to pre-plan a follow-up call after you submit your portfolio.