Why portfolios are your best strategy to step into Data?

If you’re switching careers to Data, you might have asked yourself these questions:

1. Is a portfolio actually relevant nowadays, and hiring managers even take a look at it?
2. Should I even invest my time in creating one?
3. Will it make a difference in my job applications?
4. What difference can it make for me?

Well, today, I’ll share not only my perspective and answers to these questions but also my conclusions after having conversations with hiring managers in the industry.

Let’s dive in.

Is a portfolio actually relevant nowadays, and hiring managers even take a look at it?

In short: it depends.

Some hiring managers will look at your portfolio, and some won’t. But one thing is for sure: if they look at it, it will set you apart in a land of candidates. A good portfolio could make the difference between getting an interview or being screened out.

And what I mean with a good portfolio is one that can demonstrate your skills, that is clear, that convincingly presents your skills, avoiding cookie-cutter code and repetitive Bootcamp projects (nothing wrong with them, just being brutally honest, they won’t set you apart. There are other thousands of people with the same project in their GitHub reps.)

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Should I even invest my time in creating one?

In short, yes

As a career switcher (and even if you are not one), a portfolio is fundamental to your transition to data science.

Because being a career switcher means you are probably a candidate without much or any relevant work experience in Data.

Let’s say, for example, that you have a degree in marketing and decided you want to pursue a career in data.

Then, you joined some Data Science boot camps, got some certificates from recognized online courses, and learned a lot about the industry.

But even though you are probably very skilled in marketing, you don’t have much “proof” of your data science knowledge and your real-world problem-solving abilities.

So enter the scene: your portfolio!

A portfolio is crucial for career switchers. It is a way to showcase your ability to apply data related concepts to real-world problems. And your projects will show your skills with actual code and visualizations.

It is a way of making up for your lack of relevant work experience and making it easy for hiring managers to know you have what’s needed to get the role.

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Will it make a difference in my job applications?

In short, yes!

And let me be clear here: a portfolio alone won’t get you hired.

The purpose of a portfolio is to help you get an interview.

It’s what could set you apart from other candidates.

Because even if you don’t have direct experience in data science, you likely have transferable skills that are highly valuable in data science. Your portfolio can highlight these skills and explain how they translate to data.

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What difference a portfolio can make for me?

In short: It will help you massively to build your confidence.

Creating a portfolio can help to boost your confidence as a career switcher.

It’s an excellent way to see your progress and accomplishments.

When you build a portfolio, you gain a lot of confidence in your skills and yourself.

To give you a real-life example, this is what one of my clients mentioned after building a portfolio:

That’s the difference that creating a portfolio made for Rebecca and also the difference that could make for you.

Join the Data Portfolio Accelerator. Get into an immersive experience with 8 LIVE sessions and personalized Q&As.

Join me for a FREE online workshop on Tuesday, August 27th! I’ll be sharing “How to build a data science portfolio that gets you noticed“. The workshop is open to everyone and is organized by the amazing PyLadies Amsterdam community.

​Watch the Stream on the Pyladies YouTube channel
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