It may be similar to a popular line in many movies, but "if I show you my portfolio, I'll have to kill
you" is no joke for many
people.
In the field of instructional design, eLearning and training, professionals often get jobs or new contracts based on their documented performance. This means that potential bosses and clients can look at work that you have done for previous clients. This gives prospective employers a very good idea about what you can do for them.
It is very common now that prospective employers/clients ask to see samples of work. As professionals in instructional design, eLearning, and training, it is safe to say that we are at a great disadvantage if we cannot share our work samples with others.
So what do
you do if you work for the National Security Agency, or Apple? They won't
let you talk about what you do, much less share your work samples with other
companies. This presents quite a dilemma for people who work at places
that have policies that forbid employees and contractors to share work samples.
In the government security arena (NSA, CIA, DOD, etc.), it is common that
employees can't even talk about work with people outside their work
environment. The main reasons an organization may do this can include confidentiality,
proprietary information, trade secrets, or security issues.
The first thing you need to do is check your employer's or client's policy about showing your work. The purpose of this is to find out exactly what you can do and what you cannot do. If you are unclear you should ask questions. It may be helpful to pose real questions about some work you have already done. With some smaller employers, be prepared that they may not have a policy on this.
After
finding out what your organizations' policy is here are some possible options:
1.
"White out" or redact references to your company name in your work samples.
2. Use approved excerpts as a smaller
sample of your work. For example, you may be able to use 18 pages form a
design document that totals 50 pages.
3. Use work sample that are not confidential or proprietary such a "new employee orientation training" or a compliance training course that you created.
4. Use
approved screenshots from eLearning courses if you cannot provide access to a
live course.
5. Revisit older work samples. We
sometimes forget what we've accomplished. Look at old resumes or employee
performance appraisal to find ideas or leads on older work samples that you can use.
6. Revisit academic work samples. You may have work samples from classes that you can use. Our Instructional Design program at UMBC requires students to create projects that many use as portfolio samples.
7. Volunteer for an organization to create
a new work sample that you will be free for you to share. It is rare for
an organization to turn down a volunteer in our field. This option will
take time, but it may be the only option for some people who work in
restrictive environments.
8. At times, some people may be able to get hired or win contracts based
on referrals from former employers or former clients. While it is not the
same thing as using work samples, this can work for some people.
Work samples are very important to our career advancement. Make sure you are clear about who owns the content and how the work can be shared.
