If you've interviewed for a content strategy role recently, you may have been asked for a portfolio. But CS deliverables don't always lend themselves to sharing--who wants to see an inventory spreadsheet? And what do you do when your work is all client-confidential? This event took place at the Seattle Content Strategy Meetup designed to help job seekers or consultants create engaging portfolios, presented by Masa Zokaei Edie.

1. 1
CREATING
UNFORGETTABLE
CONTENT STRATEGY
PORTFOLIOS
MASA ZOKAEI , CONTENT STRATEGIST

2. 2
AGENDA
THE ABOUT
Score the interview
Create an unforgettable
portfolio
Present your work in
interviews
BONUS: prepare for
interviews and what to expect

3. 3
HOW TO SCORE
THE INTERVIEW
WHAT ARE RECRUITERS LOOKING FOR?
What should I include in my resume and portfolio? What do I highlight? What skills do
people care about?
HOW TO INCREASE YOUR CHANCES
What should be on my LinkedIn profile? What about Meetup groups? How do I network
during a pandemic?
INTRO

4. 4
What are
Recruiters
looking for?
Score the interview
1. Enterprise-level companies
2. Versatility
3. Marketing strategy experience is a nice to have
4. CMS experience
5. Attention to detail and organized
6. Fairly tech savvy
7. Familiar with agile and waterfall methodologies
8. Worked with cross functional teams including visual design, UX ,
developers, analytics

5. 5
Increase your
chances.
1. LinkedIn Profile Tips
• Findable
• Brief
• Keywords
• Photo
2. Meetup Groups
• Attend
• Get involved
3. Networking online
• Online events & Conferences
• Engage on social
• Mentorship
• Non-profit work

6. 6
HOW TO MAKEAN
UNFORGETTABLE
PORTFOLIO.
WHAT TO INCLUDE
What is your portfolio? How much information do I need? Should I include audits,
inventories, analyses, artifacts? How many examples should I have?
HOW TO ORGANIZE
How do I organize the work/case studies? Should I group them a certain way? In what
order should I put them in?
HOW TO SHARE CONFIDENTIAL WORK
What If most of my work is confidential? How do I represent work I can’t talk about? What
other options do I have?

7. A portfolio is a collection of work samples that
you can bring to an interview, send to a
prospective employer, or post online.

8. 8
What to
include:
1. Your work samples
2. Links, summaries, process
3. Images, screenshots of excel sheets, parts of decks, deliverables
* Keep artifacts and screenshots of before and after the project

12. 12
Stellar
organization.
1. Create a title, a table of contents page for easy navigation, and
add page numbers.
2. Before and after of the screen, app, site or flow you worked on.
3. Problem statement, process/deliverables list, summary, and
results.

13. 13
Confidential
work.
1. Be upfront
2. Remove brand names
3. Talk through thinking and decision-making process
4. Case studies that you pitched
5. If you’re inspired:
• Take a product you want to make better, do a case study
• Offer pro-bono work for non-profits
• Help a friend

14. 14
HOW TO PRESENT
YOUR WORK WELL
IN INTERVIEWS
FORMAT
What format do I use to share my portfolio? Do I make it public? Do I need a website?
How professional/well designed does it have to be?
FOCUS ON RELEVANT WORK
Should I focus on only relevant work when sharing my portfolio? How do I highlight work
that is relevant? How do I know what is relevant?
TALKING ABOUT THE PROCESS
What is important when sharing my portfolio? Should I share the failures as well as the
successes? Do I focus on what I did vs. what other people helped me with?
PRESENTATION

15. 15
Format.
1. Format
• Website
• Google slides
• PDF/other file format
2. Private vs. Public
3. Does not have to look like a designer put it together

16. 16
Focus on
relevant work.
1. Highlight your strongest work
2. Focus on work that is relevant to the industry
3. Have talking points ready for work they will care about (best
guess)
4. Ask the recruiter questions

17. 17
Talk about the
process.
1. Thinking/strategy process, launch, how you work in teams, and
challenges.
2. Shares failures if you learned something
3. How much do I talk about “I” vs. “me”

18. 18
BONUS:WHATTO
EXPECTININTERVIEWS
ANDHOWTOPREPARE
KNOW THE ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES
What is the role exactly? What can the recruiter tell me? What are the responsibilities? Is it
all clear? What teams would you be working on? What do they seem to focus on when
asking you questions?
DO YOUR RESEARCH ABOUT THE COMPANY AND WHO YOU’RE
TALKING TO
What is the company’s mission statement? How have others experienced working there?
Can you negotiate salary and benefits? Who are you interviewing with? Look them up on
LinkedIn. Know how you have worked with similar roles and be ready to speak to that.
HAVE QUESTIONS READY
What do you want to know about the role? What do you want to ask each department?
What would you ask the executive level individuals? What is important to you to know to
make a decision?
WHAT YOU WILL MOST LIKELY BE ASKED
Tell me about yourself, be ready to do this in an interesting way and in succinct way.
Why do you want to work here?
What other partners have you worked with and how do you engage with them?
How have you used data?
How have you used UX Research?
What’s an example of a product/app you like? Why?

19. 19
WhatifI’maskedto
completeanexercise?

20. • Gather your materials: screenshots, website links, project briefs, artifacts.
• Work samples. Use samples that showcase your range of skills.
• Audience: Consider your audience and make appropriate updates.
• Problem statement, “the why” and the results: Include why you approached the project the way you did
and why you made those decisions. And don’t forget the ending of the story! Was the project successful,
and how did you know it was successful?
• Give context: Be clear what your work was to anyone that doesn’t have a background. Know the purpose
of each slide. Make call outs of your work clear so there is no guesswork.
• Mobile examples: Use not just website examples but apps and mobile-first work.
• Quality over quantity: The average case studies in a portfolio are 3, by you can include up to 6 and then
speak to the ones most relevant in your interview.
• Content strategize your portfolio: Treat your portfolio as a project for a client. Is it clear what the purpose
of this portfolio is? Is it user-friendly? Does the content make sense?
• Get feedback: Ask loved ones (whose feedback you find useful), friends, mentors and colleagues to review
your portfolio for feedback and make updates where you see fit.
• Update often!
Checklist

21. 21
Merci!