Every single UX and Product Design portfolio I’ve ever seen says they care deeply about the end user. The portfolio has a prominently featured tagline like “user-obsessed” or “passionate about the user” or something along these lines, usually as lead in to a portfolio that presumably demonstrates this point.

But in reviewing the portfolio, it’s clear you haven’t “cared deeply” about the end user at all: me, the hiring manager.

When design managers are hiring, we often see tens, if not hundreds, of portfolios.

And they are all the same. Seriously. They all look and do and say the same exact thing. I can’t tell you apart.

To be clear, it’s not about how they look, mostly. I recognize that a portfolio feels like a side hustle and it can be hard to manage alongside your current job and life responsibilities. It should look nice enough to demonstrate that you have good taste – you are a designer, after all. But you don’t need an elaborate design – you can get away with a Squarespace/Wordpress/Webflow template, or even a Figma prototype. The format doesn’t matter either as long as it’s easy to share.

The visual design is only one lens, as it’s less about how it looks more about the outcome it’s trying to achieve – getting you a job.

I shouldn’t have to say this. Your portfolio goes to great lengths to explain how you supposedly do this work all day, but when it comes to your portfolio, you need to actually think about the end user of this portfolio: Me, the hiring manager.

Let’s dig into the persona here. My team is either understaffed or growing and I need to hire a new designer. It’s quite possible that I’ve had to fight for headcount for this role internally, so the stakes are high that I get it right. I write a job description and get salary range approved. I pass it to the HR team and they post the job.

The unfortunate reality of the current market means that we are going to get a LOT of applicants. Hundreds. Right away.

Let’s assume you pass the initial filter (another post for another day) and make it to the initial batch of 10-20 candidates for my consideration. How do I narrow down this list down?

To start, I need to know if you can do the job. That’s what most portfolios today optimize for, which makes sense. Here is your previous experience, those companies, these problems, these outcomes (hopefully!) etc. Looking at these, I can see you’ve done comparable work. Here is where your first opportunity lies. Most designers lay out what they did in a case study fashion. Here is the challenge, what they did to learn, what they shipped, and hopefully some outcomes. But there is a chance here to expand this part. What went well? What were some of the challenges beyond the design problem, and how to did you manage that? What would you have done differently? Where were your mistakes? What do you wish you had shipped instead? Bring some critical introspection beyond the usual case study format to begin to set you apart.

So now you have demonstrated you can do the work. Great! It’s a very important step, but it’s table stakes. I am looking at 15 of you, and there is little discernible difference at a glance. Now what?

Next, I’ll want to understand if you’ll fit in culturally. This is super important for both of us, frankly. If it’s a bad culture fit, you won’t want to be there any more than I want to you to be. You’ll be part of a team, and I’ll need to get a sense of if and how you’ll fit in. So show yourself a bit, beyond the work. What’s your point of view on design? On your previous work? What do you do outside of work? Who are you?

Lastly, because I’ve had to fight for this role, how do I know I’ll look good for hiring you? As frustrating as it is, politics are real and perception is important. Often, hiring managers are ambitious and have career goals, which is why they are managers. How are you going to help me achieve my goals? Why will I look smart for hiring you? How will you make my life easier?

Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing or what “best practice” is. Approach your portfolio like any design challenge. Think about me and other the end users of you portfolio distinctly, as an audience. What are you trying to communicate to these audiences? What do we need to hear?

Test these assumptions. Iterate. Go about solving this problem like any design challenge you would face. How would you think about these users if this was a regular design engagement? If you’re not thinking about its user—me, the hiring manager—you’re missing a big opportunity.

This might feel daunting, but it is good news for you, as very few designers actually do this well. Your portfolio is your most important design project right now, so spending time approaching it like a design project will pay dividends.