Course Description
What do the most successful creative professionals do to get to the top of their field, achieve their career goals and secure their dream jobs or clients? A powerful, compelling portfolio built from a sound strategic approach using proven tools and techniques is the single most important ally you can have. Award-winning Creative Director and Trainer Dale Cody, pulls back the curtain and shares all the secrets he has learned from more than 16 years hiring and working with some of the most successful creatives and companies on the planet. In addition to more than 20 video modules outlining strategy and tactics, Dale will walk you through a step-by-step mini-course for building a complete WordPress portfolio site. You’ll hear first-hand from top recruiters what they’re looking for in successful candidates and their portfolios. You’ll learn what works and why.
Master Proven Strategies, Secrets and Techniques to Not Only Build a Killer Portfolio, but Totally Crush the Interview Process and Build Your Professional Brand
Master Key Skills That Pros Use to Secure the Best Jobs and Clients
If you’ve ever wondered how so many successful creative professionals just seem to have stratospheric career trajectories even though their work may not be any better than the competition, then this course is for you. Even if you’re experienced professional with strong samples, there are still loads of things you can do to strengthen your portfolio and improve presentation, gain competitive advantage and propel your career skyward like a rocket. The hard truth for those just out of school is that your newly minted diploma and work samples are only the first step on the path to your dream job. To a Hiring Manager, they only act as an initial filter. In order to get their attention and distinguish yourself in a very competitive job market, you need a lot more. You need to understand how these people think, what they’re looking for and then convince them that you are the very best person to solve their problems. You need to convince them that you speak their language and are invaluable to their own success. This course will give you the skills to create a show-stopping killer portfolio and secure your dream job or clients.
Contents and Overview
We’ll begin by examining your target audience and by that, I mean those individuals who make real hiring decisions for the roles you want. I’ll pull back the curtain and share all the secrets, tips and techniques I’ve seen used over the years by the most successful creative professionals out there. Even if you’re not in a field where having a portfolio is common practice, you’ll find career gold here.
You’ll learn how techniques taught in Business School such as SWOT Analysis can help you excel in the competitive career marketplace. I’ll show you how to think of, and present yourself as a cohesive brand in order to differentiate yourself from everyone else and dominate your own career niche. Through a powerful portfolio and market savvy approach, you’ll be able to craft a professional presence that top companies and Hiring Managers will practically trip over themselves to engage with. I’ll show you what content to include, what not to include, and how to display your work in the most effective ways and places possible.
You will know how to find the perfect intersection that combines the kind of work you’re most passionate about with the unique skills and gifts that make you a superstar, along with the lucrative market opportunities that will pay you best. You will learn how narrative storytelling structure can combine with proven business techniques such as SAR and Case Studies to shine the golden light of ability, accomplishment and proof all over you. I’ll introduce you to your new best friends and collaborators in finding and using that proof too. By the end of Section 5, you have a complete playbook for building your killer portfolio site including web hosting, site architecture, navigation and a precise script for which samples to include in what order.
Finally, you will learn how to build a complete WordPress portfolio website step-by-step and end-to-end. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a complete newbie or a seasoned veteran. This is basically a full course within a course and by the end; you’ll be able to confidently build your own site. You’ll get tons of additional bonus material for helping you understand and refine your brand as well as resource links and assignments to assist in cementing concepts.
Requirements
Anyone in a career where showing visual, written, audio, or multimedia samples of your work will help get you the job. Traditionally, these have been in well-known fields such as graphic design illustration and photography, but increasingly they have been extremely effective differentiators in other areas such as Landscape Architect, Interior Designer, Copywriter, Social Media Marketer, Furniture Designer, Web Developer and many others.
Access to a computer and the Internet are really all you’ll need, but some image editing (i.e. Photoshop, Gimp or Illustrator etc.) and front-end web coding skills would be a big benefit.
What Am I Going to Get From this Course?