{"id":34087,"date":"2022-05-10T10:04:18","date_gmt":"2022-05-10T10:04:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/glosario-digital\/portfolio"},"modified":"2026-09-19T20:21:43","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T20:21:43","slug":"portfolio","status":"publish","type":"encyclopedia","link":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/portfolio","title":{"rendered":"Portfolio"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"boxpad alignright wp-image-31087 size-full\" style=\"margin-top: 0;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Portfolio.jpg\" alt=\"Professional portfolio\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Portfolio.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Portfolio-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><strong>Definition:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A <strong>professional portfolio is an organised selection of work and evidence<\/strong> used to present the abilities, experience and results of a person, team or company. It may contain completed projects, processes, creative pieces, cases, publications or other materials connected with a professional or educational objective.<\/p>\n<p>A portfolio can be presented in physical or digital form. <strong>Its value does not depend on accumulating numerous pieces, but on selecting relevant examples and providing enough context<\/strong> to understand what was done, the author&#8217;s contribution and the outcome.<\/p>\n<p>The word is also used in fields such as finance and product management to describe a collection of assets or offerings. <strong>This definition focuses on a portfolio used to present work, skills and professional development.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<h2>What is a portfolio used for?<\/h2>\n<p><strong>A portfolio turns claims about experience or ability into evidence that can be reviewed.<\/strong> Common uses include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Demonstrating skills:<\/strong> It shows how knowledge and techniques have been applied in specific work.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Explaining experience:<\/strong> It supplements a professional history with information about objectives, responsibilities, decisions and outcomes.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Supporting selection:<\/strong> It helps clients, employers, educational institutions or collaborators assess whether a person or company is suitable for a project.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Documenting development:<\/strong> It can show changes in execution, interests or specialisation over time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A portfolio may support a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/personal-brand\">personal brand<\/a> and establish credibility, but <strong>it does not in itself guarantee employment or a sale<\/strong>. Its usefulness depends on the quality, relevance and verifiability of the work presented.<\/p>\n<h2>What should a portfolio include?<\/h2>\n<p><strong>The content should reflect the purpose of the portfolio and the needs of its intended audience.<\/strong> A common structure may include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Introduction and objective:<\/strong> A short explanation of the profile, specialism and type of opportunity being sought.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Selection of work:<\/strong> Representative and recent projects chosen for their relevance rather than their quantity.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Project context:<\/strong> The problem or brief, process, individual contribution, tools used and outcome.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Evidence:<\/strong> Deliverables, data, recognition or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/testimonial\">testimonials<\/a> whose origin can be understood.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Contact and conditions:<\/strong> A professional way to continue the conversation and, where relevant, information about availability or services.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Copyright, permission and confidentiality agreements need to be reviewed before work is published. <strong>If a project cannot be shown in full, it may be described anonymously or limited to authorised aspects.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>How to create and maintain a portfolio<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Preparation begins by defining what the portfolio needs to demonstrate and who will use it.<\/strong> This criterion can guide the following actions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Select:<\/strong> Prioritise work that represents relevant abilities and remove repetitive or outdated examples.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Provide context:<\/strong> Explain each project in enough detail to distinguish an individual contribution from the collective outcome.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Organise:<\/strong> Group work by specialism, project type, sector or chronology according to what makes assessment easier.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Make it usable:<\/strong> Use clear headings, readable text, identified images and navigation suited to the chosen format.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Update it:<\/strong> Review projects, links, contact details and permissions when experience or objectives change.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Assessment should consider clarity, relevance and credibility as well as design. <strong>An attractive portfolio loses its value if it does not explain the work, contains broken links or attributes results without context.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Portfolio, CV, case study and digital portfolio<\/h2>\n<p><strong>A CV summarises education, experience and skills<\/strong>, whereas a portfolio provides samples that show how they were applied. The two can be used together.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A case study examines a particular project, problem or intervention in detail.<\/strong> A portfolio contains several pieces of work and may include case studies within it.<\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/digital-portfolio\">digital portfolio<\/a> is not a separate purpose but a version published through an electronic medium. <strong>It may include links, video, audio, prototypes and continuous updates<\/strong> and requires specific decisions about platform, accessibility, privacy and availability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Definition: A professional portfolio is an organised selection of work and evidence used to present the abilities, experience and results of a person, team or company. It may contain completed projects, processes, creative pieces, cases, publications or other materials connected with a professional or educational objective. A portfolio can be presented in physical or digital [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"template":"","encyclopedia-tag":[1325,1285],"class_list":["post-34087","encyclopedia","type-encyclopedia","status-publish","hentry","encyclopedia-tag-professional-presence","encyclopedia-tag-prototyping"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia\/34087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/encyclopedia"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"encyclopedia-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia-tag?post=34087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}