How to Build a Stand-Out eLearning Portfolio

Creating the perfect eLearning portfolio gives contractors a considerable advantage in presenting their skills, experience, and creativity from past projects they have worked on. eLearning contractors can express their unique style and creativity when demonstrating essential contractor skills to hiring managers. 

In this guide, we will discuss the importance of having an eLearning portfolio, focusing on the benefits a contract portfolio provides to hiring managers and, most importantly, eLearning contractors. This guide will explore the necessary strategies for presenting and selecting eLearning projects in a way that will increase engagement, save time in the interview process, and stand out to hiring managers. 

Why Is An eLearning Portfolio Important? 

Having an eLearning portfolio is increasingly popular as hiring managers begin to seek the use of portfolios from contractors during the hiring process.  According to a recent survey, there has been a 6% increase in hiring managers requiring an eLearning portfolio from contractors in 2023. 

An eLearning portfolio is essential in demonstrating the wide range of talents, experience, and skills eLearning contractors possess, focusing on past work for clients, use of necessary authoring tools, creative ideas, and client feedback. According to a recent study, advancing instructional designers within the eLearning field tend to earn 15% more if they have a stand-out eLearning portfolio than candidates who have failed to provide one.

A pre-prepared eLearning portfolio is essential in igniting the interest of hiring managers and becoming successful within the eLearning industry. Ensuring your eLearning portfolio is engaging and interactive is the best way to stand out to a recruiter and speed up the hiring process.

Now that we have explored why it is essential for eLearning contractors to have a portfolio, we will discuss the significant benefits a contract portfolio entails:

The Top 5 Benefits of Having An eLearning Portfolio: 

1. Showcases Your Skills and Experience - This allows employers to go through all your work and experience from past to present. It is essential to present a variety of your work, demonstrating the several authoring tools, frameworks, project management and multimedia skills you have put into practice. This is an easy way to present work to your employer and is highly beneficial in showing your efforts within the industry.
2. Increases Engagement and Saves Time - Hiring managers are busy people. eLearning portfolios allow employers to visually see eLearning contractors' past skills, experience, and case studies, avoiding parts of the lengthy interview process. An eLearning portfolio will enable contractors to showcase their work by including visual elements, which increases engagement and gains the hiring manager's interest. 
3. You Stand Out - An eLearning portfolio creates the perfect opportunity to be creative, implement your unique style, and craft the presentation of your past work as you wish. Showcasing your personality and best work will immediately catch the hiring manager's eye, differentiating you from other candidates. 
4. Increases Your Chance of Being Hired - Showcasing past work and experience is a standard procedure during the interview process. A pre-prepared eLearning portfolio allows recruiters to access a contractor's work quickly, anytime or anywhere, which will work in the contractors' and employers' favour. Having an engaging eLearning portfolio will speed up the hiring process massively. 
5. You Can Alter and Improve Your Portfolio At Any Time - One of the main benefits of having an eLearning portfolio is that you can continuously add recent projects as you go along. It is also an excellent opportunity to make improvements/adjustments and respond to feedback. The ability to alter your contract portfolio whenever necessary ensures it is ready to present to an employer whenever a new opportunity arises. 

How Can eLearning Contractors Build A Portfolio?

So, how can contractors build a stand-out portfolio? Take a look below at the different steps involved in building a stand-out eLearning portfolio. 

1. Identify Your Target Audience

One of the most essential segments to consider when crafting an eLearning portfolio is the target audience and purpose of the portfolio. eLearning contractors must consider the company to which they present their portfolio and evaluate their values, goals and work they expect from you in the role. 

An eLearning contractor must consider which projects would be most suitable to include to appeal to the recruiters. It is essential to consider what authoring tools they primarily use, their style of eLearning courses, and the amount of multimedia and gamification features that would appeal to the company. 

The successful candidate must think about what they are being hired for and what projects are most relevant to the company. Breaking down elements of the target audience and objectives is essential in ensuring Hiring Managers understand and engage in the portfolio.

2. Demonstrate Your Skills and Include Examples of Your Work

Deciding what skills and projects to present in an eLearning portfolio is arguably the most essential factor to consider when showcasing work. Contractors need to demonstrate a variety of skills that are suitable for the company they are targeting. 

Here are some examples of contractor skills a candidate must showcase:

• Instructional Design Expertise - It is important to demonstrate projects involved in using Instructional Design models, tools and frameworks when planning the structure of an eLearning course. Hiring managers will look for examples of contractors applying this expertise in eLearning.
• Authoring Tools - Most employers will look for examples of contractors using stand-out eLearning tools in previous projects. Tools can include Adobe Captivate, iSpring, Camtasia and several others. Explaining how and why these tools were used in projects to create elements such as storyboards and PowerPoint-like features of an eLearning course is essential.  
• Multimedia Development - One of the essential skills to showcase in a contract portfolio is Multimedia Development. Presenting multimedia features in projects such as videos, images, and quizzes in eLearning courses shows recruiters ways you can create an interactive eLearning course and optimise maximum engagement in learners.

Contractors must include detailed explanations about how they approached each project case study, detailing their reasons for the design, strategy, and framework choice. Contractors must draw on how they met client objectives and resolved possible issues. Including testimonials from clients and employers to back up your skills is essential. 

3. Keep Your Portfolio Organised and Up To Date

It is essential for eLearning contractors to ensure their portfolio is kept up-to-date. Updating an eLearning portfolio with new projects and experience ensures contractors are prepared to present their most recent work to employers whenever a new opportunity arises. 

Regularly updating your eLearning portfolio demonstrates a significant effort to hiring managers. Contractors must include projects reflecting current trends and emerging knowledge within the eLearning industry, as this effectively shows interest in staying educated on the continuously evolving elements of the eLearning field. 

It can be difficult to know how to build a portfolio that is organised in a way that allows contractors and employers to find work samples easily. It is important to organise projects based on specific categories or orders.

Ways you can organise an eLearning portfolio:

• Put Your Projects In Chronological Order - One way to organise an eLearning portfolio is by putting your work in order from when you first started a career in the field to your most recent work. This will show the employer how your work has progressed and demonstrate various eLearning skills. 
• Categorise Your Items - An alternative way to organise an eLearning portfolio is by sorting projects into categories for each type of work you have done. Examples include eLearning projects created with tools like Articulate Storyline or Adobe Captivate. Categorising projects based on features of different models, such as the ADDIE Model of Instructional Design, is also a good option.

4. Choose a Suitable Platform and Format

There are various options a contractor can choose from when deciding how to create and host an eLearning portfolio. When considering this, it is essential to accommodate features such as accessibility, customisation, and ease of follow-up. 

eLearning contractors should consider how they would like to present their portfolio. If it is project-based, contractors must decide how to build a portfolio by considering eLearning elements such as video and interactive project samples.

Options of different platforms include:

• WordPress
• Webflow
• PortfolioBox
• VisualCV.com

To learn more about choosing a suitable eLearning platform for an organisation, discover our insightful guide - Choosing an eLearning Platform for Your Institution’s Needs.

1. Include Visual Elements 

For an eLearning portfolio to stand out, it is essential to include visual elements. Project samples with features such as video and imagery are vital in demonstrating the ability to incorporate such features into an eLearning course to optimise engagement and participation. 

According to recent research, more than 50% of the brain's cortex is devoted to processing visual information. Visual elements within an eLearning portfolio maximise Hiring Managers' engagement and demonstrate skills related to Instructional Design, Multimedia and Gamification. 

Visual Elements To Include:

• Podcasts 
• Videos 
• Relevant Images
• Graphs and Charts
• Buttons and Icons

2. Get Feedback

It is a great idea to provide and receive eLearner's feedback to get a feel for how well the course meets learning objectives and engages and motivates students. This allows contractors to tailor and improve projects to suit learners’ needs, ensuring all projects included in a portfolio are of a high standard. 

It is also essential to ask for feedback on an eLearning portfolio from friends or family, as this can help a contractor improve features such as readability, flow and engagement. 

Feedback from current employers and recruiters is also beneficial. Asking for tips on improving a contract portfolio will consistently improve any weak spots, and contractors can avoid these in future recruitment processes. 

Key Takeaways for How to Build a Stand-Out eLearning Portfolio 

We’ve outlined the key benefits of having an eLearning portfolio, emphasising how it effectively showcases skills, saves time, and enhances hiring chances. The ability to stand out through creativity and continuous improvement sets successful contractors apart in a crowded marketplace. The guide further provides practical strategies around how to build a portfolio, from identifying the target audience to selecting and presenting projects that align with the company's values and goals.

Building a stand-out eLearning portfolio is a crucial step for contractors in the ever-evolving field of eLearning. This comprehensive guide has highlighted the significance of an eLearning portfolio in showcasing skills, experience, and creativity to potential clients and hiring managers. As the industry places increasing importance on portfolios during hiring, contractors must recognise the competitive advantage that a well-designed portfolio brings.

Sourcing Specialist eLearning Contractors for Over a Decade

At Instinct Resourcing, our established consultants can provide the expertise and network your organisation needs to connect with experts within the digital education environment. Instinct Resourcing gives you the confidence to know dependable candidates staff your contract jobs. 

Contact us today to discuss your eLearning requirements.