Stand out in a competitive market

Upgrade your job application for 2025

Stand out in a competitive market by tailoring your portfolio, resume, and cover letter.

Who is this for: UX & Product Designers | Researchers | Writers | Anyone shaping Design & Strategy

The hiring landscape has changed, so should what you present
Not so long ago, there was a time when a designer's best work lived in a leather-bound portfolio—often an 18 by 32-inch behemoth. Printing each piece was an investment; most designers could only afford to create one.

That single, precious portfolio would be dropped off at an agency, left behind like a hopeful handshake, with little more than the work itself to speak for them. No context, no process—just a silent gamble that the art director would see something they liked.

It was a different time, but echoes of that period still linger in design portfolios today.

The digital shift: from print to pixels
Back in the early 2000s, during the dot-com boom and inevitable bust—we web designers faced an awkward challenge: how to present web layouts and tiny internet ads (think 200px by 600px and a mere 48KB in file size) in high-resolution print portfolio. It was a clunky, transitional era where digital work had to squeeze into a format built for traditional media.

I remember feeling like a total badass when I found a sleek, letter-sized (8.5 x 11) fake leather portfolio that didn’t make me look like I was lugging around a medieval manuscript. Although, I included CDs with my work because, well… that was the best we had. 🤣

Then came the post-iPhone era. Platforms like Behance and Dribbble that elevated how we showcased digital design and personal websites became the industry standard. But despite these advances, little changed to our approach for presenting our design decisions—they were digitized versions of the same old showcase.

Next, resumes evolved into beautiful designs where designers highlighted their skills using 1 to 5-star scales, added decorative icons, and focused on listing tasks rather than impact.
Meanwhile, recruiters—many with little understanding of design—increasingly relied on keyword searches to filter candidates.

Legend has it that some candidates attempted to game the system by stuffing their resumes with hidden keywords in 6pt transparent text—but whether it worked remains a mystery of hiring lore.

The rise of UX and design impact
As User Experience evolved into a formalized discipline, the expectations for design portfolios changed. It was no longer enough to showcase polished visuals—designers needed to demonstrate their thinking. Portfolios shifted from curated galleries of work to structured, complete project case studies, aligning with the Double Diamond framework.

By 2018, UX, Product, and Brand designers were expected to emphasize problem identification, research methodologies, iterative improvements, and measurable impact—highlighting not just the final solution but the journey behind it. A strong portfolio became a storytelling tool, connecting user needs, business goals, and design decisions in a clear, evidence-based narrative.

The craft of explaining design choices has evolved significantly thanks to industry leaders like Tom Greever, whose book Articulating Design Decisions helped reshape how designers communicate.

Chris Abad elevated storytelling tactics for senior designers empowering them to confidently justify their decisions, align stakeholders, and advocate for user needs.

The present: a new hiring landscape
By 2021, portfolios began to look similar, making it clear that articulating your design decisions elevates design into work that stands out.

At this very moment it’s a recruiter’s market, with more job seekers than available openings, competition is fierce. Standing out isn’t just about having a strong portfolio—it’s about strategic positioning. Designers must go beyond showcasing their work; they must demonstrate impact, articulate their decision-making, and align their experience with business needs.

The rise in applicants per position means:

Recruiters and hiring managers have less time to evaluate each candidate.
Companies can afford to be more selective in their hiring decisions.
Recruiters prioritize skills and capabilities over credentials.

You’re qualified—position your application to meet its audience’s needs

1. Be intentional about the applications you apply to
Don’t take a “spray-and-pray” approach by applying to every possible job or for jobs where you’re overqualified. Neither works—you’ll clog the hiring pipeline.
Instead, focus on a dozen roles for which you match the closest.

2. Tailor your application

Your resume, portfolio, and cover letter should be tailored to the job description. Everything in your application should prove that you can do the job because you’ve done it before.
Curate thoughtfully: Select your best work that aligns with the roles you’re applying for. Showcase versatility but highlight your strongest strengths.
Tell a story: Explain the design thinking behind each project, emphasizing problem-solving and iterative learning.
Read job descriptions carefully: Understand the specific needs of each company and highlight how your skills directly address them.
Customize your cover letter: Move beyond generic introductions, emphasize how your skills and experience align with the role. Demonstrate a passion for the company and align your design vision with their goals.

3. Highlight your unique skills and perspectives
With more candidates in a crowded market, you need to differentiate yourself. The good news? No one else possesses your uniqueness. Your portfolio is an opportunity to showcase your depth and richness—highlighting your story, your craft, and the impact you alone made.

Cross-disciplinary knowledge: If you have experience in related fields like marketing, user experience, or front-end development, showcase it.
Problem-solving approach: Explain how you identify user needs, align stakeholders, conduct user-centered research, and iterate on design solutions.
User-centric design: Emphasize your focus on accessibility and usability.

Sharing personal parts of your journey can be daunting, but it helps hiring teams understand who you are through your problem-solving and skills. Bias in hiring exists, but being authentic is valuable. Let your portfolio show not just what you do but also who you are.

4. Leverage your network’s network
Reach out to people who know you and your work. A simple check-in message can organically lead to job referrals. Instead of directly asking for a job, express excitement for your next opportunity. Friends and colleagues will naturally share openings they’re aware of.

Build a safety net by creating a support group with other job seekers. Another set of eyes provides a different perspective, helps validate assumptions, and is a low-stakes sounding board.

The strategy to stand out
Tailoring your portfolio, resume, and cover letter

This structure makes your application clear, effective, and indicates why you're the perfect fit for the job. Pour on your special sauce.

Google Docs:

File format—saving your cover letter and resume as a PDF file is a good way to go, and may achieve better ATS results over a Word doc or .txt file. Most systems don’t recognize the Apple pages format.

Page layout—use the page layout Folio (8.5 x 13) to get a touch more space in your resume.

Cover letter
Introduction:

Clarify the role you're applying for and what elements the position contains that moved you to respond to the job position.

To better evaluate my qualifications, I've listed my experience as follows:

7+ Years:

Highlight your core competencies relevant to the job.
Don’t just list tasks— show that you have the skills and receipts.

3 to 5 Years:

Showcase your current focus and expertise that align with the role.
Emphasize versatility and cross-disciplinary skills.

1 to 3 Years:

Illustrate your growth mindset by sharing new skills you’ve developed.

Closing:

Articulate your alignment with the company's mission and culture.
Express how your experience extends to other areas and how you can drive success.

Resume
Essential Sections in order of importance:

Name & Relevant title
Contact Information (Email, Phone, LinkedIn, Portfolio)
Experience (Newest to Oldest)
Education & Certifications (Newest to Oldest)

Formatting each experience as:

Month Year — Month Year | Title, Company, industry optional (Location)
Provide a two to three-sentence summary of responsibilities that align with the job description you are responding to.

List 3-4 key accomplishments that demonstrate your impact.
Try to keep accomplishments to one line, max two.
Use strong action verbs (e.g., improved, increased, reduced.)
Synthesized stakeholder feedback in Mural to align business and user needs, which led to a 34% increase in product delivery goals.

🔥Fresh accomplishment formulas:

Role-based contribution—"As a [role], I applied [skill] to [action], which led to [impact]."
Example: As a Senior UX Designer, I applied design thinking to our enterprise platform, streamlining workflows and reducing task completion time by 40%.

Skill-driven impact—"Leveraging [skill or expertise], I [action], resulting in [impact]."
Example: Leveraging my expertise in Figma and design systems, I created a reusable component library that reduced UI inconsistencies by 60% and accelerated development by 30%.

Human-centered impact—"I improved [user experience or team workflow] by [action], resulting in [quantifiable or qualitative impact]."
Example: I improved developer handoff by refining our Figma-to-code workflow, increasing feature release speed by 20%.

Portfolio
Hiring managers don't care about your previous work.

They only care what your previous work says about your ability to do the job they need you to do.

Your portfolio needs to say, loud and clear:

I have done this work before.
I would love to do it again.
I'll do a great job.
Keep it focused: If a job emphasizes collaboration, highlight how you worked cross-functionally.
Each case study should answer a specific job requirement, there is no need to showcase the entire history.
Protip: You can reference different aspects of the same project individually, framing each through a distinct lens that aligns with the job description and requirements.

Tell ’em exactly what they want to hear before they even ask—Dan Mall

Anything else in your portfolio of work is noise!

Take care of yourself
Lastly, job searching and updating your application package can be mentally and emotionally draining. Prioritize your well-being by:

Getting enough sleep, eating nutritious food, and exercising regularly.
Setting boundaries for your job search and taking breaks.
Engaging in hobbies, reconnecting with loved ones, and actively managing stress through meditation or deep breathing techniques.
View this time as an opportunity to learn something new, rearrange your working environment, volunteer, visit with friends or travel (if possible).

By no means is this a sprint; it is a marathon. Take each step in stride.

👋🏼 Drop by and say hi on Linkedin, thebrentschneider
📗 Stroy published on Medium

🔹 Francine did it right, check out the web archive of her Spotify portfolio