Tip for the day #7 when applying for a job

KEEP YOUR PORTFOLIO UP-TO-DATE AT ALL TIMES

Since we already know how easy it is to have a free, online, portfolio (see TPFD #2 if you don't) there is no reason you can't find 10 minutes every other week to post some new work. Like to go out for an afternoon Charbuck's? Just twice a month instead, make a cup of their new instant coffee at your desk and upload the latest work you've done onto your portfolio.

Why? Well, ask anyone who's been laid off after several years of service with not a clue how to begin the arduous task of getting a portfolio together. Getting laid-off is emotional enough without the overwhelming feeling of climbing Mt. Everest with nothing but your PJ's and a can of soup. So plan ahead. Live each day in advertising like it may be your last. Because it really might.

Afraid that having a public online portfolio will make your employer suspicious? In my mind, you're part of a community, you're keeping your ideas fresh by putting them out there, letting them be critiqued, admired. It's a place you keep your work collected and it makes them look better if/when clients go online to look up the team assigned to them. You're helping your employer look better - this is the modern world and if they want to claim (to clients) to be expert at it, you (the entire agency) need to show you're walking the talk. So, get that portfolio started and update it regularly. Always be prepared. Happy and working hard, but prepared.

*BTW: Don't put online/Web/interactive/digital samples in the "misc." or "other" or "various" or "whatnot" category. Think about it - if you were a digital marketing shop, would you refer to what you did as "miscellaneous"? It's insulting even to the integrated shops; online ad sales have been the last to be effected by this crazy economy -- hardly making them fodder for the "other" category. So raise up your interactive experience, keep "various" things limited to your extra-curricular activities like photography or drawing.