141: Design a UX Portfolio Recruiters Read for More Than 1 Minute

If you've ever wondered why your UX or product design portfolio isn't getting attention, this episode is your answer.

In this mini workshop, Sarah walks you through the most critical and overlooked fix you can make to your portfolio right now. It’s simple, strategic, and backed by nearly a decade of hiring results.

Spoiler: This isn’t about adding more screens or showing more visuals. It’s about how you tell the story of your work—and it all starts with how you use headlines.

Whether you’re mid-job search or quietly preparing for your next move, this portfolio tip will make your work easier to read, more memorable, and more effective for all 3 types of portfolio users: recruiters, hiring managers, and future colleagues.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

✔️ The 3 users of your portfolio—and what they actually need

✔️ Why most portfolios fail the “headline” test (and how to fix yours today)

✔️ How to use the inverted pyramid framework from journalism to structure your slides

✔️ Why a single, sentence-style headline can change how long someone spends with your work

✔️ The easiest way to assess and upgrade your portfolio in under 30 minutes

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction to Sarah Doty and Career Strategy Lab

00:43 Starting the UX Portfolio Mini Workshop

03:23 Understanding the Users of Your Portfolio

06:57 The Inverted Pyramid Framework

10:59 Practical Portfolio Tips and Examples

17:33 The Importance of Headlines in Your Portfolio

30:03 Q&A and Additional Advice

33:22 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

🎬 Watch Sarah's free UX Job Search Workshop and learn how to stand out in today's UX job market

👉 Join Sarah Doody's Career Strategy Lab, a UX job search accelerator for UX and Product people.

👋 Say hi and follow our host, Sarah Doody, on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.