I recently applied for a job and sent a .pdf.
The good news is that they want me to come in for an interview.
The bad news is that my normal printed portfolio is the same as that .pdf.
How different do they have to be? My portfolio is full of smaller projects and illustrations. Nothing's really been printed, and I don't have any books.
I call it pragmatic design even though it's really me just being lazy, but my portfolio has always been a PDF file. When I go into an actual interview, I'll print the PDF out on a color laser printer and add a cover.
I'll typically load it up on the iPad or laptop as well.
So, they're rarely different. At times, depending on the gig, I may edit the portfolio a bit pulling out certain projects or adding others, but I don't explicitly put different content on the PDF I send vs. what I bring in for the face-to-face.
Darrel hit it right on the head.
Thanks for the reply Darel.
If they called you for an interview is because your work is good and they want to know more about you. Grab a printed copy of your PDF portfolio just in case they want to go trough it again but now it is more important for you to sell yourself than your work.
Captured from web.archive.org on 20 Jul 2012. view this capture
