Portfolio Personalization for Career Progression

Who’s Managing Your Real Portfolio – Your Career? We’ve all heard the fundamentals of managing an investment portfolio: ✅ Diversify wisely ✅ Review and rebalance regularly ✅ Focus on strong fundamentals & solid technicals But here’s the catch — we use this approach to manage 10–40% of our income. What about the source of that income — our career, which drives 100% of it? Let’s look at what recent research suggests: 📉 Only 24% of the global workforce feels confident they have the skills to move to their next role – ADP Research, Jan 2025 📈 In India, 16.2 million workers need to reskill to stay relevant in the age of AI & Automation – India Today, May 2025 💻 The online upskilling market is growing at 23.1% CAGR – Economic Times The real problem? Our approach after getting employed. ❌ We assume our current skills will last a lifetime ❌ We think it’s our employer’s job to reskill us Truth is — skills are evolving at a pace where even 5–10 years can change the game completely. A career that’s not actively managed like a portfolio risks stagnation and eventual obsolescence. But when managed well — it can deliver exponential returns. ⸻ How to build a Career Portfolio like a Pro: 🔁 Diversify • Across Functions: If you’re in HR, don’t limit yourself. Master Talent Acquisition, HR Ops, L&D, Org Design — and understand their business impact. • Across Industries: Don’t stay confined to one sector. I’ve personally worked across Hospitality, ITES, BFSI, Real Estate, and Startups. Every shift added depth and agility. 🔄 Review & Reorganise Regularly • Ask: What’s relevant for my role 5 years from now? What’s outdated today? • Identify high-growth sectors and align your skills to stay ahead of the curve. • Unlearn–Learn–Apply is the new success mantra. ⚙️ Master Both Fundamentals & Technicals • Strong in Marketing, HR, Ops, Product? Great. That’s your core. • Now pair it with how AI/ML/Automation are transforming your space. • Become a Tech-enabled Subject Matter Expert — the hybrid pro every company needs. ⸻ Most employees may grow their career portfolio at 8–12% annually. But the ones who manage it intentionally — with strategy and foresight — can see 3x, 5x, even 10x growth in the same ecosystem. Time to build your Multibagger Career Portfolio. Because if you don’t manage your career, no one else will. #Careergrowth #skilldevelopment #growthmindset #skillindia

𝑭𝒊𝒈𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑶𝒖𝒕 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒂 𝑷𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒐 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒓 (𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝑰𝒕 𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒔) 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞: I’ve spent over 20 years building a portfolio career—juggling roles with major multiple hats, consulting gigs, board seats, interim roles, and a few passion projects. But when it comes to telling my story (especially on LinkedIn), I’ve found it’s not so simple. If you’re also living the “many hats” life, you probably get it. How do you explain what you do, who you help, and what you’re looking for—without sounding all over the place? 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈’𝐦 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐠𝐨: 1. Your headline matters more than you think. Instead of picking just one title, I started listing a few roles: "𝑺𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒓 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎 𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏, 𝑬𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 & 𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 | 𝑶𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑬𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 | 𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑭𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓 | 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 & 𝑭𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 | 𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒕 & 𝑺𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚." It feels weird at first, but it’s honest—and it helps people understand the range of what I do. 2. The ‘About’ section can be multiple things... a wordbank that captures your experience and aspirations - and drawers people to your profile via keyword searchings. It can also be your story -- not your resume! I'm in the midst of figuring out which direction I want to go with mine! 3. Don’t be afraid to list overlapping roles. At first, I worried it would look messy. But in reality, it shows the breadth of experience and perhaps, entrepreneurship! I make sure to describe what I actually did in each role, not just the title. 4. Show, don’t just tell. I started using the ‘Featured’ section to share articles, project snapshots, and even a few testimonials. It’s a great way to bring your portfolio to life. Still a work in progress for me. 5. Recommendations count (a lot). This one may be a toughy! It feels like asking for help and that can be hard... is hard. My suggestion, reach out to a mix of clients, colleagues, and board chairs for specific recommendations. Guide them for what type/direction of recommendation would be helpful for you. Their words help paint a fuller picture than I ever could. Still figuring it out? Me too. Portfolio careers are exciting, but they’re also a bit of a branding puzzle. If you’re trying to make your own multi-hyphenate path make sense to the world, you’re not alone! Let’s keep the conversation going—drop your best tips or questions below! #PortfolioCareer #CareerJourney #LinkedInTips #RealTalk #CareerGrowth

My last post about hiring went a little viral — and my DMs + connection requests have been flooded ever since. One question keeps popping up: “Do you have a portfolio I can see? I’m not a designer, but I want to show my work better.” Let’s clear something up: ↳ You don’t need a beautifully designed portfolio. ↳ You just need one that does its job. ↳ It’s not just for visual roles. It’s for anyone whose work is strategic, behind-the-scenes, or hard to explain in a bullet point. (& I’ve got to give credit where it’s due — Sidney Waterfall encouraged me to create mine, and I’m borrowing heavily from her approach. Grateful for mentors who stick with you!) ----- Here’s what I included in mine, and what I loved seeing from other candidates too: 1. Contact Info 2. Table of Contents ↳ Let people jump around easily 3. About Me (Professional) ↳ Your approach, edge, and TL;DR career story (not too long!) ↳ What you believe in and bring to the table 4. Experience & Impact ↳ Your 1–2 most relevant roles (link to LI for more) ↳ What you owned, how you thought through the work, and what changed because of it ↳ Performance results (even the ones you can’t post publicly (while still being compliant)) ↳ Visual examples — screenshots, anonymized decks, internal docs 5. What Others Say About You ↳ I included 7 testimonials from past managers, peers, direct reports, and leaders ↳ Ask people you’ve worked with to write 1–2 paragraphs ↳ It feels awkward, but it really shines — and they are more than likely flattered and willing to help! (Shout-out to my 7 who took the time) 6. Skills ↳ Grouped and easy to skim 7. Working Style: Leadership ↳ How you lead, what you value, how you develop others (if in a leadership role) 8. Working Style: Personality ↳ How you thrive ↳ What helps you do your best work ↳ This helps both sides see if the environment is the right fit 9. About Me (Personal) ↳ I included: Motherhood, Cooking, and House Flipping/Renovations ↳ It helps people get to know you, not just your output — easier to connect + build rapport Formats That Work Don’t overthink it. Try one of these: ↳ Google Slides, saved as a PDF ↳ Google Doc, saved as a PDF ↳ Squarespace/Webflow/Wix/etc., if that’s your thing ↳ Notion (mine was built here) ↳ Aligned Deal Room → Free for job seekers: https://lnkd.in/euYy5pXK. Organize your work, show examples, and personalize it. If it helps you land a role, imagine what it could do for your sales team. (Not posting this to push Aligned, it's just too good to not include 😉) ----- If you’re new to the job market or pivoting, try a hypothetical campaign or strategy. A few candidates did this in follow-ups — and it was more impressive than past experience because it was fresh and relevant. Your portfolio doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to help people get you. I know I'm missing good tips/sections in here (character limits!), so drop them below. Wishing anyone searching allllll the luck! 💛

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐨 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫? 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐈𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐁𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐉𝐨𝐛 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬: A recruiter is looking at two resumes for a data analyst position. Both candidates have similar skills and experience, but one has a portfolio filled with real-world projects, detailed explanations, and tangible results. Which candidate stands out? When I was starting, I didn’t have a portfolio. I quickly realized that without it, I was missing a crucial opportunity to showcase my work. A strong portfolio isn’t just a collection of projects, it’s your story. It demonstrates how you think, solve problems, and make an impact. Here’s how to build a portfolio that truly shines: 1️⃣ 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤: Focus on quality over quantity. Pick 3-5 projects that highlight your skills and have clear, measurable results. Whether it’s a model that improved decisions or a dashboard with impactful insights, each project should tell a story. 2️⃣ 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭: Don’t just list what you did, tell why it mattered. What problem were you solving? What was your approach? How did your solution benefit the business or users? This context helps employers see the value you bring. 3️⃣ 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬: Employers want to know how you think. Detail the steps you took, the tools you used, and any challenges you faced. Did you clean a messy dataset? Choose a specific algorithm? Showing your process sets you apart from others. 4️⃣ 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐈𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞: Make sure your portfolio is easy to navigate. Use a simple layout, and clear headings, and ensure all links work. If it’s a website, make sure it’s mobile-friendly. The easier it is to explore, the more likely it is to impress. Your portfolio is more than just an add-on to your resume, it’s a reflection of your skills, creativity, and attention to detail. In a competitive job market, it could be the difference between landing an interview and being overlooked. If you don’t have a portfolio yet, start building one today. If you have one, review it, does it showcase your best work? If you need feedback or help getting started, I’m here to support you. Found this helpful? Consider re-sharing 🔁 with your network. Follow Mohammed Wasim for more tips, success stories of international students, and data opportunities in US!

Last week, someone asked me, “How do I showcase my skills as a data scientist or engineer to land a job?” So here’s my take for this week’s post, where I try to break down what I’ve learned (and struggled with). First, your portfolio isn’t about quantity; it’s about relevance. Think of it as your personal pitch deck. Recruiters aren’t scrolling through it like Instagram —they’re looking for proof you can solve their problems. Here’s a real-world example: Take Amazon’s recommendation system. It’s not just about suggesting items; it’s about driving sales. If I were building a portfolio project, I’d take a dataset like movie ratings and show how to design a basic recommender system. Then, I’d highlight how it improves user engagement or retention. Make it more specific by adding technologies you used, like Python, Spark, or AWS. If you're thinking, but where do I even start?—just pick a problem you find interesting and tackle it like a mini-case study. For example, in my own project on sneaker resale dynamics, I analyzed market trends and built predictive models to forecast price fluctuations. What I realized is that recruiters were interested not just in my Python code but in the why. Why does this matter? What was the impact? That’s where you stand out—connect your work to real-world outcomes. Another tip: share your work publicly. Use GitHub or even LinkedIn. Show that you can communicate findings, not just code. It’s one thing to build dashboards in Tableau; it’s another to explain how that dashboard helped optimize inventory or reduce costs. And lastly, remember: your portfolio is like dating it’s not just about looking good; it’s about compatibility. Tailor it to the job you want, not just any job. What projects are you working on right now? Would love to hear how you’re making your portfolio shine! #datascience #dataengineering #jobsearch #portfolio #projects #career #linkedin