Portfolio vs CV: What Should Matter More?

Employers often apply the same assessment process to every creative role, weighing the CV and portfolio equally regardless of the discipline. This leads to poor decisions: a brilliant designer with a thin CV gets rejected, while a weak copywriter with a polished CV gets hired.

Employers match the assessment method to the role. They understand that different creative disciplines require different forms of evidence, and they weight their assessment accordingly.

Match evidence to discipline:

• Design: Portfolio is primary. Look for thinking, craft, and range.
• Copywriting: Writing samples are primary. Look for voice, clarity, and adaptability.
• Marketing: Campaigns and strategic thinking are primary. Look for planning, insight, and results awareness.
• Production: Organisation and execution are primary. Look for project management, attention to detail, and problem-solving.
• Social media: Content examples and platform understanding are primary. Look for creativity, audience awareness, and consistency.

When hiring a junior copywriter, ask for three writing samples in different tones of voice rather than a traditional portfolio. When hiring a junior designer, ask for a portfolio with case studies. When hiring a marketing assistant, ask for a campaign plan they developed, even as a student project. The evidence should match the work.