Portfolio 101: How to Showcase Protected Work

Your portfolio is your space to display your best projects and to use as a platform to show your technical abilities. As your career develops, you will be exposed to projects that are not all privy to the public. Oftentimes, as Career Consultants, we are asked how to include some of these works within your portfolio. How can you showcase projects you’ve worked on without disrupting the confidential nature of the project? Below are some recommendations to help you navigate this challenge:

The most common non-disclosure agreement that we find in our industry is a unilateral non-disclosure agreement, which generally indicates that any information obtained on a particular project cannot be disclosed by an employee. It is our recommendation that you read and thoroughly understand any active non-disclosure agreements that you have executed, as having a full understanding of any pre-existing red tape that may already exist is crucial. It’s imperative that no assumptions be made about current or previous projects that you’ve played a role in. Notable items to pay attention to in an agreement include:

• The period of disclosure: Has the term of the agreement expired, or is it still active?
• Exclusions to the agreement: Ensure that you have a firm understanding of what contributions made to the project are included.

Generally speaking, if your organization frequently works with government agencies, there is likely to be an active non-disclosure agreement. In addition to federal work, projects that are a part of a firm’s strategic initiative may be protected by NDA agreements in order to ensure confidentiality from competitors. Lastly, in addition to the above examples, projects that haven’t been built yet are often protected in order to ensure that the public only sees the final product. consider projects that haven’t been built yet. Typically, this will be to ensure the project’s final product is public-facing.

While these projects may be confidential, there are ways to include them in your portfolio without interference:

1. Be intentional with how and to who your portfolio is being displayed, considering any potential conflicts of interest. Share your portfolio with individuals who you are confident can remain unbiased and will share your intention of confidentiality.
2. There are a few ways that you can have control over who has access to your portfolio, such as using encrypted or password-protected platforms to publish your documents. Avoid the popular media platforms like LinkedIn or Issuu. Consider using sites where you can use custom security setting such as DropBox or GoogleDrive.
3. Don’t overthink what should be included in your portfolio. Employers aren’t necessarily concerned with what the actual project is, as much as they are with what you have contributed to it. Again, the goal of the reader is to understand your technical abilities. Whoever you decide to share this with should be able to view your portfolio and have a good understanding of what you are working on and how you contributed to the project itself. That being said, it is not necessary to include the actual project name; instead, simply refer to it as a “Confidential Project,” and exclude any logos. In some cases, the location may not even be relevant. Items that you should always be included are project scale, typology, and what your role was. Understand, that it is ok to be general when describing a confidential project. If it is listed as such, it is disclosed that the information pertaining may be limited.
4. Consider asking your supervisor for permission to include the work on your portfolio. Some may feel that asking this question may disclose to their current employer that they are beginning to explore new opportunities. However, this isn’t necessarily true – ensure that your approach is gracious and proud. Simply explain that you are thankful to have had the opportunity to work on the project, and it is noteworthy enough to include. Your portfolio should be a collection of your work throughout your career. It does not necessarily have to be an item only rendered for applications.

Confidential projects and the experiences that you were able to procure on them should not be a burden. Don’t let the nature of any individual project be a hurdle in demonstrating your abilities as a designer.

With these tips, you should feel more confident in putting together and presenting your portfolio. Now that you know how to incorporate confidential projects take a look at a blog on how to create a portfolio that stands out.

Disclaimer: The information available in this blog is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. Please contact your attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem.