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24.2 Sharing

If you were a developer, you'd be expected to have an active GitHub profile where your elegant, well-documented code projects could be viewed by potential employers. If you were a designer, you'd probably need to submit a link to your personal portfolio site with every job application. However, as a PM candidate, you have more wiggle room in terms of where and when you share information about your past or current projects.

You can make your project summaries part of your LinkedIn persona. Or you can create a personal website to showcase your projects alongside your resume and other work, such as a product-related blog. Another strategy is having several project summaries in digital form like a slide deck or PDF file, which you can share selectively when you send emails to networking connections or interviewers. In this checkpoint, you'll consider all these options, and create your first project summary.

By the end of this checkpoint, you should be able to do the following:

  • Create a project summary showcasing your product management skills

Where to share your portfolio​

There are several ways you can share your project summaries with potential employers and the world. Each has its own advantages and limitations. You can also mix and match by having projects depicted in several different forms. Consider all of the following options.

Your personal website​

It's a good idea to have your own website for many reasons, but it's especially relevant if you're working in a technology role. While you'll use tools like LinkedIn to build your professional persona, your own site can serve as a home base for what you want to share online. It's a way for you to introduce yourself online, showcase your professional abilities, and make choices about how you're seen. It's not necessary, but if you can put in the time and effort to create a well-made personal website, even a simple one, it could set you apart.

You can make your project summaries part of your LinkedIn persona. Or you can create a personal website to showcase your projects alongside your resume and other work, such as a product-related blog. Another strategy is having several project summaries in digital form like a slide deck or PDF file, which you can share selectively when you send emails to networking connections or interviewers.

Your site should have your resume and links to your (work appropriate!) social media profiles, but it's also a great home for your portfolio of project summaries. When you're networking, a personal website gives you somewhere to direct people to find out more about you. And as you gain experience, you'll keep updating it and establish an impressive portfolio of work.

Other elements you could include in a personal website are a blog (wouldn't you love to read someone's blog about their transition into Product Management?), or a place where you keep a record of articles, books or presentations that interest you. Who knows what might happen? For example, Tina Roth Eisenberg, a Swiss designer based in NYC, started her website swissmiss in 2005 as a personal archive that was an alternative to bookmarking everything that interested her. She's now a significant influencer that started four businesses and, as of 2016, her site averaged more than one million unique visitors in a month.

Creating your own website does not require advanced technical skills or a hefty budget. Squarespace, Wix, WordPress, and similar tools all offer a wide array of templates to get you started with a great-looking site. They also each have a robust user community where you can find answers to most questions. There are options where you don't have to buy a domain, but to look professional it's worth the small investment to purchase a domain name and sign up for one of the more affordable hosting options. Niche tools like the Mural app's product/UX area or PM Portfolio List might also be worth considering.

LinkedIn​

LinkedIn is the most widely used cross-industry professional networking site in the world. It's a place where you want to be seen and noticed. Two great ways to leverage your project summaries on LinkedIn are through the Projects section and by posting an article about your work.

LinkedIn projects​

On your LinkedIn profile page, you can use the "add profile section" button to add a section to your profile. Down the list there's an option for Accomplishments. You can select Projects from the Accomplishment options. From there, you can add descriptive information and images. Ideally, if you've built a personal website, you'll also include the link so that people can find out more about your work through different mediums.

LinkedIn articles​

LinkedIn articles are different from regular LinkedIn posts, which are quick updates limited to about five lines. An article can be much longer and in depth, and while posts are designed to be timely updates, articles can be linked in your profile section (under the summary or in Projects) so that they are visible whenever someone looks at you on LinkedIn.

Publishing an article on LinkedIn is a lot like writing a blog post. It's not for everyone, but it is a good way to put yourself out there and showcase your communication skills. And unlike a blog post, you won't need to figure out where to host it, and you will already enjoy a ready community of readers in your LinkedIn contacts. If you can get readers to comment on or like your post, their contacts will see it too. What a way to get noticed!

What should you write about? LinkedIn's excellent help section includes several suggestions for the type of topics that work well on this professional platform. Many of these ideas (such as, "What concrete advice would you give to someone hoping to enter your field?") might be a better fit for you when you're established as a PM. But that doesn't mean you can't write a great article about what you learned from working on a project in this program or at work.

Here are a couple example titles. Think about if you could write posts about any of these topics.

  • Three lessons I learned from users about product design.
  • My project was headed toward failure. This is what I did.
  • I thought I knew my users. Then I met them.
  • How Python helped me get my project unstuck.
  • What I learned about working with engineers.
  • How data saved us from making the wrong decision.

Can you see what potential these titles hold for telling stories about your projects that showcase how you are user-focused, data-driven, or a great team leader?

If you decide to write up one of your project summaries in the form of a LinkedIn article, the principles discussed in the last checkpoint apply here too: you'll want to keep it relatively short, include images, and tell an interesting story with a beginning, middle, and end (use those story arcs!). Aim for 500 to 700 words, and make sure your article's title is an optimal 40 to 49 characters. Don't forget to post a link to your article when it's published to increase visibility, and paste that link in your profile's Featured section so it is visible in the long term.

If writing a full article seems impossible right now, you can still increase your visibility on LinkedIn by posting short updates. Posting a comment and a photo from a great brainstorming session or a short reflection with an image of a mockup from user interviews is a great way to position yourself as an up-and-comer in the PM field. You can also use posts on LinkedIn to share a link to other forms of project summaries, like on your personal website.

Slides or PDF files​

Some work is more appropriate for one-to-one communications. Maybe you're not quite ready to promote yourself so publicly. Or perhaps you're targeting two distinct industries and want to tailor your project summaries to make sure the right person sees the right one. In these cases, having PM portfolio content in a digital file you can share, such as slides or PDF files is a great way to go. It provides you with a brochure of sorts to complement your resume, and it lets your target audience access it easily and potentially share it as well.

There are some things to keep in mind if you decide to go this route. That all-important keep it short rule applies here too. You probably want to limit yourself to one or two pages in a PDF file, and no more than five slides in a presentation deck. And if you created the portfolio content in PowerPoint, take into account that not everybody has Microsoft Office, and consider publishing it as a PDF file or converting it to the more accessible Google Sheets before sharing.

How to choose a format​

Should you use a personal website, LinkedIn article or post, or a shareable file? Which of these formats is the best choice for your emerging PM portfolio? The best answer is all of them! If you have an impressive story from one of your projects sharing it in your website, LinkedIn profile, and in an email or cover letter can really maximize its benefits.

That said, your time and resources are limited. Aim for the most impressive portfolio piece you can master, but make sure you can finish it in a timely manner. Having a short PDF summary in hand is better than spending months building the perfect personal website while employers move on. If you have multiple projects to share, a personal website or portfolio site like the Mural app will give you the most space to showcase them all. However, if you are targeting two types of roles or industries, the more selective file in an email approach is best.

When to share your portfolio​

If you follow the steps covered so far, you'll have a strong PM portfolio to help you thrive in your product management networking and job search. Next, you'll learn about the best times to leverage that portfolio to engage potential employers and networking contacts.

Initial outreach​

When you're reaching out for an informational interview or in the cover letter with a job application, mentioning a relevant project and including a link makes your appeal for consideration a lot stronger. You're asking this contact or hiring manager for their time, so offering substantive content that demonstrates your professionalism reassures them that you won't be a waste of their time.

It's important for your introduction to be short and to the point. Remember, these people know nothing about you and owe you nothing. You need to motivate them to invest time in reading your resume or meeting with you. You might need to think hard about how to entice them to check out your portfolio. Keeping it short is crucial, and you might even want to include some text telling them how short it is (such as "Check out this one-page PDF") or pique their interest with a bit of preview text or a punchy title.

If you've asked a friend or colleague to make an introduction, you should provide a few sentences indicating what you're interested in and include a link or attachment with a project summary. Don't expect someone making these introductions to write this for you-they won't know how you want to be presented, and they might not have the time. It's much better to give your contacts something they can edit to include in their voice and message.

Follow-up/thank you emails​

After you meet with anyone, if you haven't already sent them examples from your portfolio, be sure to include such examples in your follow-up and thank you messages. If one of your projects touches on something you discussed, make sure to specifically draw attention to that one. It shows that you've been thinking about your conversation with them and that you're already involved in relevant work. It will also make you stand out among the many candidates they interviewed.

Sharing work in progress (#WIP)​

Another strategy for communicating and gaining awareness for your work is to share work in progress or #WIP. This borrows from a popular practice by craftspeople and artists on social media who expose the "behind the scenes" process that goes into creating something as a way to engage their audience. How do you do this as a PM candidate? For example, you could capture a few pictures of mockups being used during a user interview, add some context, and publish it as a post on LinkedIn or Instagram.

Check out the hashtag #WIP on Instagram or LinkedIn to see a wide range of how users have leveraged #WIP. It's a great approach if you're trying to establish yourself in the industry and do some online social networking. Depending on the culture of your company, this is also a great way to engage your stakeholders using internal Slack channels. As a side note, on LinkedIn, #WIP is also a very active and supportive community of Women in Product.

Throughout your career​

Your portfolio of project summaries will be most useful when you're in the midst of a job search, but it can also be leveraged as you network and seek to establish yourself in the industry throughout your career.

Make it a habit to take a little time at the end of an interesting project to share some images and write a summary of the project while it's fresh in your mind. If you're starting a new project, such as volunteering with a local organization to redesign their website, you can announce it on social media. Recruit others and let it be known that you're involved in interesting stuff!

In the following checkpoint, you'll learn more about ways to get recognized for your skills and accomplishments, and how to advance your PM career.

Practice ✍️​

Choose a project from the list of ideas you compiled in your last assignment. Remember, this can be anything appropriate that you think makes you look good as a PM candidate, such as one of your capstones or smaller assignments, a side project, or something you did at work.

Make sure you follow the guidelines described in the previous checkpoint, especially with regards to length ("keep it short") and copyright ("stay out of trouble").

Choose one of the following formats and create your required portfolio piece:

  • A personal website (including at least one project summary)
  • A draft for a LinkedIn article (500 to 700 words)
  • Drafts for three LinkedIn updates (up to five lines + image for each)
  • A PDF file (up to two pages)
  • A slide deck (up to six slides)