Professional writers know that the key to landing a good job is an excellent portfolio. Good managers know when they review a professional portfolio that they're dealing with someone who knows what he or she is doing. But how do you put together a portfolio when you don't have any experience?
Simple: Fake it till you make it! Write a series of samples to showcase the skills you already have.
Leverage Your Expertise
If you're new to technical writing, use your existing academic background or past careers to form a foundation for your new career. Think back on all the types of papers, reports, manuals, and how-to instructions you encountered in your job, and all the ones you wish had been there to guide you. Pick a document you encountered, and write or rewrite it.
For example, if you were a daycare worker until two months ago, write a short explanation of how the cubby system works in the daycare facility. It's not the most technical of pieces, but it's a business-ready document you can use to demonstrate that you understand how to write a procedure, and how to keep your writing appropriate to your audience.
Target the Industry
Write your samples for the industry you'd like to target. If you want to write manuals for toasters and coffeemakers, then rewriting the pamphlet that came with your blender is a good place to start. If you live in a city where auto manufacturing is the big industry, write a guide to replacing the light bulbs in the headlights of your car. Live in the Silicon Valley and want to write for software companies? Installation guides and user manuals are a great way to get started.
In some fields, the industry may be so complex you won't have casual access to the insider's view. In these cases, you'll want to write your samples from several different potential industries, to present yourself as someone who can switch tacks easily and work for any industry.
Go Broad, not Deep
Your portfolio should have 3 to 7 samples demonstrating a range of document types. Even if you leave a sample behind for an employer to review, the topics you cover do not need to reflect in-depth industry knowledge. Although employers want you to know everything already, your samples won't adequately convey your expertise. Instead, aim to show off how many different types of writing you can do, and with many different tools. Pick at least three different types of the following documents, and write a sample for each:
- A "how to" procedure document. One of the most common forms of technical writing
- A specification, explaining how a product or piece of software should work
- A quick-reference guide
- An installation guide
- A thorough reference, like a programmer's API or a technical glossary
- A business or technical proposal
- A policy guide for how a process works in a company
- A training guide or curriculum
- A marketing brochure
- An online help system
Present Like a Pro
It should go without saying that your writing samples should be proofread and edited mercilessly. Like your resume and cover letter, a single typo means no call-back. It doesn't matter if you're rewriting a document from your previous career or presenting an actual document you wrote for a job. You are free to change it, edit it, tighten it up and make it as beautiful and as elegant as you like.
Finally, put your writing samples in clear page protectors (two pages per protector, back to back), and place them into a 3-ring binder. Put your name and phone number on the outside of the binder, and keep a few current resumes in a page protector or folder inside.
Do not leave your portfolio with potential employers. You might never see it again, and as you develop more samples from past real-world jobs, you may have permission to keep a copy in your portfolio, but not distribute it to others.
When you get to the interview, walk the employer through your portfolio, but give the interviewer plenty of time to review and read the portfolio. Explain what role you played in the document (editing, writing, layout, "everything"), and what tools you used (Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat, HTML).
If you've learned what types of writing they do at the company, show samples of those first, and don't be afraid to leave some samples unexamined. Don't be so excited at "show and tell" that you lose the job!
