It’s the big day. You’ve edited and re-edited your CV, you know who you want to work for, you’ve brushed up on your interview skills and you’ve psyched yourself up in the bathroom mirror (with some positive affirmations Oprah recommended). Now it’s time for the ‘this isn’t a rehearsal’ interview. Applying for a position in an industry where creativity often beats qualifications, the information in your CV is all well and good but your secret weapon, your pièce de résistance, is your portfolio.

Making use of a portfolio to grab the dream job or the dream account/project is a growing trend, gaining popularity across a broad spectrum of industries. Artists, designers, and writers have traditionally used portfolios to market their skills since, well, since forever. With more job descriptions requiring project-oriented characteristics, portfolios have taken centre stage – being used as evaluation tools in business, the sciences, human services, humanities, and (of course) the arts.

What is a portfolio? By definition it’s “a portable collection of materials that showcase your skills, achievements, experience, academic excellence, and anything else that is relevant for interviewer to see.” Your CV is a useful tool for summarising where you’ve come from. A portfolio showcases (and proves) your skills.

Preparing a ‘wow’ portfolio is an art form in itself. A good piece of advice is to keep both a ‘working’ portfolio and a ‘display’ portfolio – no potential employer/client wants to see everything you’ve ever done. It’s similar to dressing for a first date –you put on your best outfit, not your entire wardrobe. The working portfolio should be everything you want to keep, organised into file folders. The display portfolio should be a ‘greatest hits’.

A key aspect of harnessing the power of your portfolio fully and using it to it’s full potential is making sure that you know it thoroughly. During the interview/ evaluation/ interrogation, you will need to navigate your portfolio like a ninja. Fumbling around for the, um, campaign concept you, um, ‘I know it’s around here somewhere’, did for [insert big impressive brand here] will make you appear disorganised and that will definitely be a tick in the ‘no’ column.

No matter where you went to school, what community project you were involved in, what glowing reference you got from an ad agency bigwig – your portfolio is your number one tool in marketing yourself and your skill set. Your portfolio is a golden opportunity to show what you can do, rather than just telling them. You’re hot stuff and your portfolio is a just a tool to shout that fact to the world.