Your first portfolio item: show one piece of work

Choose an example for the work you want next

Ask one question: what could this item help an employer understand about my skills? Choose something relevant to the roles in your job search, rather than uploading everything you have saved.

Your first example can come from paid work, study or a project you created yourself. Make the setting clear. A practice project can be useful evidence of a skill when it is honestly labelled as practice.

• Office or finance work: a PDF or image of a simple spreadsheet you built using fictional data, with a note about the checks or formulas you used.
• Customer service or hospitality: a short, self-written sample handover or service checklist, without guest or customer details.
• Design or marketing: an image, PDF or link to a project, with a clear explanation of which part you produced.
• Technical or practical work: an appropriate photo or short demonstration showing a task you are permitted to share, with a note about your contribution.

Give the item a title and a short explanation

Use a title that says what the item is. “Sample stock tracker — Excel practice project” is more useful than “My work”. Then use the optional description to explain the task, your role and what the employer should notice.

For example: “I created this practice tracker with fictional products. I used simple formulas to calculate stock totals and highlighted rows that needed checking. The example shows how I keep records organised.”

If other people contributed, say which part is yours. If it is a shortened extract, identify it as an extract. Do not add an invented result or claim that a team’s entire project was your own.

Prepare a version you are allowed to share

Check the material before adding it. Remove confidential information and other people’s identifying details. Use a recreated example with fictional data when the original would expose a customer, colleague or employer.

Only share work you have permission to use. A public link is not, by itself, permission to present someone else’s work as your own. If you cannot share a real document, explain the task in your profile or create an honest sample instead.

• No customer names, personal numbers, addresses, account details or private messages.
• No passwords, access codes or internal documents that should stay with an employer.
• Your own contribution is clear.
• Any sample or fictional information is labelled as such.

Add it to your HEYVN Portfolio

From My profile, open Portfolio. If this is your first item, the Add work area is already open. Choose File to add a supported image, video or PDF, or Link for an external HTTPS destination. Follow the formats, size and available-space guidance displayed in your editor.

Enter a clear title and, if helpful, a short description. Add the item and wait for processing to finish. Check the saved preview and its status. For a link, check that the destination is the page you intend and that an employer will be able to open it under that site’s own access rules.

A folder full of files is not required. Start with the single example you prepared, make sure it is readable on a phone and correct anything that makes it difficult to understand.

Review the collection before sharing

Portfolio preparation, unlocking the current plan and sharing with a promotion are separate steps. Read the current plan and funding choices shown in your account; uploading an item does not complete all three.

When your collection is ready and covered by the appropriate plan, use Share with employers. Select an active promotion and read the confirmation carefully: it shares the currently ready works in that collection for the promotion you choose. Check the whole ready collection, not just the most recent item.

Choose Share in this promotion only when that is the collection you intend to share. New or edited work needs your confirmation again. Eligible registered employers can open work you have shared with an active promotion under HEYVN’s access rules.

Your next step

Choose one example, write a useful title and one sentence explaining your part in it. Prepare that version before adding anything else.