In today’s learning and development market, your portfolio often matters more than your resume. Yet many instructional designers, eLearning developers, and facilitators struggle to know what to include, how to structure it, and what hiring managers are actually looking for. The result? Overbuilt projects, unclear case studies, and portfolios that don’t fully reflect the depth of their thinking.

In this practical and engaging session, you’ll explore the most common portfolio mistakes instructional designers make and learn a clear framework for building a focused, compelling portfolio that highlights your instructional decision-making, learner-centered design, and professional growth. Whether you’re transitioning into the field or refining an existing portfolio, you’ll leave with actionable insights you can apply immediately.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Identify common portfolio mistakes that weaken clarity and impact in the hiring process.
• Apply a five-part framework to structure portfolio projects around problems, decisions, and outcomes.
• Distinguish between showcasing tools and demonstrating instructional design thinking.

Christy Tucker is a learning experience design consultant with over 20 years of experience helping people learn. She specializes in using scenario-based learning to engage audiences and promote skill transfer to real-world environments. She has created training for a wide range of clients, including Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit associations, state and local government agencies, universities, and more. Christy has been blogging about instructional design and elearning for over 15 years and is a regular speaker at industry conferences and events.