The most common mistake in a graduate portfolio is treating "I do not have much experience yet" as something to apologise for. Whoever opens a graduate portfolio is not grading your skill. They are guessing how quickly you could be useful. Those are separate questions, and only the second one decides whether you get the interview.
What you have is coursework, one or two competitions and maybe one internship. That is a normal starting point. What closes a page is the inability to see what any of it has to do with the job on offer. This is about arranging that material into a new grad portfolio that answers the three questions a reviewer is actually asking, inside the first three screens.
## What a reviewer is asking while they scroll
They are not reading top to bottom. They are searching downward, question by question.
- Has this person done anything close to the role we have open
- Which part of each piece was theirs
- Are they available now, and how do I reach them
Answer those three and the page passes. Miss them and nothing further down recovers it. A rejected entry level design portfolio is usually not rejected for being weak. It is rejected for being unreadable.
## Three to five pieces, and four lines under each
New graduates tend toward two extremes: two pieces, or eighteen. Two suggests there is nothing there. Eighteen suggests nobody edited. Three to five is the range where a judgement can actually be made.
Write each one in this shape:
| Line | What goes in it | What does not |
|---|---|---|
| Context | Who needed it, for whom, and when | The words "course assignment" |
| Your role | Which part was yours, and how many people | "Contributed to the design" |
| Process | What you changed and why | A journey map covering the whole screen |
| Result | Whether it shipped, plus numbers or feedback | "Got an A" |
The third line is the one that pays. A reviewer reading a graduate portfolio is mostly checking whether you have ever been told no and revised, because that is the work. One documented revision is worth three more finished images.
## Coursework becomes a project with three additions
The distance between coursework and a project is not quality. It is constraints.
Add them in this order: one line of context about who needed it and under what conditions; one decision you reversed, naming what you dropped and why; one outcome, even a small one such as "three classmates tried it and two got stuck at the same step." Those three turn an assignment into something that belongs on the page.
Competition work sits closer to real projects, but the split has to be spelled out. "Owned visual design and handoff" beats "team member." "Rebuilt the homepage alone" beats "team lead."
## Two places a graduate page differs from a working designer's
One: put what you are looking for on the first screen, in a single line naming the kind of role. Someone already employed does not need that line. You do, because it tells the reader which standard to hold you to.
Two: keep the resume and the portfolio on one page rather than behind two links. Nobody clicks twice. A downloadable PDF in the footer is enough, since the page itself already works as a second resume.
Everything else matches what an employed designer does. One card per piece, a result line rather than a description line, and a way to reach you in the footer that does not require filling in a form.
## Three ways this goes wrong
- Padding the count to feel safer. Two weak pieces among eighteen drag the whole page down. Deleting works better than adding.
- Wallpapering the screen with process images. Process needs a conclusion attached, not every version you made. Pick one change and explain it.
- Burying the contact details, or offering only a form. Reviewers work in minutes. A written email address beats a "say hello" box.
## FAQ
- Can I build this from coursework alone? Yes, but rewrite each piece in the project shape. What is missing is constraints, not effort.
- How many pieces? Three to five. Under three, go deeper on each one. Over five, cut the weakest.
- Should grades and certificates be on the page? One line, not a screen. Reviewers care what you made, not what you scored.
- What if I have no internship? Write the coursework and competition pieces as full projects, then add a line on what you are learning and the kind of role you want. Plain honesty passes more often than packaging.
## Three things you can do today
Rewrite your three strongest pieces in the four-line shape. Add one line on the first screen saying what kind of role you are after. Put your email in the footer as plain text. Do those three and the page stops being a folder of assignments and starts being an answer.
Start from the [home page](/), then check [the five sections every homepage needs](/blog/homepage-5-must-have-sections) and [the five elements of a memorable homepage](/blog/5-key-elements-memorable-homepage) if you want the details.