Portfolio vs Resume: What to Include for Design and Dev Roles
For design and development roles, a resume and a portfolio serve different jobs — treating them as duplicates wastes the portfolio's strongest asset: depth.
Resume: the filter-pass document
Your resume needs to get you through ATS and a first recruiter scan. Keep it text-based, keyword-rich, and structured normally — this isn't the place for heavy visual design even if you're a designer.
Portfolio: the depth and proof document
The portfolio is where the actual work lives — case studies, code samples, live projects, design process breakdowns. This is where nuance, visuals, and storytelling belong, not on the resume itself.
Link clearly, don't duplicate
The resume should include a clear, working portfolio link near the contact info, and each project entry can reference "full case study in portfolio" rather than trying to cram detail into resume bullets.
Keep resume bullets outcome-focused
Even without full project depth, resume bullets should state outcomes: "Redesigned onboarding flow, reducing drop-off by 22%" rather than "Worked on onboarding redesign." The portfolio explains how; the resume states what happened.
For dev roles, GitHub matters as much as a portfolio site
If there isn't a dedicated portfolio site, a well-maintained GitHub profile with pinned, documented repositories can serve the same function. Make sure READMEs are clear enough that a recruiter skimming quickly understands what each project does.