If you’re touting paper portfolios to interviews, you might as well be double spacing after your periods, too. You know what? Go ahead and throw some serious shoulder pads into your hot pink blazer, too. It’ll complete your outdated professional aesthetic.
But let’s face it — no matter how many times you push your website to potential employers for a complete and hi-def archive of your best work, some of them will be so blinded by the brilliance of your resume and immediately call you for an interview. Or they will forget to look at it. Or they don’t believe in computers.
So when that interview comes, it’s time to go from awesome to amazing. How? By displaying your best work on your iPad using one of these five apps. Not only will you look like a technological mastermind, but also an ecological hero/heroine. Who doesn’t want to hire a candidate with an intimate connection and keen concern for the trees of this world? No one. That’s who.
1. Keynote — Apple; $9.99
Let’s start with the tried-and-true of every Mac fanatic. Keynote can loosely be described as the PowerPoint of Apple, given its similarity in commands and format. However, Keynote boasts a higher level of innovation and a cleaner, more stylish look than its Microsoft counterpart. Its easy-to-use interface on the iPad is paired with smooth transitions, enticing animations and seamless image, video and sound integration. Together, these features promote a coherent presentation of your work with fewer hiccups and a one-time expenditure of $9.99 — no Microsoft Office subscription needed.
2. Haiku Deck — Haiku Deck, Inc.; free
It’s hard to discount a presentation app called the Instagram for pitch decks. Haiku Deck’s platform is based heavily on design (you know, something an aspiring designer might find important). Not only does the app provide stylish font choices, bold templates and access to millions of high-quality Creative Commons-licensed photos and Getty stock images, it also promotes the most effective methods used in the best presentations: simplified text, consistent format and high-impact images. Even better? You are able to use your iPhone as a clicker to transition between slides, which can come in handy when the screen is facing the employer and out of your line of vision.
3. SlideShark Presentation App — Brainshark, Inc.; 15-day free trial, subscription required afterward
Designing detailed portfolio decks is sometimes a task better completed on a computer and not a touchscreen. SlideShark allows you to upload PowerPoint presentations assembled on any device and better format it for the iPad interface. This award-winning app also gives you the opportunity to broadcast your presentation over the web — great for remote interviews — as well as track the amount of views your deck receives when you share it via email or social media. Similar to Haiku Deck, SlideShare also lets you use your iPhone as a clicker, but with an added bonus of a laser pointer. So go ahead — point out those intricacies in that vector logo.
4. Portfolio for iPad — Britton Mobile Development; $14.99
It’s all about branding yourself, right? Portfolio for iPad agrees. This app instantly customizes itself to the look of your work and personal collateral, leaving a tech-savvy impression on your future employer (“Yeah, I totally know how to make an app. This took me, like, five minutes”). Additionally, Portfolio can organize your work into galleries and sub-galleries and apply keyword-tags for each asset for easy search. The app also allows you to present and compare up to four photos on the screen and hide the ones you don’t plan on presenting. If you are paranoid about others taking your iPad to mess with your work and ultimately set you up for future disaster, Portfolio is big on security, too — you are able to lock the interface using a PIN.
5. Minimal Folio — Simon Heys Limited; $2.99
No frills, no fuss. Minimal Folio is as minimal as it gets when it comes to assembling a presentation for your work. Upload your work, upload some more work and organize it for presenting. Easy, beautiful — boom. Employed.