You have a university project, a few pieces of work from an earlier job, and a folder of screenshots. A Korean job application asks for a portfolio. What should you actually send?
Start with the work the employer needs someone to do. A useful portfolio lets the reader see what you made, which decisions were yours, and how you checked the result. It does not need to contain everything you have ever completed.
This guide is for international applicants applying for jobs in Korea. The suggested structures are practical starting points, not a universal Korean hiring standard.
Last checked: September 16, 2026. Follow the current vacancy’s instructions on required documents, language, format, file size, and submission method.
Check whether this role needs a portfolio
Read the advertisement before building a website or buying a template. Look for 포트폴리오 (portfolio), 필수 (required), 선택 (optional), 자유양식 (free format), and 제출서류 (documents to submit). “Free format” does not cancel a separate file-size or file-type requirement.
A portfolio is not automatically a replacement for a resume, self-introduction, or detailed career statement. If a field is optional, use it when your samples add useful evidence. Do not turn a simple application into a collection of unrelated attachments.
As one employer-specific example, Toss’s recruitment-process guide says portfolio reviews or other assessments may be added depending on the position. That is a reason to read the individual vacancy, not evidence that every Korean employer asks for the same thing.
If the instructions are unclear, ask a narrow question: “For [role/reference], is a portfolio required, and do you accept a PDF, a view-only link, or both?” Do not wait until the final minutes of the deadline to resolve access or format questions.
Choose samples that match the work, not just your favorite projects
Write down three important tasks from the advertisement. Beside each, identify a piece of evidence you can explain and are allowed to share. Two or three strong projects can be a manageable first draft; that number is an editorial suggestion, not a hiring requirement.
Here are possible matches. They are sample ideas, not a checklist that every candidate must complete.
- Software development: a small working application, a clear explanation of your implementation, tests, and a documented limitation. Show how to run it without production credentials.
- Data or business analysis: a focused question, the data source and its limitations, cleaning decisions, analysis, and a recommendation that the evidence actually supports.
- Product or visual design: the problem, alternatives you considered, your decisions, and the final work. Explain what was tested and what remains an assumption.
- Marketing or content: the audience, brief, selected writing or campaign samples, distribution plan, and verified results if you have them. A proposal is not a completed campaign.
- Operations or customer support: an original process checklist, sample knowledge-base article, or workflow improvement using fictional or approved information. Explain the handoff or recurring problem it addresses.
For a concrete design example, Toss’s 2025 Platform Designer recruitment page asked for portfolios showing the applicant’s problem-solving process and thinking. This is a historical example from a specific campaign, not an open-vacancy recommendation or a promise about its current hiring criteria.
When comparing samples, ask: “What would this prove for this vacancy?” A smaller relevant project may deserve the first position ahead of a more impressive-looking but unrelated one.
Make each project understandable without a guided tour
A reviewer should not need to open ten files to discover what you did. Begin each case study with a short project summary, then provide enough detail to support it.
- Context and problem: who needed what, and why was it difficult?
- Project status: paid work, coursework, volunteer work, or an independent practice project; include the period.
- Your responsibility: what did you personally own, and what did teammates do?
- Decisions and work: explain an important choice, the alternative, and the constraint.
- Evidence and outcome: show the artifact or permitted extract, how you checked it, and what happened.
- Limitations and next step: what remains unproven, and what would you test or improve?
This is a writing framework, not an official scoring rubric. Some projects need only a concise page; others need several. Follow an employer’s page limit instead of padding the document to an arbitrary “ideal” length.
For team work, describe concrete responsibilities before using a contribution percentage. “I wrote the data-cleaning script and checked duplicate records; two teammates handled visualization and presentation” is easier to evaluate than “contribution: 70%.” If the employer specifically requests a percentage, explain its basis rather than inventing precision.
A worked example: a small project with honest limits
The following case study is fictional and illustrates structure. Do not reuse its activities or test result as your own experience.
Project: Bilingual registration guide for a student event — coursework prototype.
Problem: The draft instructions placed the registration deadline, required document, and collection location in three separate sections.
My role: I reorganized the instructions and wrote the English version. A teammate reviewed the Korean wording; another created the page layout.
Decision: I put the three required actions in their actual order and moved background information below them. The goal was to help a reader complete the task, not just shorten the text.
Check: Four classmates tried to locate the required information in the revised guide. All four found the collection location, but one still misunderstood which document to bring. I revised that sentence.
Limit: This was a small classroom exercise, not a live event or a representative user study. There is no evidence of reduced support volume.
The value is in the traceable work and the honest account of what was tested. Calling the same exercise “a 100% improvement in customer experience” would not be supported by the evidence.
For a real project with measurable results, record the period, baseline, measurement method, and your contribution. If those records do not exist, explain the deliverable or decision instead of manufacturing a metric.
Choose a format the employer can actually open
If the vacancy requires a particular format, use it. Otherwise, select the simplest format that makes your evidence readable.
A PDF for a self-contained submission
Use readable text, clear headings, page numbers, and clickable descriptive links. Put your target role and contact method near the beginning, unless the application’s anonymity rules require otherwise. Use a clear filename, such as Name_Role_Portfolio_202609.pdf, if no filename rule is given.
Do not make a QR code the only route to a demo. A reader viewing the PDF on a phone should also be able to tap a link. Reopen the exported PDF to check text, Korean characters, page breaks, and links; the editable original is not the file the employer receives.
A website or shared document for linked work
Lead with a short project index and send the reader directly to the relevant examples. Avoid requiring a personal account, a paid subscription, or an access request unless the recruiting team has agreed to that arrangement.
Google Drive’s official sharing guide distinguishes restricted access from access for anyone with the link, and viewer access from editing access. Link-wide access is appropriate only for a version you intend to share that broadly. Do not make confidential work public simply to remove a login obstacle.
A repository for code
Send a relevant project link, not just an unexplained profile. Include a README describing the problem, your role, setup, tests, dependencies, and known limitations. Use safe sample data. A reviewer should not need your personal API key to understand the work.
GitHub’s official guide explains how to pin selected repositories or gists to a profile. That can make relevant work easier to find; it does not replace explaining what you contributed.
Handle language and overseas experience carefully
Follow the requested language. If none is specified, ask whether English is acceptable or whether a Korean summary would be useful. Do not assume that an English job title means every reviewer will read a long English case study.
For work completed outside Korea, briefly explain unfamiliar organizations, users, or constraints. Give enough context to make the work understandable without exaggerating a local brand’s size or importance.
A compact bilingual summary can help when accepted: project goal, your role, key decision, and result. Keep the meaning consistent. Check especially whether translation changes “assisted” to “led,” “prototype” to “launched,” or “proposed” to “achieved.”
Useful labels include 담당 역할 (your role), 작업 기간 (project period), 주요 의사결정 (key decisions), 결과 및 한계 (results and limitations), and 개인 연습 프로젝트 (independent practice project). Explain your work in language you can also use in an interview.
What if your best work is confidential?
Being involved in a project does not, by itself, settle whether you can disclose its files. Check the relevant agreements and organization’s rules, and obtain appropriate permission before sharing restricted material. Password protection is an access control, not permission to disclose.
If permission is unavailable, use a different sample or make a genuinely separate demonstration with fictional data. Label it as a reconstruction or practice example, and do not reproduce protected source material, proprietary logic, or client records. If even the process is sensitive, leave it out.
Check screenshots for names, contact details, account numbers, internal URLs, credentials, and confidential figures. Also inspect comments, speaker notes, hidden sheets, attachments, and document properties. Review repository history before making a project public, not just the visible latest files.
For PDFs, do not rely on drawing a rectangle over text. Use a proper redaction workflow and verify the saved result. Adobe documents both removing sensitive PDF content and sanitizing hidden information such as metadata and comments. These are software instructions, not assurance that a document is legally cleared for disclosure.
For blind recruitment, check identifiers throughout the portfolio, including school names in project credits or screenshots. Follow the employer’s specific restrictions; do not assume every recruitment process uses the same anonymity rules.
When you are stuck: practical fixes
“I have no professional projects.”
Choose a narrow independent exercise tied to a real job task: analyze a permitted public dataset, build a small tool, or write an original sample help article for a fictional service. Document what you tried and what failed. Credit source data, assets, tutorials, and collaborators, and check their reuse terms. A tutorial followed unchanged should not be presented as an original system.
If you are considering client work to gain samples, treat that as a separate decision. Our freelancing guide for foreign residents in Korea explains the permission and tax questions to investigate before accepting paid work.
“The recruiter cannot open my link.”
Test the exact submitted URL in a browser session that is not signed into your account. For deliberately restricted sharing, check access with the intended recipient instead. Verify permissions on each linked file, not just the landing page. If the company blocks your hosting service, ask whether an approved PDF or another accepted channel is available.
“My demo has stopped working.”
Keep a permitted static explanation or short recording of the completed work as a fallback. Label it clearly and disclose the current demo limitation. Do not imply that a recording proves the live service still works. Avoid exposing real credentials in either version.
“The file is too large.”
Remove duplicate pages and compress oversized media while keeping evidence readable. Link to optional video only if the application allows it. Check the exported file’s size against the actual limit; do not assume every portal accepts the same number of megabytes.
“I used AI or a template.”
Follow the employer’s assessment rules. Credit material and disclose assistance where required or necessary to describe your contribution honestly. Be ready to explain what you changed, checked, and tested. Do not include fabricated research participants, invented testimonials, or code you cannot explain as evidence of your skills.
Before you submit
- Can the reader identify the target role and strongest relevant project immediately?
- Is each project labeled accurately as work, coursework, or practice?
- Are your contribution, evidence, and limitations clear?
- Are claims consistent with your resume and self-introduction?
- Have you checked disclosure permission, credits, personal information, and anonymity instructions?
- Does the exact file or URL work for someone without your access?
- Have you saved the submitted version and application confirmation?
Finally, practice explaining one project aloud: the problem, your decision, the evidence, and what you would change next. If you need several minutes just to establish what the project was, make its opening summary clearer before adding more pages.
Source note: The linked employer and software-provider guidance was checked on September 16, 2026. The Toss 2025 campaign is explicitly a historical example. Project suggestions, structures, and the fictional case study are editorial guidance, not official hiring requirements or a guarantee of selection.
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