An engineering portfolio website gives you room to show a drawing, test summary or explanation that will not fit on your CV. Start with a real project and decide what someone needs to understand about it before choosing a layout.
This guide takes you from project selection to a published link. For a complete page example, see the mechanical engineering portfolio example. For an individual electronics case study, use the electrical portfolio walkthrough.
Decide what the website needs to help someone assess
Read the placement, internship or graduate job description before choosing projects. Identify the work you can already explain that relates to it. A project showing a design decision and its evidence is more useful than a generic claim that you enjoy engineering.
For a mechanical design role, a drawing, manufacturing choice and validation note may be relevant. For an electronics role, a schematic, bring-up problem and measurement can be useful. For a robotics role, you might explain your subsystem, integration decisions and the conditions of a test.
Use these suggestions to select evidence for the role you are targeting. Oxford's engineering careers guidance discusses showing the relevance of coursework and projects. Follow the employer's application instructions and use your university careers service for feedback on the role you are targeting.
Choose a portfolio format before choosing a builder
| Format | When it can be useful | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Portfolio website | The application accepts a link and you want readable project summaries with images | The published page opens without an account and works on a phone |
| PDF portfolio | The employer explicitly requests a document or a fixed page limit | File size, page count and the requested submission format |
| Public repository | Code, firmware or reproducible analysis is central to the project | Setup notes, permissions and removal of secrets |
| A combination | The website provides context and links to a permitted document or repository | The links open for an external reader and add useful detail |
If a PDF attachment is required, prepare one. When sharing a repository, include an explanation of your contribution. You can use both a website and supporting files when the application accepts them.
Prepare one project before uploading your CV
Create a short set of notes. You can use them whether you build by hand or ask AI to draft from a CV:
- Project and context: what you were trying to do, and whether it was coursework, a team activity or employment.
- Your contribution: the part you personally designed, implemented, analysed or tested.
- Decision: one choice you made and the constraint behind it.
- Evidence: a permitted image, calculation, test observation or link.
- Status: what is complete, what remains and what the evidence cannot establish.
For example, “Modelled a fixture and revised the assembly drawing after a trial fit” can lead to a useful entry. “Worked on an innovative engineering solution” needs more information before there is anything to show. Do not invent a percentage improvement to make the sentence look stronger.
If you have no employment history yet, the no-experience guide shows how to use coursework and personal projects honestly. The student skills guide helps connect a specific contribution to a CV bullet or interview example.
Pick a layout that supports your discipline
Choose the layout after you know which artefacts you need to show. Open a live preview and check whether its project sections suit your evidence.
| Your work | Start with | Prepare for the project section |
|---|---|---|
| Mechanical design and analysis | Mechanical template | A drawing or CAD view, design rationale and validation note |
| Circuits, boards and electronics | Electric template | A readable schematic or board view, your bring-up work and test context |
| Robotics and integrated systems | Robotics template | A system view, your subsystem and an experiment summary |
| Mixed student or graduate work | Template gallery | A focused selection of projects relevant to the application |
The public template previews contain fictional examples. Use them to inspect a layout; replace their content with your own work. FolioBuild does not independently validate engineering claims.
Create and review your draft
Prepare the evidence before choosing how to present it.
Gather your contribution, an image you can share and the current project status.
Choose a template, add the missing detail and check the text against your records.
Publishing needs a paid plan. Check the link while signed out and on a phone.
In FolioBuild, start a blank portfolio to write manually, or use a CV PDF to generate a draft with AI credits. Review the extracted education, experience, skills and projects. A CV may not contain enough detail for a complete engineering case study, so add the evidence and context yourself.
Use a project image for a readable visual and a supporting link for material that adds detail. Explain the visual in the project description. If the work involved a team, distinguish your responsibility from the team's result. Keep targets, simulations and physical measurements separate.
For analysis work, the CAD and FEA guide explains what belongs beside a plot. For electronics, the PCB walkthrough shows how to describe a design choice, debugging and measurement limits. Review any AI wording against your original records before publishing.
Understand the cost before publishing
Manual portfolio drafts and editing are free in FolioBuild. AI actions use credits. Publishing a live website requires the Publishing subscription at £0.99/month; see current publishing and credit prices before you choose.
Choose a draft layout from the template gallery. You can prepare your content before buying publishing. FolioBuild provides a shareable website link; it does not currently export a matching portfolio PDF.
Check the published link as an external reader
After publishing, open the link in a signed-out browser. Check the same page on a phone. A useful final review is:
- The introduction says what kind of engineering work you are seeking.
- The first project connects to the role and states your contribution.
- Drawings, plots and captions are readable; units and test conditions are present where needed.
- Supporting files and repositories open without your private account.
- No image, document or repository exposes confidential material or credentials.
- Contact details are current, and the link on your CV is the actual published URL.
FolioBuild currently keeps customer portfolio pages out of search indexing. Share the published link directly where the employer accepts it; do not rely on someone finding your personal page through Google. Someone with the link can read the page.
Share it where the work is relevant
Add the portfolio link to your CV or the application's website field where supporting links are accepted. Keep the requested CV and form answers complete. A reader should not need to open the portfolio to discover basic eligibility or experience that the form asks for.
For an internship, the portfolio selection guide helps you choose relevant work. For discipline-specific preparation, use the electrical engineering portfolio builder, mechanical engineering portfolio builder or robotics portfolio guide.
Keep a note of the version you sent. Update the page when the underlying work changes, especially when a pending test becomes a completed result. Check the new wording against your records each time.