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How to Protect Your Design Portfolio When Applying for Jobs

The Dilemma: Show Off vs. Get Ripped Off

You need to show high-resolution work to get hired. But we've all heard the horror stories: a designer interviews for a job, sends their portfolio, gets rejected, and months later sees their exact work used in the company's new campaign.

The Old Way: Watermarks

Watermarks are ugly. They ruin the aesthetic impact of your work. Plus, with modern AI tools, removing a watermark takes about 5 seconds.

The New Way: Expiring Links

When you send a portfolio via SecureViewPDF, you can set it to expire in 7 days. This gives the hiring manager plenty of time to review it, but ensures your work doesn't sit on their company server forever, waiting to be "borrowed" by a junior designer next year.

Best Practices for Portfolios

  • Combine your best work into a single PDF.
  • Set a 7-day expiry (you can always extend it if they ask).
  • Use the "Revoke" feature immediately if you get a rejection email.

Ready to secure your documents?

Stop worrying about forwarded files. Use SecureViewPDF to share view-only links that expire.

Start Encrypting for Free