Getting Started With a BI Portfolio

This blog covers creating a portfolio specifically with Wix.

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Problem

When getting into the world of Business Intelligence, many wonder what the best way to show their work off is - whether the work be in Power BI, Tableau, etc. Sometimes when applying to a job, they want you to submit sample work with the application.

Showcasing your work is not only good for showing off your work, but as well as building your own brand within the data community.

So how exactly does someone show off their work?

Solution

A portfolio! A portfolio is a compilation of the work/projects that you want to show people, all within one location. This is useful to have at the ready to show during job interviews, freelancing, or even when just interacting with the community on LinkedIn.

There are a wide variety of ways out there to display your portfolio, including NovyPro, Wix, or even creating your own website (just to name a few options).

I am going to briefly explain how to create a portfolio utilizing Wix (as that is what I have used) for Power BI projects. I decided to use Wix primarily because I was familiar with using Wix from previous projects I did in college and high school. I also wanted a way to show more than just my Power BI portfolio, such as my resume and a blog.

Please note: These steps cover adding Power BI interactive reports within the portfolio, but similar steps could be applied for other tools. If embedding is not an option, you can always include images of your work and still attach file that someone can download to view.

Step 1:

Have some sample work that you want to showcase, you can start off with just one project and build from there.

Step 2 (Power BI specific):

Publish your Power BI report to app.powerbi.com. If you do not already have an account, Guy in a Cube has a create video explaining how to create an account without a work and student account. You can find the Youtube video here.

If you follow Guy in a Cube's video to creating an account, with a free license you will not be able to share reports with anyone. You will only be able to publish to My Workspace.

Step 3:

Create a Wix account and choose from the library of templates or create a website from blank. You can create a free website with a Wix domain.

Step 4 (Power BI specific, but may apply to other tools as well):

Insert an HTML element into the page where you want to embed your interactive Power BI report. You can also insert an image or gallery if you want to add static images to the page.

In a later step we will add the code that will display the interactive report.

Step 5 (Power BI specific):

Head back to app.powerbi.com and open up the report your want to embed. Here you can click on File > Embed report > Publish to web (publish).

Here you will the option to pay around with the size (you can also customize the size within the HTML code itself to get the perfect size needed).

From here, you will copy the "HTML you can paste into a website"

Please note: If you do not have the option to to embed a report, the option may be turned off in the Admin Portal. If you are on a personal account, you can do this yourself. If using a work account, you may need to ask an admin to do this for you.

Step 7 (Mostly still Power BI):

With the HTML box/element from Step 4, we are going to paste the Power BI HTML we just copied.

We will click on Enter Code on the element, and from here we can paste our code direction into the pop-up box.

After that is done, you can click on "Update".

If the sizing isn't to your liking, you can always adjust the size of the HTML element box, or even change the width and height sizes in the HTML code itself.

Step 8:

The rest of it is up to your own imagination and freedom. You can add other pages to your portfolio if you want, a blog, etc. There is a lot that you can do to spruce up the website while giving readers know information about yourself and the work you do.

Final Thoughts

While it may take some time to set up, it is well worth it once it is completed. A portfolio is a quick and simple way to show people the projects you've worked on. Not only does this show people that you know what you're talking about, it is also a chance for you to show off that work.

I am a big supporter of portfolios. My portfolio is what helped me land my current role at Parable Associates.

For an example of a portfolio, check my website out here.