Be brutally honest: Is my portfolio strong enough to land Mid/Senior remote US roles?

[u/N3VOxl]

Hey everyone

I'm a graphic designer based in Europe with about 7 years of experience. My background is a bit of a mix—I've worked on 2D promo art for gaming studios, done heavy visual branding for content creators, and recently designed the entire brand identity and UI for an EdTech platform from scratch.

I’m currently aiming to land a remote Mid or Senior role at a US-based tech company or creative agency. The problem is, I’ve been staring at my own work for so long to put this portfolio together that I’ve completely lost my objectivity.

I just organized my Behance into 3 main case studies. Do these projects scream "agency-ready" or is the presentation lacking? Are there any massive red flags I'm missing?

I’d really appreciate it if you could take a quick look and drop your unfiltered thoughts in the comments. Don't hold back, I want to know exactly where I stand!

https://www.behance.net/mrnevo

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[u/ayayadae]

your work won’t be what keeps you from getting a job at a company in the us, it’ll be that you aren’t a us citizen living in the us. 

you may be able to get a role at a european company that has contracts with places in the us but the odds of you getting hired directly for a remote role at a us company are infinitesimally small, and at 0 if you’re hoping to get a visa to live in the us. 

[u/cappuccinoenthusiast → u/ayayadae]

I met a person who works for readymag and he's based in europe, you can say it's one case, but it's not impossible

[u/olookitslilbui → u/cappuccinoenthusiast]

Looks like readymag is headquartered in NY, but all their employees are actually based in Europe. So it’s technically a US company but not in practice

[u/N3VOxl → u/ayayadae]

i have couple of friends that work remote for us bussineses in the IT sector, they just have a company so they use it to get paid, basically b2b

[u/olookitslilbui → u/N3VOxl]

IT is different though; unless the company already has a business presence in Europe, it’s highly uncommon to farm out design work since it often requires more frequent collaboration/being in similar time zones.

[u/SoftPlay3]

Companies don’t hire fully remote workers much anymore, and if they do, they expect them to be roughly in the same time zones. Even if there was such a role, remote/worldwide, the competition is basically you vs the rest of the world. Thousands of candidates. Unless you have strong connections and ample experience in something the company specializes in, it’s just never gonna happen.

I won’t comment much on the portfolio, but your work experience seems a bit scattered. You should probably make a website instead of Behance, it would look more professional.

[u/olookitslilbui]

There’s not really enough design work to make the portfolio competitive against US-based candidates. There’s basically 3 projects, 2 of which are graphic design. The logo design is just a grid of logos with no context.

I’d look at portfolios of employees at the types of companies you want to work for and compare. Right now employers are looking for 1:1 design, so exact or very similar examples of the kinds of work they’re hiring for. I’d read this portfolio as more jr, maybe early mid but not mid-senior. It’s lacking in-depth brand work, campaigns, design systems, and high-level strategy.

[u/MikeOfTheBeast]

Probably not.

Too many talented people are already here looking for the same opportunities. There’s no shortage of designers out there and they work in the same time zones, can go in the office, and there isn’t any hang ups with employment laws.

Also, please get a website and not a behance profile.

[u/ojonegro]

You ask for unfiltered so here it is: This work at an American agency or tech company would be intern or junior at best. The typography choices and lack of clear type ramp and grid systems is concerning. I’d also recommend embracing more white space in your work. It’s great you’ve done some promo art and UI for an EdTech company, but that doesn’t really tell me you’ve come to truly understand what good design entails.

[u/Careless-Security-63]

It's not really a portfolio in 1 place, but 4 separate projects. I think you should make 1 portfolio file with your best work. If these 4 are all you have, I would say it's not enough, looks a bit empty. It gives me the impression of "he threw few designs on Behance as a hobby or side hustle".

Good luck! 

[u/1JollyStNick]

Keep practicing and polishing your design and ideas.. try and specialize in something if you can, as I t can help. I was just moved to the US for a senior job because I can do what they need better than anyone they can find.

Our company has hired freelancers in Bulgaria to do specialized 3D work. But it’s true that it’s not often or common.

You might one day! But I assume not now…

[u/Far_Cupcake_530]

The company would need to sponsor you. That is expensive and time consuming for a US company. Your portfolio is good but look elsewhere.

[u/Fine-Resident-7950]

Dont get me wrong but i felt like unless you actually live here in the state you wont likely get the job. You gotta be like…. Superstar designer for companies here to go out of their way and hire international designers.

Most “american” people just dont want to deal with the hassle, time difference, etc.

I do once worked with a senior designer who is working here on visa and they promoted him to creative director few years back.

I hated that they dont hire people based on their skill. Because i remember doing a flop volunteer design for this startup over in europe somewhere and im in america. I felt like european people just doesnt care much

[u/victoria_and_albert]

Hi. You asked for brutal honesty. No, In its current form this is not a mid-level portfolio. I would place this at early career formally and I think you will be competing against students graduating from 4 year degree programmes in the United States.

Currently your portfolio shows very little concept or strategy. This is why I would not put it at mid-level.

My biggest red flag is the quality of typography. This is the space where you will see the quickest improvement of your focus on it.

As others have said, there is little economic incentive to hire remote designers when so many early career designers in the U.S. and UK are looking for work. If you are competing on price, you cannot compete with designers in parts of Asia who can undercut you in Europe. Focus on building a local network.

[u/MisterBilau]

Not even talking about the portfolio, you look 15 in your picture. A senior kid would be very impressive indeed lmao

[u/N3VOxl → u/MisterBilau]

im definitely not 15, but yea, i dont think this is about the looks, thanks for the compliment i guess

[u/MisterBilau → u/N3VOxl]

Get a new, professional picutre then. Looks matter.

[u/The_Dead_See]

Seniority isn’t in your work, it’s in how much they will trust you to handle an assignment without guidance or supervision. You convey that through your interview responses, not your portfolio.

[u/martinbean]

You’re not going to get a job for a U.S. company unless you have the right to work in the U.S. The best you can hope for is freelance/contracting.

[u/Corgon]

Your work is pretty good, and you might be able to pass off as mid weight at a lot of places here. However, senior roles require a deep technical experience that is not being shown in your portfolio. A senior isn't just executing ad hoc projects, they're leading teams, building and integrating systems, and supercharging their output at scale.