Build a biosecurity portfolio with shareable work samples

Choose the skill the sample should show

Read the job description and pick one responsibility you can demonstrate. A policy role may value clear evidence and a recommendation. A coordination role may value a handoff that helps the next person act. Keep the sample short enough for a reviewer to see the purpose and your decisions in one sitting.

Use public information or make up a workplace scenario and label it clearly. If a real example belongs to a previous employer or includes someone else’s information, create a fresh sample to demonstrate the same skill.

Three work samples you can build

• Policy brief: summarize a public program for a fictional manager. State the question, cite the source, explain an uncertainty, and give the reader a decision to consider.
• Program tracker: make a fictional list of tasks for onboarding a volunteer team. Show owners, dates, and which decisions need review. Explain how the tracker would help two teams coordinate.
• Training outline: plan a short orientation on finding approved policies and asking the right team for help. State the audience, what they should learn, and how you would check whether the explanation was clear.

Worked example for a program coordinator application

Suppose an employer needs someone to coordinate training across several teams. Create a fictional example where three teams have different schedules and one review date. Start with a short description of the problem, then show how you recorded owners and flagged scheduling conflicts for the supervisor.

Add a short note about a change you made after feedback. For instance, you could move decisions that need approval into their own column so that readers know which items are ready to act on. The reason for the change helps the reviewer understand your judgment.

Check the sample before sending it

1. Label the source and setting as public, fictional, or shared with permission.
2. Put the audience, question, and your role at the top.
3. Remove identifying details, private records, and confidential material from the file and its metadata.
4. Check that a reader can understand the result without opening several other documents.
5. Ask a reviewer which decision or result they understood and revise any unclear wording.

Explain the sample in an interview

Start with the reader’s problem and what you did. Spend most of the answer on one decision you made and what you learned after feedback. If the work is fictional, explain how you would check your assumptions and who would review a real version. This gives the interviewer a way to discuss your approach.

• Practice explaining your work in an interview

Make your work sample readable in a few minutes

Open with the question you wanted to answer and who would use the result. Give the reader the artifact, such as a decision memo or fictional tracking sheet, then add a brief note on how you chose what to include. Explain one assumption and what you would check if the project continued.

Ask a reader to describe the decision the sample supports and what you contributed. If they cannot tell, revise the opening or remove details that distract from the point. Label invented information in the artifact itself so the context travels with the file if someone opens it separately.

• Use the same evidence in a resume
• Prepare to discuss a sample in an interview