given that your firm has a mktg dept, it seems like it is a big corporate one. Such firms generally have written portfolio policies. It may be attached to your employment agmt, be in your employee handbook or even available on the firm intranet site. If not, HR can give it to you. Best to first consult the policy before you seek outside advice.

just checked the employee handbook and office guidelines. there was nothing regarding the use of firm work for personal portfolios. I saw that there is another post about showing professional work on a personal website. most people seemed to think it was fine with permission. so, it sounds like I need to obtain permission. how do I do this without damaging my relationship with my employer?

use a little common sense and discretion. don't show top secret projects, and don't put the work on your website. don't steal intellectual property, like other people's inventions. give people due credit for their contributions to projects or images. as long as you're respectful and you make sure that hardcopy remains in your possession, you should be fine. you should expect a little discretion on the part of the interviewers as well.

The job I had out of school for 8 months was like this as well. They said they did not have a problem sharing images of projects, as long as they were approved by a managing personnel. They said they understand the need for people to keep their portfolios up-to-date and wouldn't assume it was because they were going out looking for a job, i.e.: "We know people move around in this industry and also know that people like to just be prepared." First thing I would do is ask and act like you are just trying to get up-to-date images for your portfolio. I do believe (not certain) there are laws about a place of employment needing to allow you to show evidence to potential future employers of the work you performed.

it' also important when you use an image to describe your role in a project: whether you were project manager, designer, drafting support, spec writer. if you drew the dumpster enclosure for the cds, for instance, you probably shouldn't be filling a full page of your portfolio with the primary rendering of the project.

sizzle, you've been there for two years which means you now have a backlog of projects/images to catch up on (it's like keeping your IDP records - you ned to stay on top of it so you're not suddenly compiling 3 years of points all at one). You can certainly ask, respectfully, for permission to use project images now because you are "trying to keep your portfolio up to date", without the reason given being "because I'm looking for a new job".

One very important point: some project contracts have non-disclosure agreements. A research lab may not want any competitors to know the layout of their space, for example, or a store working on branding doesn't want a competitor to see what their new brand rollout is going to look like. It's VERY important to get permission to use an image for a project like this - you will get in far more trouble for causing your firm to break a non-disclosure agreement than you will for showing the potential new employer the money shot when what you worked on was the dumpster enclosures! ;-)

One other thing: if you're in a job you like and don't want to risk rocking the boat, you can also go ahead and compile all the images you WANT to use now, and if you get laid off later you can ask permission THEN for what you are allowed to use - that saves time when you are almost out the door. Just don't use the ones later that they tell you not to.

Great advice, thank you.
I have all the images I need; I've been collecting them as I go along because about 3 months starting my job the layoffs began. It was then I realized how difficult it is to get and keep a job. Now that there is a little wiggle room in the market I feel like I can risk it and make a change of city and switch to a smaller office. Also, for the record..I did not just draw the damn dumpster!.. Have a good weekend everyone.