An entirely common problem!

Here are a few suggestions:

1. Ask anyway. Ask your employer if you can use any previous work and if anything falls under fair use, or perhaps if they are open to letting you keep the work in a password-protected folder.
2. Ask if you can film a video walk-through demonstration of the material.
3. Adapt the materials enough to show that you know the tools.
4. Create new materials that allow you to show your skills without too much time investment.

I completely empathize with you as it took me ages to build a portfolio that didn’t showcase my best work, but it really is necessary. You don’t need to have a massive one with 20-30 projects as some others do; I think that’s what overwhelms people and drags them down.

You’re welcome to view mine: https://www.aliciasloandesign.com

As you can see, I offered tools, skills, and analysis for two major projects (Instructor Training Program, Real Estate) but added “please contact me for more” because the employer declined (I negotiated that I could keep it behind a password on request).

Check out https://courseportfolios.com/pricing

This will give you up to ten courses in your portfolio for $0 / month. If you need more you can select one of their paid solutions. This is from the same folks that produce https://reviewmyelearning.com.

I have thought about this question myself. I would like to create a portfolio to show potential employers or clients my skills and abilities.

But the challenge when what you have created is for an employer is most of us don’t have approval to show that work to outside parties, let alone to show it as our own.

In my past work experience, I would review others work in interviews and more often than not it was “spec” work or something that was created for the purpose of the portfolio and not something public.

That is likely a good way to go. Create something that shows your skills without the limitations of the reviewers in the organization.

Hope that helps.