How to Make a Good Career Portfolio

 * Career job information for job seekers


By Carol Thomas,

Instructions

 

1. Collect examples that document your skills and experience. Include your resume, performance appraisals, awards, publications, reports, transcripts, letters of recommendation, licenses, testimonials and actual work products whenever possible. Add brochures from conferences and workshops you have attended. Think of this stage as a search for evidence that will prove your value as an employee  ( jobs employment )

 

2

Analyze your collection.

Determine what categories your documents represent. Do you want to showcase different skills you have developed? If you are a looking for a teaching position, for example, you could group your documents by subjects you have taught. Continue adding to your portfolio by locating more items for categories that appear less documented.

3

Select the most significant items for each category. Even though this step requires removing material, throw nothing away. Keep any items you decide to remove from your portfolio in a separate secondary folder. If you change your career objective in the future, you might need to consult this secondary folder.

4

Design your portfolio's overall appearance. Include a table of contents and index. Provide captions for photos and any other items that are not self-explanatory. Place your material in an attractive binder. A dark three ring notebook with plastic page protectors provides a convenient format. Use tabbed dividers to separate your sections.

5

Photocopy material in your portfolio, such as resumes that you want to leave with a potential employer. Create color photocopies of color originals. Consider also creating an electronic portfolio to provide easily accessible information about you that exceeds what you have placed in your resume. To host your online portfolio, choose a web site used by others in your profession.

6

Evaluate your finished portfolio. Does the portfolio contain a representative sampling of the best of your accomplishments? Is the portfolio itself a well designed example of your work? Remember that potential employers will be judging you based upon its appearance. Get a second opinion about the quality of your career portfolio from someone who works in your field.

7

Add to your portfolio throughout your career. You should consider your career portfolio as a work in progress rather than as a finished product. Provide immediate documentation for every new job accomplishment.

8

Take your career portfolio with you to each job interview. Be prepared to support statements about your past performance with specific examples from the portfolio.