Portfolios
A Resume SAYS what you've accomplished.
A Portfolio SHOWS what you've accomplished.
Materials to Include:
Work Related Items
- Job descriptions
- Internship experience
- Level of effort (hours, sales, case loads)
- Promotion notices
- Evaluations
- List of skill sets or competencies
- Awards or achievements
- Customer satisfaction (thank you letters, emails)
- Work samples/Results (documents you have developed, PowerPoint presentations, web pages, etc.)
Involvement Items
- Volunteer experience
- Committee involvement
- Community activities
- Group membership
- Leadership activities
- Campus activities
Application Materials
- Resume
- Cover letter
- Reference list or letters of reference
- Personal mission statement
- Answers to relevant interview questions
Educational Items
- Honors/Awards/Certificates
- Articles you've written
- Scholarships
- Transcripts
- Recognitions (attendance, performance)
- Special skills and knowledge
- Workshops
- Degree program or course descriptions
- Evaluations from teachers
- Study abroad descriptions
- Class samples (papers, projects)
- Relevant test results
- Research experience
Include anything that demonstrates your abilities, adds value to you as a candidate, or is going to elicit additional conversation. If you don't already have an item, create something that would highlight your accomplishment.
Obtain the following supplies:
Leather three ring binder, sheet protectors, dividers with labels, and professional paper. Or create an online portfolio, PowerPoint or video presentation, or a CD/DVD portfolio
Portfolio Tips:
- Always consider how your portfolio will be read. Create it with the employer in mind.
- Develop a master portfolio that will allow you to easily pick items for the portfolio you take to specific interviews. Look at the job description when deciding what to include
- You must take the initiative to present your portfolio in an interview. However, a portfolio is a support tool, not the central part of an interview.
- Your portfolio is a professional document; don't haphazardly put it together like a scrapbook. Create a Table of Contents and categorize sections using labels to divide them. Don't handwrite labels; type everything.
- Don't fold or punch holes into any of your documents unless absolutely necessary.
- Make sure items don't move around or fall out. Smaller items can be pasted to a full sheet of paper (used as a border).
- Consider using charts, lists, logs, and descriptions to highlight your accomplishments.
- If an item is too lengthy, include only a portion of it or write an abstract.
- Reproduce items that aren't of the best quality.