Career portfolios will allow you to present tangible items that display your capabilities and qualifications to employers. Building a career portfolio is a process; one that allows you to evaluate your personal and professional experiences as well as your future professional goals, discover your strengths and weaknesses, and gain confidence to be more prepared for interviews. All of which will ultimately land you a job!
A working portfolio is a collection of all of your work that you continue to add to and update over time. The following items are suggested for your working portfolio:
To create your working portfolio, start by gathering all possible items that demonstrate your abilities, achievements, assets, creativity, personality, and such. Organize these items in a logical order and make it easily accessible so that you can quickly pull documents from it when job opportunities arise.
An interview portfolio is a three ring binder with tabbed pages encompassing only the items pertinent to the job you are applying for. Just as resumes should be tailored to each position you apply for, so too should your portfolio. Customizing your portfolio will show a potential employer that you understand and possess the qualities needed to get the job done. Include three to four samples in each skill area you select to promote in your portfolio. Using your interview portfolio in an interview will present a visual picture of your qualifications and will help an employer remember who you are. The following items are suggested for your interview portfolio:
If items from your working portfolio become relevant to an interview, you will pull them from your working portfolio and place them into your interview portfolio.