AFSNews Careers Column April 1995

Careers

A professional employment portfolio could be just the thing that sets you apart from other job candidates. It can help you market yourself to employers. You can support what you tell an employer in an interview with items from your portfolio.

A well-prepared portfolio shows your achievements, documents the scope and quality of your experience and training, and shows your skills and abilities.

As you begin organizing your portfolio, decide what skills and experiences you have that relate to the needs of employers. Then think about how you can document those skills.

Suppose the employer is seeking a person with strong communication skills. You could discuss the extensive writing required in your folklore classes, the presentations you have made at American Folklore Society and other meetings, the articles you have published, and the newsletters you have edited. Show the employer manuscripts, presentation abstracts and programs, offprints, and copies of newsletters.

Keep in mind that your portfolio represents you; therefore it must present you in a professional manner. Buy a looseleaf portfolio notebook and a supply of plastic page covers to add materials whenever you need. You will need to place similar information together. If you have three letters of commendation, they should all be placed in the same area of the portfolio, not scattered throughout. You may want to label the different sections for ease of finding information in the portfolio.

Arrange your portfolio to show how your abilities relate to the employer's needs. The examples of your experiences can come from paid work (part- and full-time), volunteer work, internships, cooperative education, field work, clubs, practicums, and even church-related experiences. A well-organized portfolio indicates that you are a serious job seeker.

Among the items you might include are

1. A copy of your resume, even though you may have already sent one to the employer. You may want to have several copies with you at an interview.

2. Official copies of your transcripts.

3. A fact sheet, in list form, that displays your skills and what you like to do.

4. A list of experiences that do not fit into your resume.

5. Certificates of awards and honors; special certifications for special training.

6. A program from an event you planned or in which you participated as part of a class project or campus organization. Be sure to take only partial credit for group efforts.

7. A list of conferences and workshops you have attended and a description of each.

8. Some samples of your writing that you are proud of. If any of the samples are unpublished college papers, remove any remarks from the professors.

9. Documentation of technical or computer skills that would be of benefit to employers.

10. Letters of commendation or thanks from previous employers, campus organization advisors, or leaders of volunteer projects in which you have been involved.

11. Letters of nomination for honors and academic organizations.

12. Newspaper articles that address your achievements.

13. Summary reports of internships and other professional experiences.

If you are seeking a teaching position you might want to add

1. Teaching evaluations.

2. Sample lesson plans.

3. A videotape of your teaching.

4. Sample syllabi.

5. Pictures of bulletin boards you designed.

6. Teaching tools you have created.

7. Information about a field trip or other event you organized.

8. Pictures of yourself working with students.

Always take your portfolio with you to employment interviews. When an employer begins to ask questions about your resume, you can use your portfolio to support your responses.

For example, the employer might say, "I need someone flexible. Can you describe a situation in which you have had to adapt quickly to a new environment?" You might reply with a concise description of the rigors and adaptability required in doing field work, illustrating your comments with sample field notes and photographs of one of your field experiences.

Make a habit of regularly updating and adding information to your portfolio. To help you remember to put things in your portfolio, you should keep an achievement diary. Every day (or at least once a week), make notes in your diary about projects or ideas you have worked on since the last diary entry. Save copies of materials you have written as well as notes about decisions you have made that had positive results. Include anything you think might help you in a future job search.

If you have suggestions for future columns, please contact me at Career Services, Lucina Hall, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47306 (tel: 765/285-2430; fax: 765/285-3757; e-mail: 00jpgoodwin@bsuvc.bsu.edu).

(This column is based on materials prepared by the staff of Career Services at Ball State University.)

Joseph P. Goodwin Ball State University