What exactly is a portfolio and why should I have one?
When we think of portfolios and who uses them, we think of people in fine arts, designers, performing arts, models, photographers and education professions. However, all types of job-seekers can make use of a portfolio. When a client asks me whether I think they should make use of a portfolio I almost always say “yes”. They can be effective in any field. Think of a portfolio as a very handy tool in the job hunting process and a constantly evolving record that, if kept current, will continue to be of assistance as you progress along your career path.
A complete, well thought out and structured portfolio has numerous advantages. For one, it is a strong persuasive tool in the interview process to visually demonstrate evidence of your skills and abilities to an employer. Another advantage is that all your career related documents can be found neatly in one spot. This is very handy when you want to add that letter of recommendation or new certificate, and easy to refer to if you need to access any career documentation you might need.
Your biggest time commitment will be the initial development of your portfolio, but once you’ve developed it, keeping it current and up-to-date will be fairly easy.
Having a portfolio means you can back up what you are saying in a job interview with evidence. For example, when talking about your exemplary communication skills you can back your words up with actual samples that demonstrate your writing ability. Projects you have worked on such as workshops, PowerPoint presentations and articles for the company newsletter can all be included in a portfolio.
An important point to remember is that the portfolio is a tool. It is used in job interviews to back up or illustrate a point, not to simply hand over to the interviewer(s) to have them flip through.
And so how do I start my portfolio?
A black professional three-ring binder (zipper closure optional) is a safe option. Make sure it looks professional as it will be coming with you to your job interviews. A table of contents is important and an orderly system which identifies the various sections, (e.g. mission statement, education, professional development), using tabs or dividers.
Gather and assemble all your materials that you want to include in your portfolio. Wondering what to include? Think about documents that showcase your education and work experience by showing examples and evidence of your work, skills, education and accomplishments.
Ideas of pieces to include are:
your branding/mission statement which sheds light on the guiding principles that drive you and give you purpose, your work ethic, organizational interests, management philosophy, etc. and listing goals can be included (ie: where you see yourself in five years time)
your skills, qualifications and abilities, including a list of accomplishments highlighting your achievements in your career to date, samples of your work (e.g. Powerpoint presentations, reports, workshops you’ve developed, reports, publications, brochures, news clippings etc)
testimonials, letters of recommendations and thank you notes from clients, colleagues and supervisors are always nice to include; some people even include favourable job reviews/evaluations
photocopies of awards, licenses, certificates, degrees and scholarships
any professional development activities; for example, provide a listing of professional associations and conferences attended and any other professional activities
information about volunteer jobs and community service activities, especially those that relate directly to your career, can be included
a copy of your current resume plus a scannable/text-based resumein case one is required (I would put the scannable resume in the portfolio’s pocket if it has one)
a reference list should also be included with the names of 3 to 5 people (including their full names, titles, addresses, and phone/email) who are willing to speak about your strengths, abilities, and experience; at least one reference should be a former manager
Besides the traditional portfolio, you should also consider developing an online web-based portfolio. Make sure your online presence/branding corresponds to your resume and your portfolio. The information should be similar online (ie: LinkedIn and any website you use for a portfolio) and back up what is in your resume.
The career portfolio is a great job hunting tool that sets you apart from other candidates, and if prepared correctly, it may help land you the job!
A job search at any time can be a stressful experience. It seems like people have been looking for work since prehistoric times:
One positive note is that these days there is a vast amount of information on the Internet that can help you with pretty much any part of your job search. There are sites dedicated to jobs, of course, but you can also find ones that cover resumes, interview questions, networking sites, and self marketing. With so much out there the issue is finding the ones that can help you land the job that you seek. Hopefully this post will help you in that search.
In my current role as a Job Developer I have come across some sites that are not your standard ‘cookie cutter’ type of site. They offer something original, out of the ordinary, inspiring or a service free of charge (to a point, then you pay).
Check out these sites for some great advice, assistance and inspiration:
Environmental Job Board
Work Cabin is a great Canadian site for environmental jobs that also has a forum to ask questions, participate in discussions and help others with your expertise.
I stumbled onto Mark Williams, AKA Mr LinkedIn, when LinkedIn made unannounced changes to messaging, back in March 2011. He was one of the first people to get confirmation about what had happened and kept updating the situation on his site. Here are Mr LinkedIn YouTube clips of Mark giving tips for using LinkedIn.
I found Linked Into Business when looking for some new LinkedIn tricks. Viveka von Rosen offers 20 great tips and tricks, and has an ongoing blog that covers LinkedIn. It’s a great read and provides some unique approaches to making LinkedIn work for you.
Job Search Tools
The Resume Webinar offers a free webinar that gives some unique ideas to get your resume noticed. Phil Rosenberg offers his insight on marketing your resume in today’s market. There is a sales pitch at the end of the webinar for those that would like extra assistance. I found the free webinar more than adequate and full of great tips.
Ever hear of a word cloud? Wordle is a free site that allows you to cut and paste a job description into the program. It produces a word cloud image with the key words ranked in size by the number of times mentioned in the posting. This is a great way to help target your resume to the posting and make sure you have the key words in your resume. (Thanks the Greig Wells for this one)
Zale Tabakman has a great site loaded with information covering all aspects of the job search. He also has links to some other great sources of information. One of my favourite set of articles was concerning Wheeler Words. The articles are based on the exploits and words of Elmer Wheeler, a great salesman from the 1930’s to 1950’s. His views are still utilized today in marketing and can be applied to job search, as well.
Sales and Marketing Tools
There are times during your job search when you really have to sell yourself. What better way to learn some techniques then from sales people. B2B Business Connections have an excellent resource area with sales related material. Although it is geared to people in this industry there are some great white pages and exercises that would benefit a job seeker.
Your Sales Playbook is another site geared towards people in the sales industry, but it is so much more than that. Paul Castain offers a blog that makes you really think about yourself and others. He offers sage advice from someone who has been in the field for a while and is still active in sales . Paul has ‘been there, done that and bought the shirt’. I have found many of his blogs to very inspirational and witty. What do you expect from a guy that calls himself “The Vice President of Jedi Mastery”?
In Closing
As I mentioned earlier there are probably thousands (maybe more) of sites that offer job search advice. Some charge a fee, others offer a taste and the rest are free. Some are of a quality that surpasses others and I have listed some of them today. You can easily find several sites that give you a myriad of ways to write your resume. It isn’t always obvious which one is right and which is wrong.
My advice is to take away the details that work for you from any site you visit. It is your choice what you do with the information and if you want to pay for further service. I always take what I find with a grain of salt and base my decision/approach on a combination of advice, experience and intuition. After all, it is your job search and you should be the one in the driver’s seat. But it is nice if someone contributes to the gas once in a while to help you get to your destination.
Kate Parkinson
Chris Blake
Jackie Gilhooley
Janelle Watkins
Joanna Samuels
JVS Career Voice blog Administrator
Karin Lewis
Tessa Shillingford
