Portfolios
Show them what you’ve got
© 2008
Marrietta Reber
Overview - Portfolio
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About Portfolios
Building Your Portfolio
Presenting Your Portfolio
Maintaining Your Portfolio
About Portfolios –
What Is a Portfolio
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A collection of your best work
Organized and annotated for presentation
Used to showcase your writing and other skills to
potential employers
About Portfolios –
Types of Portfolios
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Hardcopy portfolio
Digital/Online portfolio
About Portfolios –
Hardcopy Portfolio
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An attractively packaged collection of printed
writing samples
 3-ring
presentation binder
 Leather attaché case
 Leather portfolio case
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Printed on heavy, high-quality paper
About Portfolios –
Advantages of Hardcopy Portfolios
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Portable – easily carried to interviews
Tangible – a physical representation of your
work
Traditional – expected by potential employers
About Portfolios –
Disadvantages of Hardcopy Portfolios
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Individuals in remote locations can not browse
through it
About Portfolios –
Digital/Online Portfolio
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A non-traditional, web-based format
Easily copied to CD
Ideal for free-lance writers
About Portfolios –
Advantages of Online Portfolios
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Convenient for a potential employer to view prior
to or after an interview
Showcases your website development skills
Capacity for more writing and other samples
than a hardcopy portfolio
About Portfolios –
Disadvantages of Online Portfolios
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You may not have digital copies of some of your
best work to include
You are not there to provide context
You must be conscious of the potential impact of
other information available on your website
besides the portfolio
Once your documents are publicly available, you
lose control over them
Overview - Portfolio
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About Portfolios
Building Your Portfolio
Presenting Your Portfolio
Maintaining Your Portfolio
Building Your Portfolio –
Portfolio Supplies
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3-ring presentation binder or leather case
Dividers and labels
Page protectors
Pockets
High-quality paper (at least 28 lb.)
Business cards
Building Your Portfolio –
Portfolio Contents
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Cover Sheet
Table of Contents
Resume
Writing Samples
Extra copies of resume
Personal business cards
Extra copies of 1 or 2 writing samples
Building Your Portfolio –
Selecting Writing Samples
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Choose your best quality pieces only
Tailor your portfolio to the job
Include a variety of document types
Building Your Portfolio –
Handling Long Samples
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You don’t have to include the entire document
Limit the sample to just a few of the best pages
Overview - Portfolio
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About Portfolios
Building Your Portfolio
Presenting Your Portfolio
Maintaining Your Portfolio
Presenting Your Portfolio –
Planning Your Presentation
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Review your portfolio and decide which samples
to highlight during your interview
Prepare some presentation comments
Rehearse with a partner
Presenting Your Portfolio –
At the Interview
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Don’t just hand the portfolio to the interviewer
and let them flip through it
Walk the interviewer through your portfolio
Point out specific items in your portfolio to show
you have skills of interest to the interviewer
Presenting Your Portfolio –
Don’t Leave Your Portfolio Behind
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Your portfolio might get lost or damaged
Pages might be removed
Be prepared with alternatives
 Hand
them copies of one or two samples
 Hand them a CD containing your online portfolio
 Give them the URL for your online portfolio
Overview - Portfolio
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About Portfolios
Building Your Portfolio
Presenting Your Portfolio
Maintaining Your Portfolio
Maintaining your Portfolio –
Updating Your Portfolio
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Keep your portfolio fresh by adding up-to-date
writing samples
Whenever possible, retain copies of your best
on-the-job work
Obtain permission to include on-the-job writing
samples in your portfolio
Do not include documents that contain
proprietary or confidential information
Maintaining your Portfolio –
Expanding Your Portfolio
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You may need to write additional pieces to fill out
your first portfolio or to target your portfolio to a
new industry
Consider writing
 Manuals
for open source software
 Instructions for operating a TiVo, a digital camera, an
iPod, or other gadgets
 Articles related to your field of interest