You may want to keep more than one copy of your résumé in your portfolio, in case a potential employer wants one.
Include people skills, such as the ability to negotiate, lead, or communicate well. You can include references or examples in your portfolio to back these skills up. Feel free to include self-taught skills. In your portfolio, you have room to provide samples that show you know how to do something even if you don’t have a formal certification for it.
If you’re including transcripts, scan it so you can make multiple copies. You may be applying for different jobs for which you would highlight different courses.
Former employers are good sources for recommendations, provided you left on good terms and had a good relationship with your boss or supervisor. Ask for letters of recommendation from someone who supervised you directly and observed your work. Professors or instructors are good sources for recommendations as well, particularly if they taught a course that is relevant to your career. For example, if you’re looking for work as a web designer, you might get a recommendation from the instructor of your front-end development class. You also shouldn’t overlook community leaders or political figures, provided they know you personally and have some experience working with you or observing your work ethic.
You can create examples of your work just for your portfolio, but don’t go overboard. Potential employers will be more impressed by something you created for a former employer or in a class, where you were under time constraints and your work was evaluated by a supervisor or instructor. With your work samples, include any feedback you got from them. For example, you might include the fact that you got an “A” on the project for a class, or that your supervisor recommended you for a promotion after you finished the project.
For example, if your rugby team won the state championship, by all means include that in your portfolio. Athletic honors and community leadership awards definitely have a place in your portfolio. Generally, leave out honors that are political or religious in nature, unless you’re interviewing for a job with a political or religious organization where they would be relevant.
Your portfolio can include anything portable. Larger documents can also be folded to fit in the confines of your binder. If you are in the technology field, you can create a CD of your work to include in your portfolio.
For example, if you have a career in tech and have included a CD, you can get CD holders that fit in 3-ring binders to easily secure your work. You can find the supplies you need online, at office supply stores, and even at discount stores. Generally, you’ll find everything you need anywhere office or school supplies are sold.
You can buy sets of tabs with a built-in table of contents page that coordinates the name of each section to the tab behind which that section falls.
For example, most interviewers start off the interview with a question along the lines of “Tell me a little about yourself. " Make this question easy by making “About Me” the first section in your portfolio. Include your résumé, information about hobbies and interests, and personal skills such as languages you speak. You can also include reference letters in this section, or you can create another section for them. You may also have separate sections for education, employment, and leadership or community involvement.
Colored tabs with a table of contents typically don’t have anything written on the tab itself. Instead, you’ll use the table of contents to navigate through the sections. You may also have tabs with inserts where you would write the title of each section. If you use this type of tab, pick a set where you can type the names of the sections on a computer and feed the inserts through a printer. These sets have instructions for formatting your word processing app to print the tabs correctly.
Your portfolio should present your best image. A glaring error on any page of your portfolio sends the wrong message to potential employers, and all your hard work may backfire.
Be prepared to leave your portfolio behind if the interviewer wants some time to look it over after the interview. Don’t bring your master or only one copy of your documents.
Letters of recommendation are a good place to customize. For example, if you have a job interview scheduled and you know the interviewer is an alumni of your university, you might include letters from professors more prominently. When targeting work samples, include only samples of work similar to what you would probably be doing if you were hired by that company. For example, if you’re interviewing for a job as a graphic designer, the interviewer likely won’t be interested in the short story you wrote for your English class – even if it was published or won an award. It has nothing to do with your skills as a graphic designer.
Looking back at your career in a nutshell like this can help you identify gaps in your training or areas where you might need continuing education to stay up-to-date with recent trends in the field. You may also notice the development of new skills that may open doors to new opportunities you wouldn’t have considered before.
You might also consider putting your portfolio on a website. You can include a link to the website on your résumé. This could be especially helpful if you’re in tech or media.
