Portfolio Development
Portfolio Development
A portfolio is a curated collection of different documents, images, projects, etc... that best communicate your abilities, achievements, skills, and other elements of yourself. Most often, a portfolio is used in an interview or pitch to demonstrate your abilities, style, or previous experiences to an interviewer or company. What's unique about a portfolio, is that it not only tells a company why you're the right person for the job, but it also gives visual proof of why you are.
Portfolios are most commonly used within the artistic fields (art, photography, design, writing, etc...), however, more recently teachers and other occupations have been asked to provide a curation of previous work (lesson plans, etc...) which demonstrates their abilities.
Portfolios can be created using different mediums; both paper-based as well as online or digital portfolios are acceptable depending on the company's request.
What do I put in a Portfolio?
The contents of a portfolio generally fall into two different categories; curated samples of your own personal, or collaborated work, and documents from other individuals which speak to your abilities. These may include the following:
- Reference Letters
- Copies of previous performance reviews
- Academic transcripts
- Certificates
- Published articles
- Examples of your work
- Team photographs
It is recommended that you have a larger, more comprehensive portfolio containing all of your documents, and then use that master copy to create smaller portfolios more suited for the specific position or job you are attempting to get.