In my last post, I talked about why portfolios are one of your best tools to win career opportunities. The next part in this “portfolio series” covers how to make your portfolio remarkable. So, how can you build a portfolio that makes employers say, “Wow!”?

1. Always tailor your portfolio to your audience. If you’re applying for two different jobs, make sure you’ve optimally organized and displayed your portfolio for each job opening. Tailoring your self-promotional materials is vitally important. A single version of your portfolio may not work for multiple different job openings. So make it specific to each new opportunity. Employers will immediately notice if something in your portfolio doesn’t apply to their job opening, and will conclude that you don’t care much about getting that position. Make their lives easier in choosing you for the opening. This small amount of work upfront will pay huge dividends later.


2. Focus on specific skills you want to sell. Make sure your portfolio material is focused and includes relevant examples. If you’re trying to get a job as an accountant, don’t include your homemade music videos. Always ask yourself: Will this item help the person making hiring decisions choose me for this specific job? If it won’t, don’t include it. Viewing your portfolio should make it crystal clear to employers what you can do for them.
3. Make sure it’s well-organized. Your portfolio isn’t just a collection of things you’ve done. It’s a representation of you as a person. It’s also a chance to show off strong communication skills. Employers will make all kinds of assumptions about you based on your portfolio. So make sure it’s attractive, clean, logically laid out, and contains no mistakes.
4. Go through it with friends and family. Walk your friends and family through your portfolio. Having fresh pairs of eyes look over your material will inevitably catch a few mistakes that flew under your radar. As you show them, pretend that they’re interviewing you. Practice talking about each item until you can confidently, clearly and concisely hit every important point for each piece. You will feel 100 times more comfortable during the real interview, and present yourself much effectively when the time comes.
5. Provide a one paragraph text description of each included item. Assume that potential employers know nothing about you or your work. It’s very helpful for those in hiring positions to have a brief bit of background on each of your pieces. Why did you do it? How did you do it? Who did you do it for? Why does it exemplify the kind of work you do? Sell your skills here!
6. Put it online. Potential employers are going to Google you as a pre-screen, even before they call you in for an interview. If you don’t pass their web search pre-screen, you will miss opportunities that could lead to a fulfilling, rewarding career. Just think of your potential employers’ faces when they expect to find dirt on you, and end up at your professional web portfolio. That’s why personal branding online is so powerful – it builds visibility and credibility on the web, winning you opportunities that will positively impact you for the rest of your life. To start building your own web portfolio today, sign up for a free Brand-Yourself account. (We’re not just a blog!) Along with your own web space, you’ll get the tools and resources you need to create a compelling online representation of yourself and your skills, including easy file uploads so you can showcase your work. Just head over to our sign-up page now to get started building your online portfolio.
7. Constantly add to it. A portfolio, like a resume, is a living, breathing document. It grows with you. Constantly ask yourself if the projects you’re working on would be good candidates for your portfolio. If you can turn a regular school project into a superb exemplification of your skills, then go the extra mile in that class and use the project in your career portfolio.

Remember: to potential employers, you ARE your projects. Always ask yourself if your current school projects will leave you something you can use in your portfolio. If they don’t, talk to your professor about molding it into something you’ll be proud to show employers.

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My last post described why portfolios are one of your best tools in winning you career opportunities. Now it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get to work: what exactly do you put in your portfolio? Keep an eye out below for items you can collect now, or start collecting in the future.

1. Demonstrate Your Education and Training

1. Brochures describing training events, retreats, workshops, clinics, lecture series
2. Certificate of mastery or completion
3. Charts or lists showing hours or time completed in various areas of study
4. Evidence of participation in vocational competitions
5. Grants, loans, scholarships secured for schooling
6. Licenses
7. Lists of competencies mastered
8. Samples from classes (papers, projects, reports, displays, video or computer samples)
9. Samples from personal studies (notes, binders, products)
10. Syllabi or course descriptions for classes and workshops
11. Standardized or formalized tests
12. Teacher evaluations
13. Transcripts, report cards

2. Demonstrate Your Work Performance

1. Community service projects
2. Descriptive material about the organization (annual report, brochure, newsletters, articles)
3. Job descriptions
4. Logs, list or charts showing general effort (phone calls received, extra hours worked, overtime, volume of e-mail, case load, transactions completed, sales volumes)
5. Military records, awards, badges
6. Employer evaluations or reviews
7. Examples of problem solving
8. Attendance records
9. Letters of reference
10. Organization charts showing personnel, procedures, or resources
11. Products showing your leadership qualities (mission statements, agendas, networks)
12. Records showing how your students, clients, or patients did after receiving your services (evidence showing your impact on the lives and performance of other such as test scores, performance improvement data, or employment and promotion)
13. Resumes
14. Samples from (or lists showing) participation in professional organizations, committees, work teams.
15. Surveys showing satisfaction by customers, clients, students, patients, etc.
16. Invitations to share your expertise (letters or agreements asking you to train, mentor, or counsel others, invitations to present at conferences or professional gatherings)
17. Documentation of experience as a consultant. (thank-you letters, products, proposals)

3. Demonstrate Your Data Skills

1. Communication pieces (memos, reports, or documents, a public service announcement.
2. Writing abilities as demonstrated in actual samples of your writing (articles, proposals, scripts, training materials)
3. Evidence of public speaking (membership in Toastmasters, photograph of you at podium, speech outline, brochure for your presentation, speaker’s badge or brochure, blurb from the conference.) Also posters, photos, reviews of actual performances (dance, drama, music, story telling)
4. Data (graphs, charts, tables you helped to produce, testing results)
5. Display or Performance materials (actual objects, or illustrations, or posters from displays)
6. Computer related (data base designed, desktop publishing documents, samples from using the Internet, computer video screen pictures or manuals covers illustrating programs you use)
7. Formal and technical documents as in grant or loan applications (include proposal cover sheet or award letter), technical manual

4. Demonstrate Your People Skills

1. People and leadership skills (projects or committees you share, projects you initiated, photos of you with important people, mentoring programs, proposals, documents or strategies related to negotiation)
2. Planning Samples (summary of steps, instruments used such as surveys or focus groups)
3. Problem solving illustrated with various artifacts. Use figures or pictures showing improvements in products, services, profits, safety, quality, or time. Include forms and other paper products used to solve problems
4. Employee training packets, interview sheets, motivational activities

5. Demonstrate Yours Tools Skills

1. Any artifact which shows technical skills, equipment, or specialized procedures used in your work:
2. Paper documents or replicas of actual items including: forms, charts, print outs (such as medical chart, financial statement or budgets, reports, emergency preparedness plan, marketing plan, customer satisfaction plan, inspection or evaluation sheet, financial or budget plans, spreadsheets, charts, official documents)
3. Performance records (keyboard timing scores, safety records, phone logs, complaint logs, pay stub with hours worked highlighted, any record showing volume, amount, total time, response time, turn-around time, dollars or sales figures, size of customer database, organization chart showing people supervised)
4. Technical directions, manuals, procedure sheets for specialized work, use of equipment, and detailed processes. This could include: sample pages from manuals, illustrations, technical drawings, blueprints or schematics, photos from the workplace, schematics or directions for tools or equipment, operation or procedure sheet
5. Photos, video, slide show, or multi-media presentation showing process or equipment.
6. Actual items which can be handled in various ways: displayed in person one at a time or part of a display you set up

If you haven’t already, bookmark this page or copy and paste the items above for your reference. These items will guide your portfolio-building efforts for years to come.

Special thanks to The Career Centre @ Western for this list.

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