A portfolio can be made of physical content and photographs, or it can be completely digital for everyone's access. Online portfolios are becoming more and more common, and it's a great way for you to network and find potential employers!
According to the career center, a portfolio is "a living and changing collection of records that reflect your accomplishments, skills, experiences and attributes." Your portfolio should be made to highlight your work, make note of your achievements, as well as showcase your personality.
Why do you need a portfolio?Building your own portfolio doesn't have to be hard and scary--and honestly, you don't even have to be very technologically inclined. But, trust me, you need one! Here's why:
- It gives you the opportunity to be more personal and creative which can help you stand out above the crowd.
- It will allow you to discover yourself and become more confident in your work, not to mention the opportunity to discover others.
- It is a bigger and better way to make your resume stand out because it allows for personality and interactivity.
- It provides tangible proof during interviews of your skills and abilities that demonstrate to the employer how qualified you actually are.
There are loads of amazing resources to assist you in building an online portfolio. Have you ever heard of IT Training? They're located at Indiana University in Bloomington and IUPUI, but offer courses all over including online and on campus. If you're interested in creating an online portfolio and want to learn a little about Photoshop, HTML, Illustrator, etc. then consider signing up for one of their workshops!
IT Training can help you create all forms of a portfolio--a student portfolio, a project portfolio or a professional portfolio. But not matter what, you need to start somewhere. Some good sites to check out could be blogger, WordPress, wix or squarespace. Give it a shot, and let me know what you come up with!
What to include in your portfolio?Lastly, you need to know what to include in your portfolio. Imagine your resume except expanded. Each project you worked on can include its own images, descriptions, reports and outcomes. All of the basic things that you include in your resume can be included in your portfolio like: work samples, descriptions of achievements and records of your accomplishments. However, with a portfolio you can dig deeper and include things like:
- written reports
- video/audio clips
- supervisor and peer evaluations
- diagrams and pictures
- websites
- graphics and artwork
- presentations
- reflective journal entries
- pieces of programming code
- lesson plans
- and the list goes on and on!
Whatever you do, make your portfolio unique to you. This online record of your work and achievements is a great way to get noticed for a job or internship, and the best person you can be is yourself. If you want to read more about making your resume shine check out one of my last posts. Also, remember that IU offers a lot of great resources for online help and training!
