Students are discovering that portfolios offer a better way to demonstrate their work experience that adds value to the learning experience of their schooling. A portfolio is not a resume. A portfolio may contain a resume. A portfolio may be large or small, a few pages to 20 or more. A portfolio may contain colorful graphics.
Most people use the portfolio in interviews.
They do not send them out unannounced. A portfolio is a visual representation of your abilities, skills, capabilities, knowledge, qualities - it represents your potential. In the same way that archaeology reconstructs a civilization from artifacts, a portfolio reconstructs your work life from artifacts. In both cases, the artifacts are fragments that represent pieces of the whole. Work products you've made on the job.