Creating Your Career Portfolio: At a Glance Guide for Students (3rd Edition)
PREFACEIf you're looking to find the right job, stand out among the competition, prove yourself, and feel confident in the interview process, you are ready to create your career portfolio.Stand Out — With the help of this book you are going to create a Career Portfolio, a track record of your education and work experiences that you can take with you to a job interview. The portfolio is a zippered, 3-ring binder containing information about your beliefs, experiences, and education. It will contain samples of your work, either in a classroom setting or on the job. The portfolio may also include a list of your skills and abilities. With a portfolio in hand, you can walk into an interview and be able to show the interviewer samples of your work, pictures of projects or community involvement, certificates you've earned, and memberships you have held. Your portfolio will be customized to you, so it will set you apart from everyone else.Interview with Confidence — A portfolio also lets you walk into an interview with more confidence, because while putting it together you'll be examining your goals, writing down your beliefs about work and your career, documenting your strengths and identifying your weaknesses. By the time you have put together your first career portfolio you should be able to handle those hard interview questions like "Tell me about yourself," "What are your goals for the future?," or "What do you bring to the table for us?"Start Out Ahead — Portfolios can do more than boost your confidence in an interview. They can also help you get ahead in the marketplace. A well-crafted portfolio shows employers that you have the skills and abilities they are looking for. We have seen people with portfolios obtain higher starting salaries because they could prove their skills to an employer.Track Your Career — Once you have the job, your portfolio doesn't go into a closet until you're looking for another job. Your portfolio changes as you begin to collect and document your work on the job. Then your portfolio serves as proof of your abilities on the job and can be used to track job performance and help position you for advancement.Creating Your Career Portfolio — At a Glance Guide for Students, 2nd Edition, gives you guidelines for creating your career portfolio. In this book you'll find:a list of supplies you need to begin general guidelines for organizing your portfolio detailed discussions of information to be included in different sections pointers on using the portfolio In an interview or job review a style guide—containing tips for creating better looking text, photographs and videos, as well as other Ideas for making the production side of the portfolio process run smoothly   OrganizationThis book is divided into six sections:OverviewChapter 1: The Portfolio Process—An overview of the whole process of portfolio development.Planning and Collecting MaterialsChapter 2: Planning Your Portfolio—Tools to help you develop your work philosophy and career goals. Chapter 3: The Resume: An Overview of Your Portfolio—A look at different types of resumes, both paper and electronic. Chapter 4: Proving Your Skills—How to collect, select, and assemble your work samples and community service items. Chapter 5: Your Commitment to Personal Growth—Using the portfolio to track memberships, certifications, and the achievement of your goals.Putting the Portfolio TogetherChapter 6: The Assembly—Putting it all together; producing the portfolio. Chapter 7: The Electronic Portfolio—Creating a digital version of your portfolio for the Internet or distribution on CD. How to Use the Completed PortfolioChapter 8: The Portfolio in Action... Getting the Job—"Now that 1 have it, what do I do with it?" Using the portfolio in an interview or to get an internship or co-op experience.Making the Portfolio Look GoodChapter 9: A Matter of Style—Production tips focusing on making your documents, pictures, and videos look their best.Quick Reference MaterialsChapter 10: Resource Guide—Additional resources to make your career portfolio a success, including:Supply list with product numbers Emergency assembly instructions List of action verbs for use in resumes Portfolio samples Listing of templates included on disketteWe've tried to make this At a Glance Guide live up to its name. If you like to read books straight through from the beginning, you'll find this book organized in a logical way. If you don't like to read a guide until you need help with a particular step, you're in luck. You don't have to read this book from cover to cover to find helpful information. You'll find an overview to the process in this chapter. Along the way you'll see bright ideas, samples, "Ask the Expert" questions and stories to help you make the most of the career portfolio process.When you are ready to work on a particular portion of the portfolio, look up the specific section in Chapters 2-5 for more information. For assistance on developing good looking work samples and documents, refer to Chapter 9—A Matter of Style. When you're ready to put your portfolio together, turn to Chapter 6—The Assembly, or Chapter 7—The Electronic Portfolio. Before you go to your interview or job review, re-read Chapter 8—The Portfolio in Action...Regardless of how you use this book, you'll find it filled with examples, tips, and ideas that will make the portfolio process truly rewarding.If you have any questions or we can be of assistance, please feel free to contact us via mail or email.Anna Graf Williams, Ph.D., 8. Karen J. HallLearnovation® LLC10831 Thistle RidgeFishers, IN 46038-2254317-577-1190 / Fax: 317598-0816E-mail: portfolio@learnovationWe wish you the best of luck and success in creating your portfolio and developing your career!--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.