Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Planning a career change? Thinking about a career portfolio?


For years, creative professionals such as architects, designers, artists and writers have used career portfolios, also known as the job search portfolio or "the book", to communicate their skills. These portfolios with being used to display the previous work, whether done for employment or for leisure and special projects. In the competitive job market, based on modern knowledge, other professionals are discovering the value of a well put together career portfolio.

If well thought out, the Act of putting together a portfolio career help candidates from any industry reflect on their skills and create a focus on work for future employment. Can help employees develop a marketing tool that is strategically placed to influence the selection of a potential employer. These career portfolios can also help existing employees or employees with career transitions or get promoted by identifying transferable skills. Not just the portfolio works well as a marketing tool, also serves as a reservoir of professional highlights.

Career coaches and professional consultants are increasingly recommending the career portfolio as a job search tool to help candidates stand out from the competition in a competitive job market. Of course after you have made the decision to go ahead with your career portfolio the next big decision is about what to include. In short, for your first step-include everything you can find about your track record as a competent professional. Over time you may choose to retire obsolete items from your career portfolio or you can also choose to create one on the line.

What to include in your wallet?

The overall aim of the portfolio is to provide support for the information included in your resume. In other words, don't just talk about what you did; You can also show what you have done. To do this effectively, the career portfolio should be conveniently designed for travel and material shall be easy to retrieve and attractively displayed. In the selection of items for your portfolio, make sure that the item has a clear purpose is tailored to suit the audience. Also, remember that the Visual presentation will reflect your professional standards so categories should be clearly defined and with special attention paid to the fundamentals such as font and layout.

Some of the key elements to include in a portfolio of effective career might include:

1. Current resume that includes details about education, jobs and functions performed. You can choose to use a chronological or functional resume.

2. Prizes, honors, degrees, diplomas, transcripts unofficial or any other document that verifies education or an overtime that might have been recognized.

3. cards, licenses, training or technical certifications or any other documents that support your qualifications is a great resource for a portfolio career.

4. letters of recommendation, performance reviews, evaluations of employment, "job well done" email or letters and surveys of customer satisfaction are all perfect examples that will showcase work ethic or express other opinions about your work.

5. work samples and research output to demonstrate specific skills for the job for which they apply.

6. Publications, reports and documents of the specimen or presented are always a good add for your career portfolio as well.

7. the various tests and completed projects may include event programs and photos of events that helped to plan and coordinate.

Now that you know what to include in the portfolio, the following are some general tips to keep in mind to complete and submit your portfolio:

1. make copies of articles for use in your wallet-do not use originals. Heaven forbid that your wallet gets lost or ruined. Replacing the original work of your life will not be easy.

2. When viewing or showing your career portfolio-be sure to keep it so the viewer can see clearly. You know already what is there, so I do not hold directly in front of you. It's a good idea to practice your portfolio to share with friends, colleagues or professional career and look for content that fall as you open and view.

3. Explain the elements of the portfolio to talk about "why" or the "back story" behind your work. Be sure to insert these elements not only in historical context of what you have done, but in the context of what you can and will do for this new potential employer.

4. If you choose to create your online portfolio in the first, a medium-sized binder and sheet protectors as an easy way to start using.

5. remove, reorder or move materials such as lose their relevancy or changes of interest. Even if your career portfolio is cataloguing of your past, it is also important for your future.

For more information about assembling a portfolio career check out the following books:

Creating your career portfolio: at a glance guide, 2nd Edition by Anna Graf Willams and Karen j. Hall

Workbook portfolio career from Frank and Gary D Satterthwaite Bears




marcia Robinson trains on management issues, workplace, employment and human resources career and writes. She publishes to BullsEyeResumes.com and TheHBCUCareerCenter.com. Robinson has a BS in human resources and management and a Master's degree in Business Administration.
TheHBCUCareerCenter
BullseyeResumes




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