How to Develop a Communications Portfolio
The Rochester Institute of Technology Communications Department calls the portfolio a "billboard for your abilities, skills, and knowledge." A winning portfolio, whether it is a traditional paper-and-ink compilation or an electronic multimedia presentation, showcases samples of your best writing or design work and other professional materials. It is crafted to answer to the specific job requirements and to appeal to the aesthetic sensibilities of prospective employers. Dr. Karen Miller Russell of the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Communication stresses that the portfolio's neatness, accuracy and relevance are far more important than the cost of the constituent materials and quantity of content.
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Things You'll Need
- Three-ring binder with transparent cover or a large artist's portfolio
- Plastic sheet sleeves
- Page dividers with tabs
Instructions
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Selecting and Organizing Content
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Review the skills, abilities and experience the prospective employer requires. Use your career goals as a guide if you are compiling a portfolio in preparation to begin a job search.
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Gather relevant documentation showing your formal qualifications for the position you are seeking, such as diplomas, transcripts, test scores, course completion certificates, etc.
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Gather samples of your finest work and items that reflect your experience and accomplishments in the selected tasks or techniques.
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Write brief descriptions of projects in which you have participated, describing how you utilized these skills. Include narrative that illustrates examples of personal qualities that you brought to bear on projects, such as problem-solving abilities and interpersonal skills.
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Collect items that show the progress of projects. For example, in addition to copies of finished work, include drafts of articles, storyboards, checklists, planning memos, etc. in your portfolio.
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Organize the material so that you can retrieve specific items at appropriate moments during interviews. Title each section with a descriptive word or phrase to be used for marking the divider sheet tabs. Dr. Russell suggests batching the portfolio material by event or theme. Get to Work's approach is to sort information under the headings "Basic Skills," "Thinking Skills," "Personal Qualities" and "Experience."
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Write a brief summary of each portfolio item.
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Choose a suitable overall presentation style, including font and page layout, for prospective employers. For example, if the prospective employer is a financial institution, conservative designs and subdued colors are best.
Assembly
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Create tabs or labels for each section of the portfolio.
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Insert documents into plastic sleeves and place them in a three-ring binder or large artist's portfolio in the appropriate sections. Place the pertinent descriptive summary sheet in front of each item.
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Place your resume and cover letter in the front of the portfolio.
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Create a table of contents showing the items contained in each section. Insert it into the front of the portfolio.
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Design a cover for the portfolio. Insert the cover into the plastic pocket on the front of the binder.
Review Your Work
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Proofread text to ensure error-free copy. Ask at least one friend, colleague or fellow student to proof the text.
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Review the entire portfolio for uniformity of appearance to ensure that the same font was used for headings and text and that the page layout style is consistent throughout. If the portfolio is electronic, view the content on at least one computer in addition to the one that you used for creating and compiling the content to ensure uniformity of appearance.
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Request at least one qualified professional to review your completed portfolio and give you feedback on its relevance and quality.
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Tips & Warnings
Include a wide sampling of content in the portfolio that represents work in various media and work prepared for presentation to different audiences (demographics).
The portfolio should contain copies of your work, not original documents.
If yours is an electronic portfolio, be sure to include its address or include a copy of the disc with any text documents, such as resumes and cover letters that you submit to prospective employers.
If you are planning to create an electronic portfolio, create a paper portfolio first.
Exercise caution in including your personal information, such as residence addresses, phone numbers, etc. in online portfolios. Review the material that you post to ensure that personal information for project team members, fellow students and other associates has been deleted.
References
Resources
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