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Events

PORTFOLIO RECOMMENDATIONS

Chithra Chattanathan
Jyothi Reddy Gopu
May 12, 2003

During the Spring 2003 semester, Chithra Chattanathan and Jyothi Reddy Gopu studied the creation of a portfolio of your academic and practical work to help you get a good job.  People in the arts prepare portfolios. Why not IT folks? Here is their report.  -- Dr. Corliss

A portfolio is a purposeful, collaborative, and self-reflective collection of your academic and practical work.  It is systematic and organized. It demonstrates to a prospective employer your development, achievements, and progress over time.

Your portfolio is a window on your learning, enabling employers to see a rich and complex view of your accomplishments, supported by samples of your work. Your portfolio is an effective device for communicating your skills. Reference www.iloveteaching.com/tchweb/portfolio/def.htm

A portfolio should be a proof to demonstrate your skills, evidence at any interview, so care should be taken that it will create a positive impression.

When we started to work on this portfolio project, frankly everything about a portfolio was new to us. At first many questions arouse in our minds starting from what is a portfolio, how to prepare it, what we should include in it, what should not be included.

When we interviewed some of the technical employers in our career fair, though not many of them seem to have seen a portfolio brought into an IT interview, they were quite positive about their reaction to such a deed. They unanimously accepted that the portfolio should serve as an added advantage to the candidates stand on the interview, essentially proving the skill sets of the candidates.

Definition and Purpose

Want to know the definition and purpose of portfolios? See

  www.iloveteaching.com/tchweb/portfolio/def.htm

  www.smsu.edu/assessment/Portfolio/Definition.htm

Portfolio checklist

Want to prepare a checklist of the things you might want to include in your portfolio? See

  www.uiowa.edu/~c07e190/portfolio.htm

Web, Printed, or CD Portfolios

Web portfolios certainly have their own advantages in terms of storage space, interactive, animation, and other web enhancing features. This also demonstrates your computer literacy.

Want to know more on "Electronic Portfolios?" See

  www.essdack.org/port/

The employers we interviewed, though not against web or electronic portfolios, seemed to prefer a physical form as it makes their job much easier. If the portfolio is in an electronic form, it is better to print the cover page and some important pages in color.

At this point, you might consider taking a laptop to the interview to show your computer skills via your portfolio. The reaction to this from the most of the employers seems to be negative. It is better to follow the "Make it Simple" strategy.

Why should you have a portfolio?

1. An opportunity to reflect on your experience
2. An keepsake to look back on your work and experience
3. Helps you to organize and remember your skill sets.

A portfolio, apart from being a proof of your work, in an interview, helps you to keep your works and skill sets organized.

Portfolio creation tips

• What type of portfolio suits your experience?
• What are the goals of the portfolio?
• Who are the audiences for portfolio?
• Select appropriate material to include
  • Include the projects that you have undertaken
• Develop good writing habits
  • Use proper language. It is better to be your worst critic if you don’t want others to point out a spelling or a grammatical error in your portfolio
• Develop good editing skills
• Revise your work
• Consider instructors’ recommendations for changes to returned assignments
• Highlight strengths
• Give good judgment on your weaknesses with well supported arguments (Present them in a positive way)
• Give examples of your the experience
• Describe your communicational skills
• Ask for feedback
• Portfolio should show learning
• Your portfolio should reflect your voice

Want to know more about creating your portfolio?  See

  www.iloveteaching.com/tchweb/portfolio/def.htm

  www.smsu.edu/assessment/Portfolio/Definition.htm

  www.uiowa.edu/~c07e190/portfolio.htm

  www.essdack.org/port/

Steve Tjensvold adds

Regarding the portfolio on which Chithra and Jyothi provided information, I compiled a portfolio a few years ago to use during job interviews, and I thought I'd share with you what it contains.

At the time, I was applying for electrical engineering and software engineering positions in the embedded systems area.

Section 1 - Resume and References

Section 2 - Additional Education Certificates of completion, grade reports, etc.

Section 3 - Organizational Charts This gives prospective employers an idea of where I appeared in the company organization, and the size of the group.

Section 4 - Job Descriptions This gives prospective employers an idea of the responsibilities of the positions that I held.

Section 5 - Additional Responsibilities Memos describing additional responsibilities that I received over the years.

Section 6 - GLI Data Sheets Products that I've worked on over the years; schematics, too.

Section 7 - Structured Analysis and Design Examples of same.

Section 8 - C-Code Examples

Section 9 - Assembly-Language Examples

Section 10 - Development System A graphical description of one software development environment that was used for a series of electronic products.

Section 11 - Performance Reviews My two latest performance reviews.

Section 12 - Memoranda Copies of memoranda that I've written over the years. This gives prospective employers an idea of my written communication skills.

Section 13 - PC Hardware/Software Familiarity A list of PC hardware and software with which I'm familiar.

Section 14 - College Transcripts

Section 15 - Miscellaneous Letters of thanks, descriptions of my home PCs and network, 5/10/15-year anniversary letters, stuff that doesn't fit anywhere else.

The idea is to show prospective employers what I'm capable of. It also gives me the opportunity to steer the direction of the interview to areas in which I am comfortable and knowledgeable.

It's all in a 3-ring binder with index tabs. Each section is arranged in reverse-chronological order.

Best Regards,
Steve Tjensvold