Totaljobs.com > Career Advice > Jobseeking plus > Here's one I made earlier...
Here's one I made earlier...
Keeping track of your professional past could help you build the career path of the future.
Ask a child what they want to be when they grow up and the responses are likely to include astronaut, nurse, pilot, David Beckham - even Harry Potter. The last thing they consider is how much experience they could bring to the role.
And after all, why should they.
Some people are sure of the direction they want their career to take from an early age. The advantage is that by their first or second job, they've usually collected a bit of work experience, tailored their CV accordingly and got lots of practical examples to show for it.
For others who aren't so certain, it can be much harder to get a firm foothold in a chosen field; especially with such a diverse range of jobs available out there and the huge amount of competition.
One way of giving yourself a helping hand is to keep a record of your past achievements - and we're not just talking about CVs.
Show and tell
Portfolios are fast becoming the cleverest way to make you stand out from the crowd in the interviewing process. Whatever industry you're in, they provide potential employers with a tangible record of your successes and a much deeper idea of the kind of projects you've been involved with.
Some roles lend themselves more naturally to this than others. Creative fields such as marketing and advertising, for example, are very visually driven. Hence, jobseekers in these industries are expected to carry a leather folio crammed with creative pieces as standard.
For people involved in more industrial or service-based roles, what to include in a portfolio is not so obvious. But all you really need to do is consider the bigger picture.
Think about your own role, and how it relates to the organisation's wider aims. Perhaps you were responsible for putting together the timeline or project plan for a major groundworks contract. Whilst the plan itself is not really a showstopper, photographs taken at the site are - particularly if you include both before and after shots.
What this shows to an interviewer is how important your input was to the overall project; largely because they can see the physical elements involved. Even better if you have images of the completed works, with the structure itself fully functional and occupied.
It's important to remember that whilst your role might be 'behind the scenes', there's no reason why you can't show how it fed into the final product.
Use your imagination
Other key things to include in your portfolio are testimonials, whether from colleagues or clients.
When you've completed a really good piece of work and someone thanks you for that (most likely via email), don't press delete! These are really valuable endorsements and will go a long way to making an interviewer believe that you're worth your weight in the workplace.
And don't be afraid to include visionary examples, too. This could form a section that focuses on your own ideas, related to your field of work but not completed at work.
For example, an innovation that would change things for the better - a new process for enhanced customer service, or more efficient ways to communicate... It all adds up to one thing: proving that you have initiative and that you're not afraid to use it.
Whether online or offline, a portfolio dramatically strengthens your CV and adds real weight to your vocal answers. In an interview situation, it's also a great tool for easing nerves by giving you something tangible to refer back to.
Perhaps most importantly, a portfolio often acts as a stepping stone to making important career decisions in the future. How many times have you picked up your CV, read through it and forgotten all the wonderful things you've achieved?
So it's not just an interview showpiece, or an extension of your written CV. A portfolio also serves as a useful reminder of what you're good at and how far you've come - which is an essential part of making the right choices for your future.
Useful links
Totaljobs.com > Career Advice > Jobseeking plus > Here's one I made earlier...
