Zane State College

HSV 223

Career Portfolio

The Portfolio approach:

The use of a Career Portfolio provides an opportunity to showcase your abilities. It is a visual representation of
your skills, capabilities, and knowledge that can be used to market yourself to prospective employers.

Definition:

The word literally means:

Port – to move Folio – papers or artifacts

“A Portable collection of papers and/or artifacts presented in a variety of formats.”

How to use a portfolio:

The portfolio demonstrates concrete proof of skills and learning as well as to provide an opportunity for creative
self-expression. It can be taken to job interviews to help answer the questions “What do you know?” and “What
have you done?” It can also be used for students to track and record their learning experiences and to identify
transferable skills.

Contents of the portfolio:

o Table of Contents
o Cover letter to include your professional goals and your work philosophy
o Resume
o Certificates/Awards
o Samples of work (no more than 2)
o Evidence of community work or volunteerism

Supplies Needed:

o Three-ring binder
o Sheet protectors
o Dividers

Creating the portfolio:

o Be creative, but professional, not childlike

o All text needs to be typed
o Type captions and narratives for each work sample
o Don’t punch holes in documents
o Use consistent font styles
o Check for spelling and grammatical errors