Portfolio Development
"We don't know who we are until we see what we can do."
-- Martha Grimes --
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Job Search/Career Portfolio:
It's a good idea to develop a Job Search/Career Portfolio, maintaining all relevant documents (i.e.: resume, cover letters, reference list, job ads, employer replies, contact names, addresses and telephone numbers, etc.) for ease of reference. This self-organizational/planning tool may be used to prepare a Career Portfolio to take with you to job interviews. Such a Career Portfolio could include examples of your employability skills/competencies, achievements, work samples/recommendations and certifications for use in the employment interview and/or in your career decision making process.
A Portfolio is a collection of documents, letters, certificates, photographs, references, and many other things that tell the story of your work and life experience. A portfolio is usually contained in three ring binder with page protector sheets to hold the documents you have collected.
A Portfolio: Your Marketing Tool
Some people may recognize the term portfolio as something that artists or professional designers use to show their work. Portfolios are now used by people in any career to illustrate the knowledge and skills they have acquired. For an Older Worker, this means that you can use a portfolio to highlight your skills and experiences, such as community involvement, volunteer activities, hobbies, and interests. Your portfolio can be a tool you use for yourself or you can present it to employers during an interview. A well organized portfolio can show a potential employer a wider range of skills and experience than a two page résumé is able to show.
Developing a career/life portfolio will reconnect you to skills and interests you may have forgotten. It will help you remember to give yourself credit for learning and skills that you might take for granted. Knowing you skills leads to more confidence and increased confidence can turn into a more effective presentation of yourself in job interviews. After all, if you know who you are and are proud of what you can do, it is much easier to tell someone else why you would make a great employee.
The career/life portfolio is usually presented in a binder. Documents are organized with dividers, labels and tabs. Plastic sheet protectors are useful for holding documents and work samples, and allow you to include these in your portfolio without having to damage originals. Placing original documents in your portfolio is not advisable in case it is lost; instead use color photocopies of originals. Making copies also has the added advantage of enabling you to scale the size the documents you include in the portfolio to the size of your binder.
Things to think about
A career/life portfolio gets attention. ("Show and tell" is more powerful than just telling).
A portfolio links what you can do and what the other person is looking for.
A portfolio turns important attributes, skills and knowledge into tangible items.
A career/life portfolio lends credibility. ("Seeing is believing.")
A career portfolio helps you prepare for an interview, you can use it remind yourself of all your skills. If it is presented during the interview it can help to create the impression that you are well organized and properly focused.
As someone who may be changing careers, you can use the portfolio as a tool to present your transferable skills to an employer in a field that is new to you. A properly targeted portfolio can provide you with documentation and proof of 'prior learning' and skills when you are applying for further training. The portfolio helps to make credible the things you say about yourself in your written application. It can also covey the message that you are highly motivated and well organized in your efforts to go back to school.
Things to do
Begin to collect all the documents you have that are connected with the work you have done, hobbies, volunteer and community activities. Documents or evidence can be items that would fit into categories such as: personal attributes, learning skills, specific task skills, people skills, self-management skills, major accomplishments, and community/volunteer service.
Examples of Portfolio Documents:
Résumé
Personal history
Business cards (past and present)
Attendance record commending you for excellent attendance
Letters of recommendation from past employers
Thank you letters
Photographs of items you are not able to put in portfolio (ie: items you have built, created, repaired, restored, etc.)
Sports affiliations/awards
Letter from police showing clean record if applying for a high-security position
List of references
Copy of degree, school transcripts, etc.
GPA (Grade Point Average)
Certificates
Licenses you hold
Samples of self-directed learning
Professional development activities (seminars, workshops, conferences, professional networking, professional organizations, etc.)
Examples of academic work
Letters from faculty/teachers
Writing samples
Project or work samples that illustrate a skill
Evidence of computer and other technical skills
Leadership activities (school, work or community)
Evidence you are an effective team player
Letters or articles announcing a promotion or new assignment
Proof of foreign travel/study
Personal mission statement
Results of career/personal self-assessments
Promotional materials you created, including designs or logos
Newspaper articles about you or something you were involved in
Volunteer affiliations
Performance reports
As you collect these documents place colour photocopies of them in page protectors in your portfolio binder.
Join a portfolio development program to help create a career/life portfolio that will effectively represent your skills to prospective employers. Contact your local Job or Career Resource Centre to find out about portfolio programs in your area.
Remember that a portfolio is an ongoing process. Add things to it on a regular basis.
Think portfolio-ask for a letter or document to show what you have accomplished.
More on Portfolio Development
The following list provides some ideas of what to include in your portfolio:
A Table of Contents
Resume which outlines your skills
Project reports which showcase your skills
Other completed assignments which showcase your abilities
Letters of commendation and/or recommendation
Awards, etc. which you have won
Copies of licenses, certificates, etc., which pertain to your technical area
Any other documents and reports that demonstrate your employability.
"Hidden" Skills
In developing your portfolio, remember that your are also demonstrating other skills that may be "hidden." That is, the portfolio itself will demonstrate several skills such as:
Organizational skills. Does your portfolio show that you have organized it well?
Writing skills. Does your portfolio show that you can accurately describe projects, and that you can use writing skills to perform such job functuions as filling out materials lists, etc.?
Neatness. Does your portfolio show that you have concern for neatness and workmanship?
Critical thinking and problem solving. Does your portfolio show that you are capable of not only following instructions, but that you can think critically about problems and assignments, and that you can analyze problems and solve them appropriately?
Teamwork. Does your portfolio show that you can work as part of a team?
Community service. Does your portfolio show that you have a concern for the well being of the overall community?
Leadership. Does your portfolio indicate your leadership abilities?
Non-bias. Does your portfolio indicate that you are capable working in a non-biased atmosphere, and that you can work with others from all races, and with members of the opposite sex, etc.?
Day-to-day job skills. Does your portfolio show that you have developed such day-to-day job skills as good attendance, puntuality, reliablity, etc.?
Research skills. Does your portfolio show that you can acauire and apply information from a variety of sources such as technical and reference manuals, libraries, and the internet?
Technology skills. Does your portfolio show that you are comfortable in a world a rapidly changing technologies, and that you are computer literate?
Job Preparation Exercise
Now practice describing yourself and your skills in three minutes. This will help you focus for the interview. Remember don’t turn this self-help exercise into describing a past or current job. Rather think about “YOU” – what your achievements are and how you add value in what you do – your unique selling points are what you need to pin point and/or highlight here.
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Behavioural Interviews
What is a behavioural interview?
Behavioural based interviewing is interviewing based on discovering how the interviewee acted in specific employment-related situations. The logic is that how you behaved in the past will predict how you will behave in the future i.e. past performance predicts future performance.
Traditional Interview vs. Behavioural Interview
In a traditional interview, you will be asked a series of questions which typically have straight forward answers like "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" or "What major challenges and problems did you face? How did you handle them?" or "Describe a typical work week."
In a behavioural interview, an employer has decided what skills are needed in the person they hire and will ask questions to find out if the candidate has those skills. Instead of asking how you would behave, they will ask how you di d behave. The interviewer will want to know how you handled a situation, instead of what you might do in the future.
Questions in a Behavioural Interview
Behavioural interview questions will be more pointed, more probing and more specific than traditional interview questions:
· Give an example of an occasion when you used logic to solve a problem.
· Give an example of a goal you reached and tell me how you achieved it.
· Describe a decision you made that was unpopular and how you handled implementing it.
· Have you gone above and beyond the call of duty? If so, how?
· What do you do when your schedule is interrupted? Give an example of how you handle it.
· Have you had to convince a team to work on a project they weren't thrilled about? How did you do it?
· Have you handled a difficult situation with a co-worker? How?
· Tell me about how you worked effectively under pressure.
Follow-up questions will also be detailed. You may be asked what you did, what you said, how you reacted or how you felt.
Preparation for the Potential Behavioural Interview
What's the best way to prepare? It's important to remember that you won't know what type of interview will take place until you are sitting in the interview room. So, prepare answers to traditional interview questions.
Then, since you don't know exactly what situations you will be asked about if it's a behavioural interview, refresh your memory and consider some special situations you have dealt with or projects you have worked on. You may be able to use them to help frame responses. Prepare stories that illustrate times when you have successfully solved problems or performed memorably. The stories will be useful to help you respond meaningfully in a behavioural interview.
Finally, review the job description, if you have it, or the job posting or ad. You may be able to get a sense of what skills and behavioural characteristics the employer is seeking from reading the job description and position requirements. Take a look at what employers are advised about developing the job posting for a behavioural interview on the About Human Resources site.
During the Behavioural Interview
During the interview, if you are not sure how to answer the question, ask for clarification. Then be sure to include these points in your answer:
· A specific situation
· The tasks that needed to be done
· The action you took
· The results i.e. what happened
It's important to keep in mind that there are no right or wrong answers. The interviewer is simply trying to under stand how you behaved in a given situation. How you respond will determine if there is a fit between your skills and the position the company is seeking to fill. So, listen carefully, be clear and detailed when you respond and, most importantly, be honest. If your answers aren't what the interviewer is looking for, this position may not be the best job for you anyway.
Source: http://jobsearch.about.com/cs/interviews/a/behavioral.htm
"Start by doing what's necessary, then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible."
-- St. Francis of Assisi --