Career Portfolio?

[Reluctant Rebuilder]

I'm looking to leave my current job, and I've been told I should make a career portfolio to expand on the contents of my resume and explain to the world what a catch I am. I've been doing some research online, but most of the online resources speak to university grads and high school grads. I've been working with the same organization for 8 years, and I'm out of touch with the job search scene. Does anyone know of career portfolio resources that I could benefit from? Has anyone used a portfolio? Do prospective employers really go for this stuff?

[judyness]

I'll wish you good luck, but I don't kno anything sorry!

[RedSoxFan84]

I've never heard of a career portfolio and I've been job hunting for several months now.

 

Maybe it would help if you said what kind of jobs you are applying for? What is your career?

[Reluctant Rebuilder]

I'm looking for IT project management/senior systems analyst or systems architect jobs.

 

Career portfolio explained: link removed

[Wolf_22]

Does anyone know of career portfolio resources that I could benefit from? Has anyone used a portfolio? Do prospective employers really go for this stuff?

 

Forgive me for being blunt, but how could you have the tenure you have and know nothing about career portfolios?

 

A portfolio is a portfolio - it displays what places you've worked at, what you've done at those places, etc. Basically, it's a fancy way of saying "show off your work in a nice, neat way..."

 

If these things are done correctly, they are an absolute guarantee of a job. Of course, about 50% of it depends on the quality of content (most employers don't care about Wal-Mart or 2-year-gigs). If, however, you have things like various internships, various jobs relating to your field (all of which are on average more than 3 years of employment), then you could really get a great job out of a career portfolio.

 

I believe the medium in which you make your portfolio is entirely up to you. I've heard of people making them via Power Point, poster board, online, etc... All manner of methods are fair game.

 

Hope this helps.

[JadedStar]

I was a recruiter and am still in touch with many of my peers who are recruiters and what they really want to see is a powerful resume.

 

Once you get an interview having some examples of your work is always helpful and gives you an edge and makes you look serious. Just be sure that the examples of your work you provide do not give out any of your former companies proprietary information. I interviewed a candidate once who showed me some impressive graphs and pareto charts but umm, it was information I should not have been privvy to working at his competitor's company.

[JadedStar]

Forgive me for being blunt, but how could you have the tenure you have and know nothing about career portfolios?

.

 

To be blunt back, a person who has been in the same job for awhile and not in the HR or recruiting field could very easily not know what a career profile is. The question is very valid.

 

Personally I still say a powerful resume is all you need. Recruiters scan hundreds of resumes a day in some cases...I'd say save the elaborate stuff for actual interviews with the manager but do not think they are really necessary. When i interview a candidate i don't want bells and whistles - I would rather they speak very clearly and intelligently about their work experience with solid examples and tell me about their career goals.

[Reluctant Rebuilder]

Forgive me for being blunt, but how could you have the tenure you have and know nothing about career portfolios?

 

Quite simple: I was hired in my last term of school in 1999, and have progressively taken on more responsibilities and I now oversee IT projects of varying sizes and complexity. The recruiters came to our campus, and invited the top students to informal interviews. I didn't even need to submit a resume until my first week, to complete my HR file.

 

Thanks for the information

[Reluctant Rebuilder]

I was a recruiter and am still in touch with many of my peers who are recruiters and what they really want to see is a powerful resume.

 

Once you get an interview having some examples of your work is always helpful and gives you an edge and makes you look serious. Just be sure that the examples of your work you provide do not give out any of your former companies proprietary information. I interviewed a candidate once who showed me some impressive graphs and pareto charts but umm, it was information I should not have been privvy to working at his competitor's company.

 

Thanks for this, I'm not one to spill secrets but I'd hate to mistakenly bring something confidential to an interview and come accross as untrustworthy.

[JadedStar]

Thanks for this, I'm not one to spill secrets but I'd hate to mistakenly bring something confidential to an interview and come accross as untrustworthy.

 

The candidate i interviewed definitely didn't MEAN to do this....he was gunho and got overzealous and missed that minor...well not so minor...detail..

[ladd]

There is a company that I have heard great things about.

 

You should give them a try.

 

They do career portfolios for all types of working class people.

 

Check out careerportfolioresources dot com

 

Let me know if it helps.

[ladd]

I heard of a great company that does outstanding work.

 

On the web careerportfolioresources dot com. I think you will love them. A friend of mine had work done recently by them and was very impressed with their service and professionalism.

 

This is the only company I know who does this type of work for all types of working class people if you need their number they can bre reached at 301 675 4957. I hope this information helps. Let me know how this turns out.

[ladd]

you guys check out career portfolio resources dot com

[Anthropic]

Forgive me for being blunt, but how could you have the tenure you have and know nothing about career portfolios?

 

The OP shouldn't feel bad. I must be living in a cave, because I have more experience than the OP and I've held almost a dozen different positions, and I have never heard of a career portfolio. It's a wonder I've survived as long as I have ...

[thejigsup]

For all of you new to the job hunt after being employed for awhile, a career portfolio is almost a must nowadays. A resume just doesn't cut it the way it used to. My portfolio is almost 100 pages now. And, yes, don't disclose anything confidential about past companies.

[Anthropic]

For all of you new to the job hunt after being employed for awhile, a career portfolio is almost a must nowadays. A resume just doesn't cut it the way it used to. My portfolio is almost 100 pages now. And, yes, don't disclose anything confidential about past companies.

 

Ok, now I think I really lead a sheltered life. I'm currently employed but I still regularly interview, and nobody has ever mentioned anything like this to me. I'm a software guy, so maybe it's the industry I'm in.

 

I keep my resume up to date and just by doing that throughout the years, I guess I have a "portfolio". Basically just copies of all my previous resumes. So I can see how it benefits a job hunter in organizing things, but how do you "use" it on the prospective employer? I mean, do you just bust out the portfolio and say, "Here, let me show you this"? Do they ask for one?

 

And if it can be any medium, I'm totally going to start working on the interpretive dance version of my career portfolio.

[Mike88]

Ok, now I think I really lead a sheltered life. I'm currently employed but I still regularly interview, and nobody has ever mentioned anything like this to me. I'm a software guy, so maybe it's the industry I'm in.

 

I keep my resume up to date and just by doing that throughout the years, I guess I have a "portfolio". Basically just copies of all my previous resumes. So I can see how it benefits a job hunter in organizing things, but how do you "use" it on the prospective employer? I mean, do you just bust out the portfolio and say, "Here, let me show you this"? Do they ask for one?

 

And if it can be any medium, I'm totally going to start working on the interpretive dance version of my career portfolio.

 

I'm wondering the samething.

[thejigsup]

When you are interviewing, they will ask you if they can look at your portfolio. It has documents, reviews, samples of your work, pictures of finished projects, references, any awards and certificates you have earned, etc... Mine fills three good sized notebooks.