What is a portfolio? How to organize it?
A portfolio is a visual representation of a person’s abilities, skills, knowledge, and qualities. It presents tangible proof of these skills and abilities in the form of artifacts, certificates, and other documents. A portfolio provides solid evidence about a person’s past performance in the academic and professional fields.
In other words, a portfolio is visual and tangible evidence of your skills and achievements. It helps you when applying for a job. It has a significant role during the time of an interview. a convincing portfolio helps us to get short-listed for an interview.
Organizing a portfolio
Organizing a portfolio is a very important one. Well-organized portfolio earns the attention of the employer and interviewer. The following information has to be included in a portfolio:
Articles.Awards • Brochures • Drawings and designs • Grants • Letters of reference • Manuals and handbooks • Merit reviews • Photographs • Presentations • Project summaries and reviews • Scholarships • Training certificates.
According to the relevance of your position, you can select components from the above list. An ideal portfolio never exceeds over 20 pages.
The first page of the portfolio should be the index. This will give the interviewer an overview of your portfolio.
The first document in a portfolio is always the resume.
The next section contains certificates, commendations, and other credentials.
The third section of the portfolio has all educational degrees, achievements, extra-curricular activities, volunteer work, etc.
The final section contains personal information in brief
What are the basic differences between a portfolio and a resume?
A resume is a concise document that outlines all of a person’s relevant credentials, education qualifications, work experience, achievements, and activities. It does not include any additional documents.
A portfolio has detailed proof of these credentials in the form of documents. It may contain photographs, certificates, etc. A resume is always the first document in a portfolio. Or resume is a part of a portfolio. A portfolio gives evidence for the statements that made in the resume about the applicant’s skills and achievements.