Career Portfolio Georgia GPS Standard FS-CTAE-10 Career Development: Learners plan and manage academic-career plan and employment relations

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Career PortfolioGeorgia GPS Standard
FS-CTAE-10Career Development Learners plan and
manage academic-career plan and employment
relations
Dr. Frank B. Flanders and Katherine
Hudson Georgia CTAE Resource Network Curriculum
Office July 2008
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Essential Questions

• What is a career portfolio?
• How is a career portfolio beneficial?
• What should go into a career portfolio?
• How can a career portfolio assist in career
  development and employment?
• What do employers want to see in a candidates
  career portfolio?

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What is a Career portfolio?

• Easy and visual way to display your best work and
  accomplishments
• Employers and college admissions staff may use it
  to judge a persons academic ability, maturity,
  and motivation
• May help determine a persons future employment
  or acceptance into a two- or four-year college
• Includes an account and evidence of a persons
  accomplishments, experiences, and activities
• Should be used throughout a persons working
  career
• Should be added to and updated regularly as
  career-relevant experiences occur and new skills
  are mastered
• The finished product will provide others with a
  comprehensive profile of the person and their
  abilities.

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Components of a Career Portfolio

• Leadership Experience
• Extracurricular
• Activities
• Special Skills
• Examples of Work
• Follow-up Letter

• Cover Letter
• Resume
• References
• Awards and Achievements
• Work Experience

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Cover Letter

• Way of introducing yourself to prospective
  employers, show interest in a position, and
  highligh your qualifications
• A cover letter should address
• Why you are interested in this position/business/c
  ollege
• Your career aspirations and goals
• The skills and abilities that would make you
  successful in a particular career or at a
  particular college
• Why this business or college should select you

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Resume

• Summary of a persons qualifications
• Uses short statements to inform potential
  interviewers about important facts about the
  applicant
• A resume should include
• Who you are
• How you may be contacted (mail, telephone,
  e-mail)
• Your experiences, skills, and abilities for the
  position
• When creating a resume, ask yourself
• What skills do I have?
• What should a potential interviewer know about
  me?
• What achievement(s) could I highlight to help get
  the interview?
• Should not exceed 1 page in length

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Letters of Recommendation and References

• Include at least 3 letters of recommendation, one
  of each kind
• Employment-related A letter from a past employer
  evaluating your work performance.
• Character-related A letter from a person who has
  known you for more than one year and can testify
  to your personal and/or academic attributes
• If you have not been employed in any way you may
  use 3 character-related letters
• When asking for a letter of recommendation,
  explain your time frame and ask each writer to
  complete the letter by a specific date
• Some people give their resume to letter writer to
  help the writer draft a more detailed and
  personalized letter
• Thank the writer by writing a thank-you note
• The portfolio should also include a list of at
  least 3 references, made up of past employers,
  co-workers, teachers, and close family friends
• Each reference should give the persons name,
  phone number, address, and email address

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Awards and Achievements

• Shows employers all of your accomplishments
• Possible awards and achievements could be
• Making the honor roll
• Winning a scholarship
• Being recognized for community service
• Awarded MVP on a sports team
• Obtaining a certification
• An example of a particularly outstanding
  performance
• Include any certificates or documents that prove
  your achievement or receipt of award and take
  pictures of any medals or trophies that will not
  fit in your notebook
• For each award, explain what it was for, why it
  was given to you, and what work was involved in
  attaining it
• For each achievement, explain what your goal was,
  the steps you took to accomplish it, and any
  obstacles you encountered along the way

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Work Experience

• Shows an employer you are mature enough to handle
  job responsibilities and have had the opportunity
  to practice your skills and training in
  real-world situations
• Proves you have prepared for full-time employment
  and have learned to work with others in ways that
  are successful and rewarding
• Could be a summer or after-school job, an
  internship, helping with a family business, or a
  neighborhood babysitting gig
• Can be organized two ways. You should choose the
  way that best fits your work experience and your
  desired career
• Experience related to your desired career appears
  first
• Chronological order
• Each work experience entry should tell the
  reader
• The employer
• Your title
• Dates you worked there
• Job responsibilities
• Description of day-to-day tasks
• Any projects you worked on, including your role
  on the project, the contributions you made, and
  how you helped reach project completion
• Include evidence of your work experience, such as
  certificates or other documents of employer
  recognition, business cards from past employers,
  copies of performance reviews, and pictures of
  you on the job

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Leadership Experience

• Shows you
• Can use your intellect, experience, and
  job-relevant skills to lead and motivate others
• Have been trusted enough to have been put in a
  leadership role
• Can work well with others
• Can communicate effectively
• One of the most important factors in hiring and
  promotion decisions
• Examples could be
• Holding an officer position in a club
• Being captain of a sports team
• Being the leader of a group assignment
• Any time you showed leadership skills during an
  activity
• or project
• For each leadership experience
• Describe the situation
• What your responsibilities were
• How you accomplished your goals

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Extracurricular Activities

• Shows the reader
• You have made a meaningful contribution to
  something
• What your non-academic interests are
• That you can maintain a long-term commitment
• That you can manage your time and priorities
• What unique perspectives you can bring to a group
• Could be a school club, volunteer activity,
  religious affiliation, sports team, or personal
  hobby
• For each organization, explain what its purpose
  was, what you gained by being part of it, and how
  you contributed to it
• For each personal activity or hobby, explain how
  you stay active in it and what you gain or learn
  from it
• Include pictures and other documentation of your
  extracurricular activities

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Special Skills

• Examples of skills would be
• Computer proficiencies and technical abilities
  fluent in Java, proficient in Excel, certified in
  farm safety
• Office procedures answering multi-lined phone
  systems, taking dictation, greeting clients
• Linguistic capabilities fluency in a foreign
  language, ability to translate
• General skills leadership, communication, time
  management, organization, reasoning, decision
  making
• Personal Qualities team player, self-motivator,
  values oriented, self-confident
• Any skill that is industry-specific for the job
  youre seeking
• Show proof of each skill by including past work,
  describing a situation in which you used the
  skill, or including pictures. For example
• If you are fluent in Java, provide a screen shot
  of a website you created
• If you say you have teamwork skills, describe a
  time when you used your skills to make a group
  run more efficiently or achieve a goal

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Examples of Work

• Demonstrates what you can do and how well you can
  do it
• Choose samples that display skills appropriate to
  your desired career
• Examples should be work that you are proud of and
  shows care and planning
• Include a picture of any samples of work that are
  three-dimensional or wont fit in the notebook
• Each sample of work should be accompanied by a
  note that tells an employer
• When, why, and for whom a project was completed
• What obstacles you were faced with
• The processes used to overcome those obstacles
• If you were responsible for only part of the
  project, explain your contribution
• Possible examples of work could be
• Research papers, book reports, essays
• Math projects or science projects
• Exams that show achievement
• Computer projects

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Follow-Up Letter

• Send a thank-you letter to the employer or
  admissions officer after every interview
• The letter gives you the opportunity to
• Thank the person for taking time to speak with
  you
• Restate how your skills and qualifications are a
  good fit for the position
• Reinforce that you want the job and why
• Describe how you might make significant
  contributions
• Discuss anything important your interviewer
  neglected to ask or that you neglected to answer
  as well as you would have liked

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Career Portfolio Tips

• Never put original work in your portfolio use
  high quality copies
• Dont be too humble the portfolio helps you talk
  about yourself and your accomplishments
• Use pictures of yourself in action shots
• Be familiar with the contents of your portfolio
  so that you are prepared whenever you are asked
  about your qualifications

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Using a Career Portfolio in an Interview

• Politely let the interviewer know you have
  brought your portfolio to the interview
• The interviewer will let you know if they want to
  see your portfolio
• Never make the interviewer feel pressured to look
  your portfolio
• Do not be offended if the interviewer chooses not
  to view your portfolio
• Allow the interviewer to view the portfolio
  facing them you should be familiar enough with
  your portfolio that you can talk about it without
  needing to look at or read from it
• Having a career portfolio in an interview will
  never hurt you, but it may give you a great
  advantage!

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Other Uses for a Career Portfolio

• Demonstrate your abilities in a performance
  review
• Evidence when trying to obtain a promotion
• Proof that you deserve a pay increase
• Review of your qualifications when preparing for
  an interview

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The Electronic Portfolio

• A personalized, career oriented website
• Shows that you are technology-savvy
• Contains the same information as a
• hard copy portfolio
• Electronic portfolios have become more
• popular as technology becomes increasingly
• important
• Include the web address to your electronic
  portfolio on your resume
• Best to start with a hard copy portfolio, but you
  may want to consider having both formats
• The benefit of a hard copy portfolio is that it
  is something tangible you can bring into an
  interview

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Essential Questions

• What is a career portfolio?
• How is a career portfolio beneficial?
• What should go into a career portfolio?
• How can a career portfolio assist in career
  development and employment?
• What do employers want to see in a candidates
  career portfolio?