The Importance of Creating a Portfolio

 

Do you have skills that you want to present to the world? Do you struggle with portraying your experiences to potential employers? If you answered “yes” to either of those questions, then a portfolio might just be what you need.

Portfolios are presentations of your work that represent your performance and skills as well as strengths and weaknesses. The culmination of work that is represented in a portfolio allows for peers, mentors and potential employers to get an understanding of you as a student, your passions and your work. 

How to make a portfolio:

To begin, you need to decide what you want your portfolio to portray. What skills and projects do you want to show, and perhaps why? Next, you should gather those pieces in one space so that they are easily accessible.  A folder on your desktop or Google Drive would be best.  Following that, find a website that works best for you.  Here are a few to get you started:

After you have chosen a site, get started!  Most sites will be easy to navigate, so get those creative juices flowing and show off your work! Include your name, contact information, most impressive work and even work you wish you could have improved!  Make your site appealing to the eye and portray yourself professionally, but of course without losing the spark that makes you, you! 

Different types of portfolios

Considering the wide range of deliverables, skills and experiences that students have, there are different ways of presenting those. From videos to newsletters to graphics, there is so much to show off! Some portfolios are solely for videos, while others are just for articles and essays. But, there are also hybrid ones! These tend to blend your skills into a cohesive presentation ready to share with the world.  

Where to share your portfolio

When it comes to sharing your portfolio, there are a few ways to do so.  First, these can be shared on job and internship applications. Most applications have spots designated just for personal websites. This is a perfect way to share your experiences. There are also websites created solely to share portfolios.  A few of these include Behance, Dribble and Coroflot.

Portfolios are vital to success. They are a form of professional self-expression that also assists in landing jobs and internships! Remember to be creative and get excited to share your experiences with others.  

 

Written by: Katie Mann

10/15/20

 

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