Digital Portfolios

I recently came across a great article regarding digital portfolios (http://testkitchen.colorado.edu/projects/resources-digital-news/student-portfolio-tips/). Although this article talks specifically about working within journalism or the media industry, there are a lot of great tips for students from all majors/industries. This article argues that prospective students/graduates must have a professional looking digital portfolio and presence.

The article offers some of the following tips for success:

Start with LinkedIn

Students should be creating a LinkedIn profile where they record experience, education, personal data, and collect recommendations. This is a phenomenal way to network, market yourself, and find other employers in your field.

Other suggestions from grads.linkedin.com:

·      Craft an informative profile headline

·      Display an appropriate photo
·      Show off your education

·      Develop a professional summary statement

·      Fill your “Specialties” section with key words

·      Update your status weekly

·      Show your connectedness with LinkedIn

·      Collect diverse recommendations

·      Claim your unique LinkedIn URL

·      Share your work

Printable PDF Resume

Students should be attaching PDF formats of their resume to e-mails to prospective employers. This is important because the format will remain the same, and the resume cannot be physically altered. Another great tip is to publish the PDF version to a website and give the URL to employers in e-mails, your resume, and posting the URL on your portfolio website and social media accounts.

Assemble Social Media Accounts

Include links to all of your social media presences on your main portfolio webpage. (For example: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Google+, Pinterest, and Quora). Make sure that you are actively involved in your industry (i.e., representing published articles, highlighting or reposting key industry articles, offering your own perspective on relevant topics and issues, etc.) and are maintaining a professional presence on these social media sites.

Suggested Options for your Main Portfolio

·         Choose one central “home base” that you can point potential employers to that highlights all of your work that you wish to share. (This article suggests numerous options for website hosting sources).

·          Include your resume, work samples, a short profile of yourself, links to other social media and other websites where visitors can see your work or connect with you, and your current contact information.

Here is another article on what to include on your online portfolio:

http://www.mediabistro.com/10000words/5-things-your-online-journalism-portfolio-website-should-include_b13453

Remember, to make the most out of each and every experience! Take advantage of your courses, speaking with professors, and The Career Center counselors and resources to market yourself effectively to prospective employers!

Build those resumes and network, network, network!!!

Lauren Behr, Assistant Director