Portfolio Writing Guide
A professional portfolio is a tangible collection of items (artifacts) that charts your professional growth and illustrates
the best examples of your most relevant skills and experiences. While a resume states what you can do, a portfolio
enables you to demonstrate examples of your qualifications. The process of putting together your portfolio helps you
to determine who you are, what you like to do, what you do best, and how you want to present yourself to your
targeted audience. It is a valuable tool that you can use throughout your career to assess your professional
development, interview effectively, negotiate job offers, prepare for performance appraisals, navigate career
transitions, and track professional growth. Employers value proof of your qualifications. Job seekers who use
portfolios often receive more job offers at higher starting salaries!
Creating a Portfolio
Step 1: Collect items that showcase your skills and abilities in various skill areas. At the end of each college
semester or during each year of employment, collect and file evidence of activities, work, assignments, internships,
accomplishments, special training and workshops.
Here are some examples of where you can draw these artifacts from:
• Community/Club Activities
• Classroom/College Experiences
• Academic/Extracurricular Recognition
• Special Interests/Life Experiences
• Professional Memberships/Development
• Special Skills/Certifications/Licensure
• Work/Internship Related Skills
• Service/Volunteer Work
Step 2: Select artifacts that best demonstrate your accomplishments, but be concise and don’t include everything
you’ve ever done. Select materials that you are most proud of and that demonstrate achievement towards your
goals.
Step 3: Connect materials to achievements with summaries or reflection papers that highlight your learning. For
example: If you participate in a leadership workshop, connect the pamphlet with a written summary of what you
learned or how you grew.
Step 4: Sort your portfolio materials by learning outcomes into 8 areas of skill development. The following skills are
based on the top 10 qualities that employers seek and each one links to examples of artifacts to consider including in
each skill category:
Professional Growth and Career Planning
Communication
Creativity (Humanities, Arts, Culture)
Critical Thinking and Research
Leadership and Teamwork
Social Responsibility (Volunteer/Community Service)
Technical and Scientific
Other
Step 5: Assemble a “working portfolio” by purchasing a professional looking binder, divider tabs, clear sheet
protectors, and creative paper and card stock for photos and captions. Use high quality paper for layout pages and
strive for consistency and a professionalism throughout.
Remember: Your portfolio should not resemble a scrapbook project. Some documents are “stand alone”
artifacts, meaning they do not need any explanation to someone reviewing the item – such as a resume. For those
that need an explanation, you will need to develop captions or reflective statements to communicate their relevancy.
Brief captions should clearly state what you did or learned, highlighting results and accomplishments. Begin your
captions with action verbs to avoid overusing the word “I”.
Here is an example of how you might organize your binder:
• Table of Contents
• Career Goals and Philosophy Statement
• Resume, Letters of Reference, Credentials
• Skill Categories (See Step 4)
Step 6: Filter your comprehensive “working portfolio” into a targeted “presentation portfolio” when showcasing it to
potential employers or graduate schools. A “presentation portfolio” is more streamlined and tailored to the
requirements of your career or educational interest. For example, a presentation portfolio for a scholarship application
might include items related to leadership, service learning or academic achievements. In this instance, you would
only include artifacts that are necessary for that objective.
Step 7: Interview effectively by using your portfolio to enhance your answers during the interview. This way, you are
not just telling the employer that you are qualified for the job; you are showing proof! Construct 10-15 specific
examples that target the employer’s needs for the position. Use the STAR Approach – Highlight accomplishments
that illustrate your expertise, strengths, and contributions, which are most relevant to your objective. Refer to
Accomplishment Guide.
You and your competition may have similar work and/or educational backgrounds. Emphasizing your unique
successes and strengths will allow your resume to stand out above the rest.
Show a connection to the job requirements and the employer’s needs: “I understand that this job requires
someone who has good communication skills, can manage others, work in teams, coordinate events, and increase
company revenue. I believe my education and experience have prepared me well, as I have developed these skills in
my courses, jobs, and volunteer experiences.” (Hint: Open your portfolio and pull out the appropriate example to
show the interviewer).
Sample Artifacts for Portfolio Sections
Professional Growth and Career Planning
• Outstanding work in your major
• Internship experience
• Professional memberships
• Job shadowing/Informational interviews
• Job descriptions/performance appraisals/work projects
• Professor evaluations
• College transcript
• Academic or professional awards
Communication
• Speeches/Oral Presentations
• Papers/written work
• Debates
• Articles written/published
• Business letters/correspondence
• Marketing materials
• Sales/customer service experience
Creativity
• Creative Writing Samples
• Art Work – drawing, painting, images
• Photography
• Theatre experience
• Personal experience in another culture
• Study of another culture
• Foreign Languages
• Innovative, imaginative or creative ideas
• Designing materials or projects
Critical Thinking and Research
• Numeric work from coursework or professional experience
• Research papers/projects
• Case studies
• Care plans
• Critical analysis papers
• Critiques of research articles
Leadership and Teamwork
• Clubs/Campus activities
• Athletics
• Academic group projects
• Leadership roles
• Community projects
• Volunteer activities
• Work or internship roles
• Active committee member or officer
Social Responsibility
• Community outreach programs
• Fundraising events
• Community service events
• Multi-cultural awareness projects
• Campus ministry work
• Community building
• Care giving
• Service Learning
Technical and Scientific
• Power Point presentations
• Excel spreadsheets
• Access databases
• Publisher (brochures, flyers)
• Computer hardware/software experience
• Web page design/programming
• Internet research
• Laboratory work
• Scientific reports
• Clinical skills
Other
• Extensive/Unique Travel
• Special Hobby
• Participation in a unique group
• Organizational memberships
• Licenses/Certifications
• Study Abroad
• Life Management Skills – time management, record keeping, managing, budgets or finances, etc.
Resume, Letters, Credentials
• Resume
• Letters of recommendation
• List of references
• Dean’s List letter
• Nomination letters
• Performance evaluation
• Letter of acceptance into graduate school
• Letter commending your skills
Career Goals and Philosophy Statement
• Introduce yourself
• Characteristics that make you a good employee
• Your guiding values
• Why choice of academic major and Rivier University?
• How knowledge and experiences gained will help with future goals
• Practical experiences you bring to the employer
• Relevant achievements
• What are your professional/career goals?
