Ok, so, truth be told, you’re not really creating a full professional portfolio. Professional portfolios are compilations of work and life experience that showcase your value. Students who are just graduating, or those who are seeking their first professional jobs, do not have range of testimonials, initiatives, and finished work products they can highlight in a portfolio.
The award-winning author Margaret Atwood has extensive work product and experience that she showcases in her “branding” website, which is her very own professional portfolio. We’re not quite there yet. . .
What we’re doing here is starting a professional portfolio, one that you can and should augment as you launch your careers. In short, we’ll be working on ways to package our academic experiences as a promise of future productivity.
So what will be in our forward-looking (digital) portfolio?
- a resume
- a cover letter tailored to a specific job category (or, if you already have one particular employment opportunity in mind, a letter tailored to that specific job)
- a LinkedIn profile (click here for examples)
- a research essay from a 400-level literature class (i.e., your best work of interpretation that includes literary scholarship)
- a brief (500 word) explanation of the significance/importance of your writing sample* (outlining what it “proves” re: your professional worth) and a list of the other types of writing or multimedia you would like to include when you gain more work experience
Note about writing samples: everyone must include a research essay from a 400-level literature course. Creative writing students and English Education students may elect to include creative pieces or lesson plans as evidence of their best written work. Such submissions will be in addition to the research essay. They will not substitute for the research essay requirement.
And how will this portfolio be submitted? Electronically in a folder uploaded to One Drive and linked on BlackBoard. The specific steps:
- Compile all of your electronic documents in a folder.
- Documents should be individual, not combined, and formatted in either a Word document or a pdf file
- LinkedIn profiles, which are individual entries on a web hosting service, not discreet documents in and of themselves, should be hyperlinked on resumes
- Upload the folder to MSU’s One Drive.
- Link (or “share“) your OneDrive folder on Blackboard, using the assignment upload link under “Professional Portfolio.”
Reminder: Our 499c specific “Career Services” page provides resume and cover letter help, and you can always set up a meeting with the trained counselors at our Career Services office for individualized feedback!
Final Note (which is really just an articulation of other options): Video essays aren’t just for Elle Wood’s admission to Harvard anymore. Some job applicants are now showcasing their skill sets in pre-recorded presentations. If you are seeking a job in a creative field, a video resume just might be for you (as long as you exercise proper caution in the video’s creation).
Below is a hypothetical video resume for the mythical character of Medea. (I created this presentation using a free trial of PowToons.)
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