Online Portfolio Start-Up Guide by Jensen Moore

Digital Portfolio Start-‐up Guide

Updated: 2/8/2012 Created by: Dr. Jensen Moore

Table of Contents Getting Started ................................................................................................................................ 3 Creating a Strong Digital Portfolio ................................................................................................... 5 Designing Your Portfolio .................................................................................................................. 6 Sharing Your Digital Portfolio with the World ............................................................................... 12

Getting Started As you get started with your online portfolio, you will need to have a clear vision of who your primary target audience is. Do you want your family and friends to see your work? Are you using your portfolio to gain an internship opportunity? Is this for future employers to view? Are you gathering things to ask for a promotion or award? Here are some tips to help you get started. Create Your Resume The first step you should take is to create a paper copy of your resume. This will allow you to collapse data, determine your objectives, edit and get feedback from colleagues before you post information online. Also, most companies still request paper copies of your resume so you should have it handy. The website has a section for references as well. So, take some time to find professionals (and ask their permission) to serve as references for you. This will be an impressive addition to your digital portfolio. Gather and Sort Your Portfolio Items Collect everything you have done that has your name attached to it. It can be an advertisement, a logo, a newspaper article, a video news release, a newsletter story, a social media release or a flier. Create a pile of all your work – then sort it into categories. Perhaps you want to group items based on the class you created it for. Maybe you want to sort items based on an internship or a project you worked on. Maybe you do different kinds of work (e.g., graphic design and writing) and want to sort items that way. Whatever you do, don’t just throw all your work on a website and expect it to speak for itself, or for your audience(s) to make sense of it. Categories will help you develop the “brand” of your site. Additionally, just because you created something doesn’t mean you should use it. People usually want to see only your best work. So, make sure to “separate the wheat from the chaff.” Find a Point of View Many people have created online portfolios. The main thing that will set yours apart is that it accurately reflects you and it has a sense of purpose. Find a consistent voice or “brand image” that makes your portfolio stand out, while remaining relevant to your audience(s). Portfolios Don’t Have to Be LONG You aren’t trying to create a complete repository of your entire life from high school through college, just a place to showcase your most important/exceptional work. Again, make sure to highlight just the BEST things you have done.

Have fun! You are creating something that is, above all, for you. It is on a topic that you know very well and you enjoy. Have some fun with it. Enjoy the experience.

Creating a Strong Digital Portfolio You’ve been taught how to write a certain way your whole life, but the rules are different online. Most people don’t have time to spend sifting through large blocks of text. They’re looking for rich, information-‐packed content they can process quickly. Think about how you surf the web at home. Are you going to land on a page full of text and make it all the way to the bottom? Probably not. That’s why you need to write your digital portfolio for an online audience. Think Visual Once again, think about how you surf the web. In other words, do the work for your audience(s) so they don’t have to. The more you do to make your digital portfolio easily read and absorbed, the more likely your audience(s) will be to view it. Optimize Your Titles If you build it, they won’t necessarily come. You have to get them in the front door first. Tell your audience(s) what they are clicking on and they’ll be more likely to do it. Creative gallery titles and project titles show not only what the content is about, but why your audience(s) should be interested. Write Short and Punchy People are moving fast online and they won’t wait for the last sentence so you can explain yourself. Tell them what first, then explain why. Be Conversational Using a conversational tone helps your audience(s) realize that you are a real person. Speak comfortably, but professionally, in your content descriptions.

Designing Your Digital Resume and Portfolio Jobrary.com is a quick and easy way to get your digital portfolio started. This section will walk you through the process and show you a few tips to help you get started. If you are unfamiliar with digital portfolios you may want to look at some of the features offered by the JObrary site. Creating Your JOBrary Account The first step to getting started with your digital portfolio is creating your account on JObrary. Go to Jobrary.com. Click the gray – sign up for free – button.

Choosing Your Portfolio Address You will be prompted to enter your email address, your password your unique URL. For your URL address (and username) you will usually want to choose your name so employers can easily find your digital portfolio. The site will let you know if your name is available – or if you need to add initials or numbers for the address. Once you have filled out the form, click the sign up button.

A screen will then tell you to check your email for activation instructions. Once you receive your activation you will get a screen that looks like this.

Creating Your Digital Resume Otherwise Known as the First Thing the Employer Sees When you log in to your digital portfolio, you will first see your resume dashboard. While you are creating your digital portfolio (i.e., it is under repairs) you may want to set the button on the upper right corner to private. When you are done with your portfolio make sure to set it back to public so that people can see your materials.

You will be asked to complete the following resume sections: objective, education and experience. There are additional buttons at the top of the webpage for adding: skills, certifications, references or customizing your resume. If you already have a resume in a Word (or similar text document) you should be able to simply copy/paste your information.

Changing the Resume You can make several changes to the resume page so that it appears how you want it. If you want to remove a resume section click the (X) in the upper right corner. If you want to add a section click on the add another section button at the bottom left of the webpage. If you want to move the page arrangement you will first need to enter data and save changes to that section and then use the edit and move up/move down menu.

Creating and Personalizing Your Digital Portfolio At the top of the screen select the Portfolio button. On your screen you will see an about note. Click on the (pencil) button to add information about yourself or the topic of your portfolio here. This is another place where you can provide some information to help “brand” yourself. Create a New Gallery The galleries are where you can begin uploading your digital portfolio content. Accepted formats are: JPEG, JPG, PNG, GIF and PDF. The maximum file size is 5 MB. It is suggested that you provide a title/name for the gallery and select save changes before uploading any content. Then, select modify this gallery and upload content to the gallery. Once you have uploaded the content you will see the following screen:

Make sure to provide a full description of each item you upload including: 1) who (i.e., organization, class, professor) the piece was created for, 2) the intended audience, 3) the creation date, and 4) what part you completed (especially if the piece was group work). You can also embed videos to your portfolio. First, however, you need to save videos to one of the following sites: YouTube, Vimeo or Blip.tv Creating a Digital Portfolio for Class(es) If you are currently a student and are completing the digital portfolio for your class(es) you may wish to create separate gallery(ies) for each class. This will allow your professor(s) to easily locate the materials you are submitting for their class(es). See example below.

Sharing Your Digital Portfolio With the World Emailing, Printing, or Downloading Your Digital Portfolio Employers may to view your portfolio in a number of ways. JOBrary lets you email, print (for a bound portfolio), or download your digital portfolio (to put on a CD) for them. Use the buttons on the right menu to get your portfolio to them in the format they request. * make sure to set your profile back to public for these to work. Sharing Your Digital Portfolio via Social Media You can also share your portfolio with friends and family via the Facebook and Twitter buttons. This is a handy way to let people know what you have accomplished! It may also help you to network with others in your field – or even find a job you didn’t know existed. * make sure to set your profile back to public for these to work.

Congratulations! You have now created your online portfolio and are on your way to showing the world what you have to offer.