How to Create a Portfolio

(Created by Nelson Education)

What you will find in this Section

The Career Center: Creating a Portfolio How to Create a Portfolio section provides some suggestions about how to create a portfolio.

How to Create a Portfolio

So, you decide that you would like to create a portfolio. What do you do? Where do you start?

First, realize that a portfolio is not something you can whip together the night before an interview. You should start planning your portfolio well in advance of interviews, perhaps even before an interview is scheduled or even approaching.

Second, you should start a collection, not just of your best work, but collect your money. You will need to save some money for this endeavor. You want your portfolio to be a professional representation of your work; therefore, be prepared to spend some money.

What to buy

• A nice leather portfolio, preferably burgundy in color: burgundy is recommended since you can carry it with virtually any color conservative suit. You want to make sure the portfolio rings are metal and sturdy. Open and close the rings several times before purchasing. If the rings look as if they are not lining up appropriately, ditch that one and try another. You don't want your work to crinkle because the rings are not lined up. You may want a portfolio with handles, so that you can carry like a briefcase. Look to see how many pockets there are in the portfolio, and see if they are large enough to insert bound pieces. You will want to utilize all space available.

• Quality paper, preferably white: white will not interfere with any of the colors in your pieces. Also, buy a ton of paper. You will need more paper than you think. As you show your pieces, they will become crinkled, so you will need to replace them with fresh pieces periodically.

• Card stock: you might want to invest in some card stock to use for section dividers. A nice neutral color is fine.

• Page divider tabs: you might want to use page-divider tabs to help show your different sections clearly. You can type the sections on the white tabs and insert them into the divider sheets. This allows for a clean, neat look that is easy to navigate through, quickly.

• Sheet protectors that allow top loading: these will help protect your pages through the many "look throughs." Top loading will just ensure that you can easily remove a piece if the interviewer wants to get a closer look. You can also keep "giveaways" behind the original, and a top-loading sheet protector will allow you to get the give a way easily.

• You will need to save money for copy costs, also: you may have to print several resumes, copies of samples, etc.