Usually thought of as a practice reserved for artists, designers, and photographers, a career portfolio can demonstrate your technical communication prowess to prospective employers and act as a tool to self-evaluate the gaps between your current skills and knowledge, and your professional goals. A carefully designed portfolio can also help distinguish you from other job applicants.

The format of a portfolio is limited only by the creativity of the person putting it together. The important things to remember are to restrain the need to be gimmicky and to choose a format that is simple and relevant.

My portfolio is a 14” x 17” vinyl book purchased at Opus, an art supply store in Langley. I glued the most appropriate pieces of my work onto special acid-free paper and inserted them into the clear pocket pages. If you are technically savvy, you can also put your entire portfolio on a web site or a disc.

Start by collecting all the items that best represent your abilities and interest — even that old testimonial or thank-you note from your time as a volunteer should not be discounted. As much as possible include items with colour and graphics to add visual appeal. A friend of mine even has a table of contents in her portfolio that uses colours instead of numbers to indicate the different sections. She also takes pull quotes from her work, enlarges them, and places them strategically on each page. Her portfolio received a lot of positive feedback from classmates.

Your work does not have to be arranged chronologically, but it should follow a logical flow. Remember that you need to walk your audience through the portfolio, so construct an interesting story from your work that leads them from beginning to end. A consistent look throughout also adds to the flow.

Finally, prepare an oral presentation to support your visual show. It’s always wise to practice your presentation with a friend who can give constructive feedback and role-play questions and answers. And then, after spending all that time and energy putting your portfolio together, don’t forget to mention in your cover letter that you have a portfolio you’d only too happy to present.

A portfolio is a creative channel to relate your interests and commitment to an employer; a package that is an amalgamation of your passion and experience makes it just that much easier for an employer to choose you over the dozens of other applicants.