How to Create an Online Portfolio (For Beginners)
Delilah Gamble
Delilah Gamble
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Where Do I Even Start? Online portfolios are a fantastic way for college students to showcase your skills, work experience, projects, and potential for future employers. Online portfolios are also a great way to display your knowledge and interests to your friends and family. If employers are going to see your portfolio, you will want to make sure yours stands out above the rest. Portfolios can help you Delilah Gamble
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make a great first impression, shows you are serious about the job, and demonstrates that you are able to do technical, quality work. The first time I created an online portfolio, I found little information on what to include in the portfolio and which website to choose from. I have now created several online portfolios to better my outlook from an employer's perspective. You must remember that in order to create a successful portfolio, you must be simplistic, focused on objectives, and include accomplishments. This instructional shows step-by-step guidance of a remarkable way to create your own professional online portfolio for employers to view!
Delilah Gamble
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Step One: Preparation Materials Needed - Computer - Internet - All of your work to showcase Preparation - Your creativity - 2-3 hours of your time Cost - FREE!
Step Two: Gather Samples Your impressive looking portfolio wonʼt serve any meaningful purpose without fantastic content. This step is very important because the materials you include in your portfolio will be what employers are interested in the most! Depending on your major and experiences, you should gather all potential showcase materials. Here is a list of examples for you to include: 1) Background Information • Updated Resume/ Curriculum Vitae • Work philosophies • Diplomas/ Certificates • Degree 2) Coursework • Summary of major projects • Lab reports • Publications • Research experience • PowerPoint presentations
Delilah Gamble
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3) Honors • Scholarships received • Awards • Letters of Recommendation 4) Seminars attended 5) Community service 6) Professional development 7) Transcript Keep in mind that the items you include need to be able to be displayed in a digital format, so be sure to include photos of completed projects. I suggest scanning documents such as letters of recommendation if you do not have the letter in a digital format, or even re-typing the letter to create a document or PDF that can be used in digital formatting. Be sure to save all of your content in Word documents. Also, what you present on your website will create the idea of how employers view you. If you present more of your school work, employers will still view you as a student; if you present more professional experiences then employers will view you more as a professional. If your school work is all the work you have available to showcase, but as you get more and more experiences and projects, I suggest you constantly update your website to phase out school works. Employers donʼt want to spend hours digging through all of your work, so pick and choose your most outstanding items to include in your portfolio. If you have a lot of coursework experience, include only between 7-8 items to showcase.
Delilah Gamble
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Step Three: Choose Your Online Platform Now choose from a website to create your portfolio. Many websites feature online portfolios, but do your research and choose the one that you feel most comfortable with working on and the you will be ready to create an account. I chose Virb because it was easy for me to navigate the site, but there are several to choose from that are also easy for beginners to understand.
Delilah Gamble
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Step Four: Site Title Your portfolio will need to have a title. It is ok to be creative, but it始s important to be as professional as possible. For instance, my first name is Delilah and my last name is Gamble, so I will name my website Delilah Gamble始s Portfolio. This title can be changed later if need be.
Step Five: Choose A Domain Name Now create your website domain. Your website domain is the link where people will be able to view your website online. To get the free version, you can use a subdomain of Weebly.com or Virb.com or Wordpress.com. Otherwise, you can register your new domain for a more professional online presence; however, this does come with a cost. I chose to use my first and last name www.delilahgamble.com. Another good option would be to use www.delilahgamble.virb.com.
Delilah Gamble
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Step Six: Adding Elements This consists of the fundamentals of your site layout. Your site content is added via an element, such as text, pictures, and videos.
Step Seven: Draft Your Homepage Include a brief biography on your homepage with the following information: • • • • • •
Name Major(s)/ minor(s) College attending/ attended Brief summary of experience Anything that you feel would stand out to employers Seeking an internship or full-time position (if applicable)
Keep your biography to a maximum of 7 sentences.
Step Eight: Upload Homepage Image Upload an image on your home page. You want the image on your main page to make a statement. An image of a project you have completed or something that relates to your major is appropriate. Because my major is Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management Masterʼs and a Bachelorʼs of Arts in Theatre, I uploaded a headshot.
Delilah Gamble
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Step Nine: Adding Pages Your site can have as many pages as you would like in addition to your home page. You may choose to have a page for: • • • • • • • • •
Resume Contact Information Coursework Presentations Special Projects Research Leadership & Outreach Contact Form Etc.
Do not exceed 8 different pages.
Step Ten: Resume Link Include a link to a pdf version of your resume. This makes it easier for employers to easily view and print out your resume. Note: If you have created your resume on a Word document, be sure to save it as a pdf version so that the formatting stays the same for whoever opens up your resume.
Delilah Gamble
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Step Eleven: Coursework For the coursework page, first include a title. Include an image of your college's logo at the top of the page to provide for a nice visual. Also, include a brief summary of your experiences. Next list a few of the major courses you have taken and projects/labs/presentations you have accomplished during those courses. Remember, less is more. Do not include ALL of the courses you've taken nor ALL of your labs or projects. Become very selective on what coursework you choose to include.
Step Twelve: Research If you have experience in research, create a page to list your research experience. State the following: • • • • •
When you did the research What kind of research Title of research Supervisor/Advisor Supervisor/Advisor credentials
Step Thirteen: Contact Info
Delilah Gamble
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You want to give employers the ability to contact you! Your contact information has potential to be viewed by the general public. If you do not want your personal information out on the web (like myself), add a "contact form" page. Anyone who would like to contact you can leave their name, email address, and comments. Once they click submit, their information and comments will be sent to your email without them knowing your information. Also, provide links to social media used for professional reasons (LinkedIn). Include a picture of yourself so that when employers see you in person, they will recognize you from your outstanding online portfolio.
Step Fourteen: Publish Portfolio Once your portfolio is perfected, it is time to publish it. Make it live, if the platform that you are using has a “Maintenance Mode� make sure to change that to make your awesome work go live so that you can share your wonderful work with the world!
Step Fifteen: Add Website to Resume Now, it's time to update your resume so that it includes your published portfolio! Include the website address of your portfolio at the end of your resume.
Step Sixteen: Update Portfolio Regularly Update your portfolio regularly so the information on your website is always fresh and relevant.
Delilah Gamble
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