Newsletter of the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter
October/November 2004
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Newsletter of the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter October/November 2004 |
At the July meeting, Dr. Lu Rehling, Director and Advisor for the Technical and Professional Writing (TPW) Program at San Francisco State University, explained why every technical communicator -- and particularly those looking for work -- should have an up-to-date and professional-looking portfolio. With a comprehensive portfolio of quality samples, job seekers can better stand out from other candidates during job interviews, demonstrate how they can meet professional expectations, and establish their credibility and competence.
Dr. Rehling stressed that in putting your portfolio together, you should select and organize your samples carefully. Always save copies of the documents you create for potential inclusion in your portfolio. However, your portfolio should not include everything you have done, especially if you have many years of experience. Instead, a portfolio should highlight your very best work.
When deciding what to include in your portfolio, you should consider the following:
The first major choice is the medium for presenting the portfolio. You have a variety of options:
If you choose a web site or other electronic format, be prepared for situations when a computer or internet connection is not available. In this case, you can use a printed copy as a back-up. If you have a laptop PC, use it to show your web sites or help files or whatever you would like the interviewer to see. Try to avoid having to use the interviewer's computer for your demo. This can be rather awkward, and the interviewer's computer may not have all the hardware or software needed to display your work to its best advantage.
After you have selected your samples and your format, next consider how best to prepare and arrange them. Much of this discussion is geared toward a printed portfolio, but the concepts also apply to an electronic presentation.
Rehling provided the following suggestions for preparing samples:
A variety of containers can be used for your portfolio: binder, art display case, accordion file, sales case, folder, envelope, or box. Whatever one you do choose, it should be easy to take with you to interviews, and its contents easy to present. It should also be easy to insert, remove, or rearrange materials as needed. The container need not be expensive, and a variety of attractive options are available at Office Depot or Staples. If you have more specialized needs, try an art supply store.
As one example, an audience member shared his portfolio, very attractively displayed in a zippered leather binder. He created color-coded tabs to match the Table of Contents. The result was a very professional-looking portfolio.
There are variety of ways to organize your samples. Most common, and possibly the most effective, is to organize your documents around your goals and your strengths. These can be such things as the skills required by the project, the industries for which you’ve worked, or the topic, purpose or audience for the piece. You may also organize your samples around what Rehling called "external" considerations: jobs, clients, reverse chronology, or work projects versus creative writing. The method that will work best depends on your personal situation and the kind of job you’re hoping to get.
Annotate your samples to give the reader some context and to highlight particular challenges and how you successfully addressed them. Rehling suggested discussing the following:
One member of the audience found that it was best to keep the annotations short and sweet. In an earlier version of her portfolio, she had long narratives describing each piece. She found that people were not interested in reading that much text. To improve her portfolio, she replaced the long narratives with short descriptions that used bullet points.
Rehling emphasized how important is to keep your portfolio up to date. You should continually weed out weaker material, showcase any new skills, and reorganize the portfolio to match changes in your career objectives or the types of jobs you're seeking. Everyone, including senior technical communicators with secure jobs, should have an up-to-date portfolio. No job (or anything else in life) is truly secure or certain, so it's always best to be prepared for life's inevitable changes.
The PowerPoint slides for this presentation and a portfolio checklist are available on the San Francisco Chapter STC web site.
Marc Smircich is a senior technical writer with 15 years of experience in documenting human resources, payroll, and financial applications. He is also the Treasurer and Newsletter Editor for the San Francisco Chapter STC.
Copyright © 2004 by the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter (www.stc-sf.org). This article may be reprinted in another STC publication under the provisions of the chapter's copyright policy.