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ePortfolios

A Career Preparation Activity

An ePortfolio is a digital representation of you and your work. A well developed ePortfolio can demonstrate and showcase your talents, skills, strengths, and qualifications.

Six Benefits of an ePortfolio

One

Building your ePortfolio is a reflective activity that allows you to discover your strengths, most important accomplishments, and the type of work you would enjoy the most.

Two

An ePortfolio provides a picture of who you are, where you are in your professional development, and what sets you apart from competitors.

Three

Creating an ePortfolio builds your confidence for an interview because you have spent time reviewing your experience and identified connections to the position you have applied for.

Four

A well-crafted ePortfolio will demonstrate your tech and communication skills, which are both in high demand.

Five

An ePortfolio allows you to collect important career information in one place and provides the viewer with evidence of your abilities.

Six

An up to date ePortfolio can also help you develop and refine your LinkedIn profile.

Still not sure you need one?

Watch this short video to get an employers perspective on the benefits of an ePortfolios.

Create Your ePortfolio

Things to Consider:

  1. Think about the organization, appearance and general layout of your ePortfolio.
  2. Create separate sections or tabs for topics such as education, experience, references and contact information.
  3. To make viewing your ePortfolio easy, create links to your documents in the cloud to avoid files that need to be downloaded.
  4. Consider the type of position you are applying for when selecting colors, font, and format.
  5. Use meaningful pictures to bring some life to your ePortfolio.
  6. Write good content and keep it up-to-date. Spell check and grammar check and have a friend do the same.
  7. If you have an academic ePortfolio, that may be a good place to start.

Organization of an ePortfolio

The contents and sections or tabs of your ePortfolio will depend on your level of education and professional experience. Below is a list of possible sections or tabs that you may include:

  1. Summary of career values and goals
  2. Professional mission statement
  3. Resumes targeted to specific job sectors and industries
  4. Work samples
  5. Lists of skills and marketable qualities
  6. Work experience and accomplishments
  7. Letters of recommendation, awards, certifications, references and testimonials

Collect Samples of Your Work

Your work samples are as diverse as your background. Upload articles, papers, projects, reports, and publications so your audience can see your work. Consider including graphics, audio and video for further illustration.

Cloud Documents

Saving your documents in the cloud allows viewers to view and print the document, if needed. Here is a short list of some of the documents you might include

  • Resume
  • Letters of recommendation
  • Honors and awards
  • Degrees and diplomas
  • Certifications and licenses

Take a look at a few sample ePortfolios:

Wordpress ePortfolio Sample
Weebly ePortfolio Example
Google Sites ePortfolio Sample
Your turn to

Here is a short list of websites where you can create an ePortfolio:

Behance by Adobe
Crevado
Live Binders
Wordpress

Google Sites ePortfolio Tutorials

If you're familiar with Google Sites watch this very short video:

Not familiar with Google Sites? Watch this in-depth video instead:

What will your ePortfolio say about you?

Reflection

  1. Share your ePortfolio with a friend or family member.
  2. Predict what feedback (positive and negative) they may give you.
  3. Discuss your ePortfolio with them.
  4. Was your prediction correct? If so, update or change the sections noted.
  5. How will you make keeping your ePortfolio current a habit?
  6. How will having a current ePortfolio benefit you?

Explore the K12 Career Education Navigator

The K12 Career Technical Education (CTE) Navigator helps you explore high school courses and career pathways offered across San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. Browse by industry sector, county, school district, and more to find options that match your interests and career goals and see how these pathways can prepare you for college, certifications, apprenticeships, or the workforce.

Explore the K12 CTE Navigator
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Workforce SBCSS

Credits:

Created with images by Tyler Franta - "Man looks at iPad while working near the window of a high-rise building." • Thought Catalog - "We’d love it if you credited our website, www.thoughtcatalog.com, if you use our image." • Jakob Owens - "Nikon In The Cold" • Chris Liverani - "Handshake" • Luke Southern - "Purple phone on purple background" • Corinne Kutz - "Working Hands" • Kon Karampelas - "iPhone displaying social media apps " • UX Store - "This photo is taken by Lubos Volkov for UX Store while giving a tips on how to become better designer. After your reach certain skill level is it harder and harder to get any better … In order to progress you need to constantly push yourself to the limits and learn new things … Photo: https://www.instagram.com/lubosvolkov/ For: https://uxstore.com" • Green Chameleon - "Designer sketching Wireframes" • Sharon McCutcheon - "Pile of mail waiting to be sorted and shredded." • Lewis Keegan - Skillscouter.com - "graduation certificate " • Nikhil Mitra - "untitled image" • Charles Deluvio - "Google search" • Markus Spiske - "Minolta camera" • John Schnobrich - "what’s going on here"