Digital Portfolios in Smaller Institutions

Willis, L., & Wilkie, L. (2009). Digital career portfolios:  Expanding institutional opportunities.  Journal of Employment Counseling, 46, 73-81.

Digital career portfolios:  Expanding institutional opportunities

In this article, the authors discuss the recent trend that digital portfolios are replacing paper-based resumes, cover letters, and portfolios and the perception that e-portfolios may promote career development.  Digital portfolios allow students to be more creative and transfer their experiences into “interactive, meaningful displays of performance” (74).  Digital portfolios can even link coursework, program goals, and institutional outcomes. 

Some larger universities with well-funded portfolio projects:

• Florida State University (http://www.career.fsu.edu/portfolio/index.html)
• University of California at San Diego (http://career.ucsd.edu/sa/portfolio.shtml)
• Penn State University (http://portfolio.psu.edu/)

This article examines a smaller institution without the funding, administrative support, or technical support available to large-scale projects and discusses how similar institutions can provide the same opportunities to students.

To develop a digital portfolio program for technology support majors, a department committee set goals for “the development of formative and summative portfolio assessment tools, a Web portal and portfolio template, and a plan to help students understand the interconnections between individual courses and the technology support curriculum as a whole” (75). 

The institution created a Web portal with a main page linked to secondary pages to provide an introduction and information on expectations for students during the portfolio development process.  They also developed a template to provide guidance for students and consistency for faculty.  Eleven standards were integrated in the program along with a list of core courses and competencies.  A personal/informational page was also included in the Web portal to address potential employers with video clips and multimedia to display accomplishments.   

Next, the department committee developed a standardized rubric to function as an assessment tool for all student portfolios because they thought a less-structured approach would allow students to express their creativity throughout the process.  Students would receive an updated rubric at each advising session and a summative portfolio evaluation by a faculty panel during their final academic year. 

The project was introduced as a pilot test in a senior seminar class.  It was received favorably by faculty and students.  According to the authors, e-portfolios provided students with “applied, real-world career connections” (78).  The final phase of implementation was introducing the project to incoming freshmen through the initial core course.  Faculty members serve as advisers and upperclassmen serve as peer mentors throughout the digital portfolio development process.

• The authors provide a list of factors to consider for smaller institutions:Space, Storage Cost, and Technical Support
• They used underutilized server space and the technical skills of senior students.  Upon graduation, students transferred their portfolios to CD-ROMs or DVDs to release server space.

• Design Issues and E-Portfolio Creation
• Students need initial training on Web editing, design, and software programs.
• A template should be available to maintain consistency.
• Students need access to multimedia software products.
• Consider open source development initiatives like this one:  University of Minnesota at Duluth (http://eportfolio.d.umn.edu/)

In conclusion, this project discovered that digital portfolios “enhance a student’s understanding of career development guidelines” in the following areas:  personal, educational and career goal assessment; educational achievement and lifelong learning; decision-making processes in career development; and the assessment of academic, occupational, and employability skills (79).

Perceptions of Electronic Employment Portfolios

Temple, V. A., Allan, B., & Temple, W. N. (2003). Employers’ and students’ perceptions of electronic employment portfolios.  Retrieved from http://www.aare.edu.au/03pap/tem03523.pdf

Employers’ and students’ perceptions of electronic employment portfolios

The authors of this article state that there are two types of portfolios:  working portfolios and selection portfolios.  This study focuses on:

1. the strengths, weaknesses, and impediments to the effective use by students of electronic portfolios as a means of systematic reflection and presentation of professional competence
2. prospective employers satisfaction with the structure and content of electronic portfolios as an aid in employment selection processes.

This research is based on quantitative and qualitative data.  Student perceptions were obtained through a questionnaire while employer perceptions were examined during a focus group interview.

While working portfolios may be a complete historical record, selection portfolios are created for a specific purpose.  One such purpose is to document professional accomplishments and competence as part of an employment selection process (3).

As working and selection portfolios contain large amounts of data, creators are increasingly moving to electronic form.  Electronic portfolios have the potential to contain text, graphics, audio, and video elements.  They make it easier to keep and review large amounts of material (Huba & Freed, 2000) and are considered more flexible by enabling artifacts to be integrated in more ways (Heath, 2002).

The students surveyed in this study were part of the Physical Education Action Research (PEAR) group formed in the Division of Exercise Sciences in the School of Medical Sciences at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in December 2001.  The intent of the PEAR project was to enhance the employability of students in the Bachelor of Applied Science in Physical Education program by “identifying discipline specific graduate capabilities, mapping those capabilities within the existing program, identifying areas for renewal, and embedding the identified capabilities into a renewed program” (4).  The aim of the project was to implement a program-wide portfolio system.

Within the system, students developed a working portfolio which was integrated throughout the degree program and several specific portfolios including an employment portfolio.  The employment portfolio could then be presented to prospective employers. 

The employment portfolio addressed five specific dimensions of teaching from the ACHPER Professional Competencies for Beginning Teachers of Secondary Physical Education Years 7-12 framework (ACHPER Victorian Branch Inc., 2001).

• professional responsibilities
• content of teaching and learning
• teaching practice
• assessment and reporting of student learning
• interaction with the school and broader community

The portfolios also contained a written cover letter and curriculum vitae.  They were designed to demonstrate student competence, provide examples, offer reflections, and give a strategic plan for future learning and development.  The electronic portfolio was submitted on a CD-ROM.

The PEAR project sought answers on the following questions about the development of student electronic portfolios:

• What skills/competencies were developed as a result of the use of electronic portfolios by students?
• Were the students, staff and prospective employers satisfied with the structure of the electronic portfolio system?
• What were the strengths and weaknesses of the electronic portfolio?

Methodology
Student Participants
34 final year physical education students enrolled in the Bachelor of Applied Science (Physical Education) at RMIT University

Student Questionnaire
The specific questionnaire for this segment of the project covered five areas related to the development of electronic portfolios during the year.

1. Student’s confidence in using information communications technology prior and after developing their portfolio
2. Usefulness of the learning materials
3. Student’s confidence and skill in preparing applications for employment
4. Perceptions of the links between the assignment and the world of work
5. Recommendations for the process of developing electronic portfolios

At the end of their final semester, students presented their electronic portfolios to staff and other students.  After their presentation, they completed the questionnaire which contained 37 questions.  The majority of questions were closed questions, 25 used a 9-point Likert-type scale, nine questions were designed as 7-point semantic differential scales ranging from Novice to Expert, and three questions were open-ended questions.

Results
After developing an electronic portfolio, students felt “very confident they could successfully address elements of a job application” and they indicated that the process of developing an electronic portfolio contributed significantly to their abilities (6).  Students agreed with questionnaire statements that the “electronic portfolio would enhance their employment prospects.”  In response to an open-ended question asking for any other comments, 25 out of 33 students said the assignment was useful and good preparation for job interviews (7). 

Employer Focus Group Interview
Participants
4 principals or vice-principals
1 representative of the Department of Education and Training 
3 representatives from the Australian Council for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation

Two moderators conducted the 90-minute interview which was tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim.

The purpose of the interview was for stakeholders to offer perspectives on the strengths and weaknesses of electronic portfolios, their satisfaction with the content and structure, and the efficacy of electronic portfolios as employment tools. 

Results
Participants felt there was too much information in the portfolios to use for initial screening of applicants.  It would be preferable if students collected evidence in a working portfolio and then selected relevant examples to meet the selection criteria of a particular school.  They also said that they might be more interested in examining portfolios of applicants already on the short list.

One element of an electronic portfolio of particular interest to participants was evidence of teaching experience via video clips.  The idea of an electronic portfolio was more enticing if they could see something that they could not see on paper. 

Other advice from the focus group included the addition of site maps and hypertext links that changed color.  They also wanted the portfolios available on the web.  Several participants thought it would be helpful to search for prospective employees on a website. 

Research and Development of Electronic Portfolios

Abrami, P.C., & Barrett, H. (2005).  Directions for research and development on electronic portfolios.  Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, 31(3).  Retrieved from http://www.cjlt.ca/index.php/cjlt/article/viewArticle/92/86

Directions for Research and Development on Electronic Portfolios

Let’s first think about the key questions of this article as listed by the authors:

• What are the types and characteristics of electronic portfolios?
• What are the outcomes and processes that electronic portfolios support for their creators?
• What are the contexts in which electronic portfolios are most effective and worthwhile?
• Who are electronic portfolio users/viewers and how do we provide appropriate professional development to encourage correct adoption and widespread and sustained use?
• What do we know and need to know about technical and administrative issues?
• What is evidence of electronic portfolio success?
• How do we move forward with funding and infrastructure?

Next, I would like to focus on their responses to the questions most relevant to my area of study. 

What are the types and characteristics of electronic portfolios?
To introduce their research, Abrami and Barrett define an electronic portfolio as “a digital container capable of storing visual and auditory content including text, images, video and sound.”  This paper is focused on three broad purposes of electronic portfolios:  process, showcase, and assessment.

The authors view process portfolios as “personal learning management tools” that are intended to encourage or promote “individual improvement, personal growth and development, and a commitment to life-long learning.” 

One example of a process portfolio is found in the five stages identified by the QESN-RÉCIT (2004): (1) collection, (2) selection, (3) reflection, (4) evaluation and (5) celebration.  Try this link for more information:   http://www.qesnrecit.qc.ca/portfolio/port _eng.html.

Showcase portfolios are all about demonstration.  In addition to describing learning outcomes, a showcase portfolio can illustrate them.  Achievements are demonstrated through skills and accomplishments.

The focus of assessment portfolios is evaluation or judgment from an external source.  They may include lifelong or prior learning, personal reflections, and trainings.  Along with virtual demonstrations, assessment portfolios may also contain scoring rubrics, templates, and benchmarks. 

In a broad sense, some may consider electronic portfolios as virtual identities or digital archives.  The the concept of “portfolio for life,” electronic portfolios may include:  health and medical records; financial and tax records; legal documents; work-related, career, and professional activities; the family scrapbook(s) and personal diaries or storybooks; social binders of friends and colleagues; records of hobbies and extracurricular activities.

What are the outcomes and processes supported by electronic portfolios?
Whether created by students, workers, teachers, or managers, portfolios provide documentation for learning and, therefore, the authors consider learning to be the most important use of electronic portfolios.  In turn, they consider the most important research to be about the outcomes and processes supported by electronic portfolios. 

The authors’ thoughts on further research:  “Methodological complications and controversies challenge researchers in this area. First, there is the question about whether a quantitative or qualitative research paradigm is appropriate for answering questions about EP impact. Second, there is the question about the instructional sensitivity of traditional learning measures to EP effects, particularly, among those who argue for EPs as alternative and/or authentic tools for assessment. Finally, there is the question about the strength and pervasiveness of the EP treatment. EPs are not curricular content but tools for learning content.”

Who are electronic portfolio users and viewers?
While this paper focuses on educational purposes and names the viewer of electronic portfolios as teachers, faculty, principals, educational administrators, parents, and peers, it also mentions that users of may be “employers, managers, and others wishing to examine evidence concerning the competencies of a person to undertake a job or the competencies of a person once hired.”

Evidence of success?
The authors examine criteria that could be used to determine the success of electronic portfolios.  The criteria include:

• scalability (the extent of wide use)
• satisfaction (sustainability and long-term maintenance)
• cost versus benefit, worthiness, efficiency, or return on investment
• learning gains and effectiveness (personal enrichment)
• the number of accurate prior learning assessments and successful job placements or advancements 

Portfolio Use in the Teacher Hiring Process

Perceptions Regarding the Efficacy and Use of Professional Portfolios in the Employment of Teachers

Deering, T., Hardy, S., Jones, S., & Whitworth, J. (2011). Perceptions Regarding the Efficacy and Use of Professional Portfolios in the Employment of Teachers. International Journal of ePortfolio, 1(1), 95-106.

In recent years, portfolios have been increasingly promoted as essential tools for employment and career advancement as advancements in technology have turned to digital or electronic portfolios.  Electronic portfolios are more efficient, flexible, and convenient.  Previous studies found that school administrators felt that portfolios provided a more comprehensive understanding of teaching abilities.
 
This study explores the perceptions of school administrators and teacher educators on the use of portfolios for hiring new teachers.  The authors focused on three questions:

1. What are the perceptions of school administrators and teacher educators regarding the value and use of portfolios in the employment of teachers? 
2. What are the perceptions of school administrators and teacher educators regarding the quality and accuracy of teaching portfolios in documenting applicants’ teaching skills?
3. What are the perceptions of school administrators and teacher educators regarding the problems and barriers in the use of teaching portfolios in the hiring process?

While electronic portfolios (ePortfolios) are currently required in many teacher education programs for use in the employment process, it is unclear if school administrators value their use in making hiring decisions. 

To answer the questions, a survey instrument was developed consisting of twenty-one items including ranking, rating, multiple choice, and short answer questions and concluding with one open-ended response item allowing further comments or observations. 

A total of 988 teacher educators and 624 school administrators were identified in Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Missouri, and Illinois through websites, attendance lists from professional conferences, and state education agencies.  An email request was sent with an explanation of the study and a link to the online survey.  A follow-up email was sent approximately one month later.  Of the 988 requests sent to teacher educators, 127 participants responded.  Of the 624 school administrators, 41 responded.

One of the first interesting results is that 50.5% of teacher educators believe their graduates are using digital portfolios in the hiring process while only 17.5% of school administrators report them being used.  The authors noted some possible reasons for teacher candidates still presenting paper-based portfolios:

• Teacher preparation programs use ePortfolios for other purposes and don’t stress them as employment tools.
• Teacher candidates may not feel as comfortable using digital portfolios in job interviews.

The results also found that the majority of schools do not require portfolios as part of the hiring process and very few gave preference to hiring candidates with portfolios.  While teacher educators and school administrators agreed that portfolios are given some weight in hiring decisions, they are not given as much consideration as several other factors. 

There was some agreement that portfolios can “accurately reflect a teacher candidate’s teaching ability and skills” and both groups agreed on the “quality of portfolios in terms of their appearance, format, and technical components” (99).  Portfolios were rated as well-organized, creative, and interesting, but the respondents didn’t believe that they present an accurate reflection of teaching skills.

In regards to the hiring process, portfolios were ranked seventh in importance by teacher educators and eighth by school administrators.  This shows that portfolios are considered useful, but not as useful as direct observation, responses to interview questions, actual experience, reputation, information from previous employers and other direct sources. 

While school administrators found definite value in using portfolios to make hiring decisions, they do not believe that they give accurate information on teaching ability (100).  One of the perceived barriers of using portfolios in the hiring process is a lack of time for review and in regards to this barrier, some administrators remarked that electronic portfolios would be preferred.

Recommendations from the authors of this study:

1. Teacher applicants should reduce the amount of time it takes school administrators to view portfolios.
2. Various forms of portfolios should be produced for different purposes rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
3. The focus should be accurate documentation, not “bells and whistles” of style.
4. School administrators should be more involved in the design and development of portfolios in teacher education programs.
5. To increase the value of portfolios as employment tools, education programs should focus on how to use the portfolio and not just the development process.  Portfolios should be integrated in the hiring process rather than existing as a stand-alone component.
6. More wide-spread use of ePortfolios as opposed to paper-based portfolios would alleviate several barriers such as the time factor, flexibility, convenience, and even the criticism of “sameness” among formats. 

Digital Footprints

Madden, Fox, Smith and Vitak. Digital Footprints. Washington DC: Pew Internet & American Life Project, December 16, 2007.
http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2007/Digital-Footprints.aspx

My previous blog was about research from 2010 that frequently referenced a prior project on digital footprints in 2007, so here is a summary on that article.

The age of Web 2.0 changed the nature of personal information online as basic contact information moved toward photos, videos, and blogs voluntarily posted on the Internet.  At the time of this study, Internet users were becoming more aware of their digital footprint, but few monitored their online presence.  In fact, only 3% said they made self-searching a regular habit. 

The authors divided online adults into four categories based on their level of concern about online information:

• Confident Creatives-  17% say they actively upload content, but do not worry about the availability of their information online.  They take steps to limit their personal information.

• Concerned and Careful-  21% are concerned about their personal information available online and proactively take steps to limit their online data.

• Worried by the Wayside-  18% do not actively limit their online information even though they are anxious about how much is available.

• Unfazed and Inactive-  43% do not worry about their personal information online nor take steps to limit the content that can be found about them. 

Basic information used to be limited to contact information such as a phone number and mailing address, but blogs and social networking sites have expanded online information to include photos, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, affiliations, videos, descriptions of daily life activities, and much more.  Being “findable and knowable” online is now considered an asset (4). 

At the time of this study, public personae were no more likely than other Internet users to create a social networking profile.  As of December 1, 2007, the top three social networking sites in the U.S. according to traffic rankings were MySpace (No. 3 overall), Facebook (No. 5,) and LinkedIn (No. 34).  It’s safe to assume that these rankings have changed dramatically over the last few years and a comparison would be very interesting. 

The idea wasn’t receiving a lot of attention yet, but here’s what the authors had to say about online information used in the job search:  As professional and personal information about job candidates, service providers and other prospective co-workers becomes increasingly accessible online, employers and others who may influence a decision to hire someone have started to turn to the Web as part of the reference-checking process. However, the potential for candidate research goes both ways; prospective employees can also find out more about places where they are interviewing for jobs, who their co-workers might be, and what praise or complaints former employees may have shared online (26).

The authors acknowledge that few Internet users were routinely managing their digital identity at the time of this study, but it was not an urgent need for them.  The Internet’s role in our lives continues to change and many are learning through experience.  In the future, will we be more forgiving of embarrassing content online?  Will we be less trusting of information online?   

Here’s a short glossary of terms that appeared in this research:

• Passive Digital Footprint: Personal data made accessible online with no deliberate intervention from an individual (3).
• Active Digital Footprint: Personal data made accessible online through deliberate posting or sharing of information by the user (4).
• Public Personae: Adult internet users who have jobs that require self-presentation or self-marketing online (8).
• “First degree” personal information includes material about you that you knowingly provide (18). 
• “Second degree” personal information is material about you that may not be connected to your real name or is provided by someone else, with or without your knowledge (18).

Reputation Management and Social Media

Madden, Mary, and Aaron Smith. Reputation Management and Social Media How People Monitor Their Identity and Search for Others Online. Washington DC: Pew Internet & American Life Project, May 26, 2010. 
http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Reputation-Management.aspx

In the realm of online reputation management, users want to have control over their information, but they often take the easier or faster route when managing their profiles and other content.  This generally means accepting the default privacy settings or skimming the “terms of service” agreement without much regard.  Why are users so quick to accept the default?  It is the assumption of “privacy through obscurity.”
 
So how much information is really out there?  Forty-four percent of employed Internet users say that details about their employer are posted online, 42% say that a photo of them is available, 33% say that their birthdate is available, 12% that their cell phone number is available, 10% that a video of them is available, and a large segment of the population was uncertain about what information was available about them online.  Yet seven in ten online adults have searched online for information about other people (34).

As online reputation management becomes more complex, it seems that Internet users are less worried about the amount of information available about them, but online reputation matters; 44% of online adults have searched for information about someone whose services or advice they seek in a professional capacity (36).  People are now more likely to work for an employer with policies about their online presentation while co-workers and business competitors can also monitor each other.

Twenty-seven percent of employed Internet users work for an employer that has policies about how they present themselves online (12).  This includes content they can post in blogs or other websites and what information they can share about themselves. 

Only 12% of Internet users post information about themselves as a marketing strategy for their job.  This is called “public personae” and the group is more active in monitoring search results connected to their names, receive a higher ranking in search results, are bigger users of social media, and are more likely to request the removal of content that others post about them (13). 

On a positive note, online reputation monitoring via search engines has increased.  Here’s a summary from this research:

57% of adult internet users now use search engines to find information about themselves online and…

• They take steps to limit the amount of personal information available
• They change privacy settings - 71% of social networking users ages 18-29 have changed the privacy settings on their profile to limit what they share with others online.
• They delete unwanted comments 
• They remove their name from photos

Social networking users are making changes too…

• 65% of adult social networking users have changed the privacy settings
• 56% have “unfriended” contacts in their network
• 52% have kept some people from seeing certain updates
• 36% have deleted comments that others have made on their profile
• 30% have removed their name from tagged photos 

Of greater concern to my own topic, it is now likely that your Facebook profile may get more traffic than your resume, professional accomplishments, or biography.  Could the development of an electronic portfolio compete for traffic and allow Internet users to create professional online reputations?

Online Reputation in a Connected World

“Data Privacy Day,” Microsoft Privacy, accessed March 5, 2010, http://www.microsoft.com/dataprivacyday.

“Data Privacy Day,” Microsoft Privacy, accessed March 5, 2010, http://download.microsoft.com/download/C/D/2/CD233E13-A600-482F-9C97-545BB4AE93B1/DPD_Online%20Reputation%20Research_overview.doc.

This study was conducted for and presented during the Data Privacy Day 2011 to examine the expanding role of personal and professional online reputations including the use of such information in hiring and recruiting practices. 

It is acknowledged that people are increasingly using Internet technologies to share content for purposes related to friendship, dating, and even careers, but how significant is the role of online reputations in hiring practices?

This report was commissioned by Microsoft and Cross-Tab conducted research in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States between December 10 and 23, 2009.  They interviewed approximately 275 recruiters, human resources professionals, and hiring managers and approximately 330 consumers in each country. 

Highlights from this study show that recruiters and HR professionals are checking online sources to learn about potential candidates and some companies have made online screening a formal requirement in their hiring process.   In the United States, 70% of the surveyed recruiters say they have rejected candidates due to online information while only 7% of consumers think online date affects their job search.

That statistic is only the beginning of the discrepancies between recruiters and consumers in the United States.  Only 15% of U.S. consumers surveyed think it is very appropriate for employers to review photo and video sharing sites while 59% percent of recruiters and HR professionals surveyed check these sites.
 
The study concludes that the use of online reputations in hiring decisions will increase dramatically over the next five years.  A major concern is type of information now available online.  Information about family, political or religious affiliations, financial situations, and other topics have been restricted from traditional hiring practices, but now, recruiters can anonymously collect such information online and this survey found that it is already happening.  More research is needed to understand the legality of collecting information about online reputations. 

Consumers surveyed tend to underestimate the impact of their online reputation and the extent to which recruiters are viewing online information.  While most consumers are managing their online reputation to some extent, between 30% and 35% don’t believe that online reputation impact their personal or professional lives.

It’s not all bad because positive online reputations make a difference too.  Among the U.S. recruiters, 85% said that a positive online reputation influences their hiring decisions to some extent and nearly half said that a strong online reputation influences their decisions to a great extent.

I believe that electronic portfolios could be the key to building a strong online reputation…

Microsoft provides some great resources through their research.  Check out their website to learn more.  http://www.microsoft.com/dataprivacyday

Social media gets the interview… or not

As technical communicators, we will all create one piece of documentation which is critically important to our careers:  a resume.  Every click on the Internet shows another article with six ways to get your resume to the top of the interview pile and eighty-four blunders that will put your resume underneath the pile.  You’re getting ready to submit the perfectly tailored, action phrased, customized to the company, but still suited to you piece of paper that is your resume edited for the 984^th time and you suddenly realize that everyone reads those articles.  Everyone knows the rules.  There’s only so much you can do to make your piece of paper look better than their piece of paper.  We’re all looking for a new trick to make us stand out in the crowd and you’ve already used every imaginable action verb in your resume.  What else can you do? 

The rise of social media has brought many jobseekers and employers online, but there is a more professional option than becoming Facebook friends with the hiring manager.  Create an online portfolio to showcase your skills and display your work experience with multimedia examples.  Link your portfolio to a professional networking site liked LinkedIn, email it directly to hiring managers, and even add it to your paper resume. 

Social media is blurring the lines between personal and professional profiles, so it’s time for you to take charge of your online reputation.  While many jobseekers are taking their search online, very few realize that employers are online too.  Approximately eighty percent of employers say they look at job candidates online while only ten percent of jobseekers think it happens.  What are employers finding?  Facebook pictures from Friday night, Twitter posts about your miserable job, and that long-forgotten MySpace account are among the top results.  Maybe you haven’t used MySpace in years, but that doesn’t mean new content hasn’t been posted and it certainly doesn’t mean that content won’t reflect on your online reputation. 

Your online reputation influences hiring decisions.  Some employers referred to inappropriate comments, unsuitable photos, or membership in certain groups as concerns.  Imagine yourself walking into a job interview.  Would you print posts and photos from your Facebook profile to share with the screening committee?  That is essentially what happens when you freely post your personal life online without recognizing privacy and security settings.  While social media crosses the fence into the professional world, it is up to you to maintain a professional online reputation.  Controlling your privacy settings and only sharing personal information with friends is a good place to start, but building an online portfolio is a big step in the right direction.  Imagine yourself walking into a job interview with a showcase of your previous work samples and volunteer experience.  That’s the difference when your top result in a search engine is an electronic portfolio versus a social media profile.    

An electronic portfolio is your own website and it’s not limited to one or two pages like a standard resume.  Expand on your skills, display samples of your work, and use your personality.  This is about you, not just what you do.  Your talent and skills may very well expand through experience other than your employment history.  Maybe it’s a hobby or volunteer experience that doesn’t have a place on your resume.  This is a showcase of your life, not just your job, and it is meant to demonstrate your abilities.

Imagine your painstakingly flawless piece of paper is head-to-head with an equally precise piece of paper, but only one will be invited for an interview.  It’s an impossible decision until the employer notices the link to your portfolio.  What’s this?  It’s your advantage and it just transformed you from a piece of paper to an actual person.  

...and my research starts here.