ORGANIZATIONAL AND CAREER COUNSELING USES
As noted earlier, in addition to individuals using Can-Do Portfolios to
boost their own careers,career counselorsand organizationscan also
make good use of this portfolio system. The following three ways show
how.Use 1: Career Counseling, Placement, and Outplacement
If you are engaged in some aspect of the career counseling/placement
business, having clients develop and use a career portfolio will increase
your ability to help them achieve their career goals and make sound ca-
reer decisions. Your role here is to coach your clients through the
process of creating and using portfolios. A structured way to do this is
to have your clients read sections of this book to get started and then
discuss with them what they have come up with. Here are some of the
expected benefits.
Your clients will have a power tool for getting jobs, raises, and pro-
motions. Hopefully, by now you’re in agreement with the proposition
that a well-targeted career portfolio can be a very powerful tool for mar-
keting oneself in the world of work. Making your clients aware of this
power tool and encouraging them to use it properly will enhance their
ability to get what they want in their careers.
Your clients will be better able to bounce back from adversity.A ca-
reer portfolio, as we will see in the next chapter, is not just a tool for
moving ahead, it’s also an excellent weapon for fighting back from ad-
versity. Not only does having a portfolio enable clients who have been
“beaten up”in the workplace to regain a competitive edge. The process
of assembling a portfolio is, in itself, a great confidence booster, since it
requires a person to review documents that demonstrate his or her ad-
mirable P.E.A.K.S.
Your clients will be able to make better career decisions.As they
create their portfolios, your clients will gain knowledge about them-
selves and the work world, which will help them make career choices
that are right for them.
The process of identifying and assessing documents for their Mas-
ter Portfolio is likely to give your clients a strong sense of what they
like to do and the situations that seem to bring out the best in them.
The process of doing informational interviews to target their port-
folios will help your clients determine which jobs and fields are most
appealing to them and whether or not they have the P.E.A.K.S. to suc-
ceed in these areas. Armed with this self-knowledgeand marketplace
knowledge, your clients will be in a good position to make career deci-
sions that work for them.Use 2: Staffing and Other Human Resource Management Activities
In earlier sections of this chapter, we discussed using Can-Do Portfo-
lios, targeting career P.E.A.K.S., for performance reviews, raises, pro-
motions, and job changes within an organization, all from the individ-110 Part I: Building, Using, and Maintaining Your Career Portfolio
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