newcomer to the software business, because there is a huge amount
to learn about the company and product line just to get up to speed.
Professional presence.This was mentioned in the job advertisement.
The reason it is considered important is because an account execu-
tive has to make presentations to senior executives. The interviewer
will want to know whether someone who has spent her professional
career so far in a sixth-grade classroom can do so and would not be
overwhelmed in such a situation.
Initiative demonstrated outside of classroom.The interviewer will
want to know if Karen is able to take action and be creative outside
of the four walls of her sixth-grade classroom, where she has spent
most of her work life these past ten years.The key will be to have documents available in her portfolio that
will enable Karen to demonstrate that she has these and other impor-
tant P.E.A.K.S. The documents do not have to be self-explanatory.
Karen can interpret the meaning of these documents for the interview-
ers. And she probably will have to do a fair amount of explaining, since
her P.E.A.K.S. were developed and demonstrated in a different field
from the computer industry.CONTENTS OF THIS SAMPLE PORTFOLIO
Resume:This is a P.E.A.K.S. resume that is targeted at the job for
which Karen will be interviewing. The P.E.A.K.S. headings set her up
to discuss and verify P.E.A.K.S. she has that are likely to be considered
desirable in candidates for this position.
P: Personal Characteristics
Teacher Evaluation. The comments at the bottom of this document
praise Karen’s creativity. This form also indicates that Karen’s organi-
zationand planningare rated “excellent.”
Handwritten note from colleague thanking her for fixing computer
glitch.Karen can use this note to discuss the fact that she is the per-
son at the school to whom people are continually turning for help with
their computers. She can then segue into making the point that she is
handy with computers because she is a quick and dedicated learner,
particularly when it comes to computers. As noted earlier, being able to
pick things up quickly is particularly valued in career switchers.
E: Experience
Teacher of the Year certificate. This certificate would help her make the
point that not only does she have the teaching experiencerequired for
the job, she, in fact, has been recognized as being an outstanding
teacher.
A: Accomplishments
Letter from principal congratulating her for getting extra computers.
This is a nice example of Karen showing initiative outside of her class-208 Part II: Examples of Targeted Portfolios