You can’t explain the items in a Web-based portfolio the way you
could in person.In general, portfolio items are best explained in the
context of an ongoing conversation. A single document can reveal many
different facets of your skills and experience. Which of these things you
should emphasize is best determined by the nature of the person you
are talking to and the kind of conversation you are having.
We mentioned earlier that you can use voice-overs and insert text
boxes to give the context for items in your Web-based portfolio and to
explain their relevance. But these explanations are necessarily gener-
ic, as opposed to being tailored to appeal to the particular mind-set of
the viewer who happens to be looking at the item.
If you are on the phone with someone who is looking at your online
portfolio, you can tailor your explanations up to a point. But you are
limited by the fact that you can’t see the other person’s facial expres-
sions in response to what he is looking at and what you are saying.
When you are in a face-to-face meeting, on the other hand, you can
read your interviewer’s facial expressions to help you decide how much
explanation is needed to convince him that an item in your portfolio
demonstrates one of your important P.E.A.K.S.Professional Images
As noted earlier, having a Web-based portfolio does help you project the
image of being up to date and computer literate, which can be quite
useful—particularly if you are hoping to get a job that requires signifi-
cant computer skills.
Having an “all-about-me”Web site, however,mayalso give the im-
pression to some people that you are a person who is too focused on
himself. An “I_am_it.com”Web site could turn some people off as being
too boastful.
When presenting a portfolio during job interviews, you will want
to demonstrate to potential employers that you can help them with
theirproblems. As we noted in Chapter 6, you will want to engage an
interviewer’s interest in you, in part, by listening with empathy to the
interviewer’s description of the issues and problems associated with the
job under consideration. Once you have determined what the key con-
cerns are, you can present several documents from your portfolio as a
way of demonstrating that you can help the interviewer with her prob-
lems. You position yourself not as an all-purpose fantastic person, but
as someone who has P.E.A.K.S. that will be helpful to the interviewer.
If you create a Web-based portfolio, you should make a special ef-
fort to feature the kinds of problems you can help solve, as opposed to
having your Web site look like a digital “Ain’t I Great”brag sheet.Computer Skill Issues
Creating a user-friendly, visually effective Web-based portfolio requires
some computer knowledge. You can get programs that will enable you
to create a Web site, but if this is the first time you have created a Web
site, you will probably need help. For an overview of the technical issues
associated with creating a Web-based portfolio, please see the section
later in this chapter entitled “Hypertext Markup Language (HTML).”132 Part I: Building, Using, and Maintaining Your Career Portfolio