Unfortunately, you can’t really know in advance all of the possible sit-
uations where you might wish to use your portfolio. And you can’t know
for sure which of your P.E.A.K.S. future employers and clients might be
most interested in. So you would do well when starting out to cast as
wide a net as possible, picking up everything and anything that might
be viewed as giving evidence of one or more of your P.E.A.K.S.Too much ain’t enough.Err on the side of collecting too much,
rather than too little, for your Master Portfolio. If you get too picky
early on, you may reject something that could be quite useful at some
unanticipated future date. Just because you have grabbed an item and
tossed it into the box storing your Master Portfolio documents doesn’t
mean you have made a commitment to using it. You can always discard
that item later on, if over time it does not seem to add any significant
value to your portfolio. So,if in doubt, don’t throw it out, is a good gen-
eral rule to follow when first assembling a Master Portfolio.
If you can’t find a key document, make a note to yourself. As you
start to collect items for your portfolio, all sorts of things will occur to
you. You will remember things you once had but can’t put your hands
on right away. Maybe they are in a relative’s attic or even in another
country. It helps if you can keep a running list of portfolio-worthy items
that you can eventually get a hold of but are not in your possession
right now.
As a general rule, the more recent the document, the more powerful
its effect. We are often asked,“How far back should we go when we are
collecting items for our portfolio?”If you have been out of school for, say,
ten years, documents relating to school activities and accomplishments
will have less impact than similar documents from a recent graduate.
That said, an ancient document that suggests you have always had a
particular talent or personal characteristic that is highly desirable for
the job could be quite powerful. Generally speaking, however, you
should be looking hardest for documents that were generated in the
past five years.
Focus on kinds of documents that might prove particularly useful.
We have found that focusing on documents that fall into one of the
following seven categories can help people find items that exemplify
particularly desirable P.E.A.K.S.:- Bio stats.Documents that give basic information about you. An ex-
ample might be a document showing that you have security clear-
ance. - Targeted task skills.Evidence of skills you have mastered that en-
able you to perform specific tasks. - People skills.Evidence of your ability to work effectively with people:
your ability to handle many different types of people with tact and
skill, to be an effective “team player,”to lead people, and so on. - Learning skills.Evidence of both your ability to learn and your in-
terest in continuing to learn. - Self-management skills. Evidence of your ability to organize and
manage yourself effectively.
Chapter 2: Assembling Your Master Portfolio 17