Are you looking for ways to impress potential employers? A professional portfolio will help you do just that. With our help you can find out how to create a portfolio of evidence and what the benefits are to having one. Get ready to outshine all the other candidates.
What is a Portfolio of Evidence?
All throughout high school you need a portfolio for each subject, showing off the work and tests you did.Well, a portfolio of evidence follows the same principle. As you get older and want to progress in your career, you will need one to showcase your work, accomplishments and skills when applying for jobs. Your PoE is just a digital version.
How to Create a PoE
Creating a portfolio of evidence isn’t as hard as you may think. When searching for tips online, you will be bombarded with endless results. But we have eight steps that will make this process easy and stress free.
1. Short Biography
The first step you should take is to give a brief description of who you are. Your biography should include basic information employees should know about you. This could be your contact information, physical address and an email address.
2. Mission Statement
What do you aim to accomplish in your career? Your mission statement should tell potential employers where you see yourself in the near and distant future. You should also state how you plan on achieving your goals.
3. Career Summary
A career summary is a brief description of your working history. Include positions you have previously held and what your responsibilities were at the time. A good tip would be to include your internships and volunteering experience.
4. Skills and Abilities
Your skills and abilities are what convince employers what you bring to the table. In your PoE, you should have a section that speaks directly about what you are capable of doing and what you excel at. This is your time to shine and prove why you are the best candidate for the position.
5. Professional Achievements
If you have been working in your industry for a number of years, you should have accumulated professional achievements. This can include employee of the year awards or good KPI reviews.
6. Samples of Your Work
The entire point of a portfolio of evidence is to show off your work. When looking through your portfolio, potential employers will be looking for samples of your work. Try and include your best samples to give yourself a better chance of landing the job.
7. Licences and Certifications
There are certain industries that require you to have a certificate or licences. If you have a certificate or licence remember to include it in your portfolio. Do keep in mind some licences do expire and should be renewed.
8. Referrals and Testimonials
Do you receive good feedback on your work? You can use that to your advantage by including it in your portfolio. Remember to ask clients or employers if you can use their feedback or testimonials first.
Benefits to Having a Professional Portfolio of Evidence
Why do you need a portfolio of evidence when you can just tell employers everything during an interview? Well, it actually makes things a lot easier and takes off some of the pressure. Your portfolio gives employers an opportunity to get to know you before even meeting you. But that’s not all. Take a look at these benefits that come with having a portfolio:
- Generates credibility
- Showcase your professional accomplishments
- Sets you apart from other candidates
- A good supplement for verbal explanations
- Helps potential employers visualise your work
The Difference Between a Portfolio and a Resume
There are many similarities between a portfolio and a resume.While they are alike, they each perform their own tasks. . Once you see the differences side by side, you will see why you will need both a portfolio and resume.
Portfolio: Is a visual representation of your work, accomplishments, skills, education, training and experience.
Resume: Is a summary of your education, skills and experience.
Portfolio | Resume |
Examples of your work | Usually two pages in length |
Mission statement | Includes a personal summary |
Link to resume | Has a career summary |
Skills area | Consists of contact information |
Consists of a table of content | Lists skills |
Work philosophy | Has academic history |
How an ICB Course PoE can Help With a Professional PoE
ICB courses are one of the few learning areas that requires you to showcase your work for marks. Yes, there are other courses that require you to do a practical component but they don’t necessarily need a PoE. By doing an ICB course you get an understanding on how your professional portfolio should be compiled. Once you complete your qualification, you will be able to create a portfolio of evidence with ease.
Where to Find ICB Courses
Want to know where you can find these highly spoken of ICB Courses? You can find them right here at Skills Academy. We offer a range of ICB courses that are done in partnership with Bellview Institute. The great thing about studying with us is that all our courses are done via distance learning.
What does this mean? It simply means that you won’t attend any physical classes. All your learning is done from home. But don’t worry, you won’t be alone. All our students have access to online tutors and study groups, so you get the help you need.
Skills Academy is the word support in every way.
Ready to Show off Your Skills?
Start creating your professional portfolio with our help. Enrol in our ICB courses today. Simply contact one of our course experts to get started.
- Contact us for free on 0800 39 0027
- Fill in our online contact form