Most employers will doubt that you can back up claims you make of your skills and achievements, they will have probably looked through thousands of portfolios when recruiting for jobs and have been let down more than once. When your resume lands on the employer’s desk they aren’t likely to give you the benefit of the doubt no matter how good your claims are so the best way to go is by producing a portfolio which can back up any claims you make in your resume.

What does a portfolio consist of?

A portfolio is simply a collection of your achievements and work which includes classroom, volunteer and internship all neatly put together and presented in a three ring binder which you can then bring with you to interviews that you attend. During interviews you can then present your portfolio to the interviewer to back up what you said in your resume about any experience, skills and education that you have.

For example if you said in your resume that you have excellent communication skills then in your portfolio you can support that statement with examples of work you accomplished that needed excellent communication skills. A portfolio can have other benefits; it can draw the focus from you by presenting it thus relieving stress.

What can I put in my portfolio?

• Any papers or essays that you have written should be included, these will highlight your written communication skills as well as show off your organisational skills.
• Any thank you notes or commendations that you received from any previous jobs should be included as these will back up claims of you being hard working and willing to succeed.
• Any videos of speeches that you have made in previous work, this will highlight how well you can deliver information and show off your people skills.
• Any posters, brochures or advertising material that you made during previous employment, this will show off your design skills and show you have knowledge of the software used to produce the material.

Basically your portfolio is only limited by your imagination and the time you want to spend investing in it but it is a worthwhile investment that very few people bother to do, while it can’t guarantee that it will get you the job it does show that you are willing to put in that little bit of extra effort and time which says something.

The amount of jobs which are being advertised on the internet is rapidly growing in numbers; anyone serious about finding work should have developed a strategy for job searching which includes looking online. The internet is available to you anytime day or night and holds valuable information when looking for jobs such as recruiter’s websites, employer’s websites, online journals and newspapers and employment sites.

Visiting an online employment site can help you with more than just giving you job vacancies it can also help you to build a CV by making use of CV building software. The CV software will take you step by step through the process of building and filling in your CV online.

Once you have built it and got it online then there will be a large pool of recruiters and employers which will have access to your CV, the advantage of using this online software is that it will match the format that the site uses so therefore the search engine that employers and recruiters use to match jobs with people are more likely to match your CV with the work you are looking for.

Many of these sites also have the added bonus of sending you email direct if a match is found for your resume but it is still worthwhile visiting the site yourself to check also.

Your Application letter

Your application letter is used to introduce you and your CV to the potential employer or recruiter; it should contain 3 distinctive parts.

• Your introduction and statement
• Relevance to the job advertised
• A conclusion

Your introduction and statement – This part should clearly state where you found the job, the date you found the job and the job number or reference number with it.

Relevance to the job advertised – This part of your letter should state why you are the best candidate for the job on offer, make sure you have read what the job entails and that you are qualified and can back up any claims you make.

The conclusion – This is the part where you can leave contact details after you have stressed your interest in the job.

Your cover letter

A cover letter is an important part of your CV or resume and you should always submit one alongside your CV or resume, in it you can tell the employer or recruiter of your interest in the job and highlight any special qualifications or skills that you have before recruiters get a chance to read your CV or resume.

While your CV will focus primarily on facts and achievements your cover letter gives you the chance to clarify anything you might has missed out on your CV. You can also use this as a chance to point out what else you could give the employer or company if chosen other than the basics required.