Zeta Phi Eta prides ourselves in planning professional events that contribute to furthering ourselves in the communication field and building our resume. Professor Joe Peyronnin, an award winning producer and senior executive in broadcast for 40 years at CBS, Fox News, and Telemundo/ NBC News, spoke at our event on How To Build A Portfolio. This event was very useful considering how crucial it is to have a portfolio in this line of work.
The goal of your portfolio should be to paint a picture of who you are, what you’ve done and where you’re headed professionally. Consolidating everything you’ve worked on into one place is essential when it comes to job interviews. There should be a professional aesthetic to your portfolio as a whole and no grammatical mistakes.
Your portfolio should consist of your resume, recommendations, a reference list, awards, grade transcript, internship evaluations and work samples. Work samples include your writing, photography, and video projects. You may need to get permission to use your work if it has been published. You can also include any professional development and training certificates. Another aspect of your portfolio should include your career goals and where you want to end up in the future.
In terms of a physical portfolio, you should have a three-ring binder, plastic sheet protectors for important documents, and a table of contents. Your portfolio should be very organized and attractive while also remembering that less is more. Keep updating it and have another person look at your portfolio for errors and critiques.
An online portfolio can be created on sites like clippings.me, journoprotfolio.com, pressfolios.com, WordPress, and Linkedin.
Constantly updating your portfolio and keeping track of your work can essentially help you organize all of your accomplishments that you would otherwise not be able to include in a single-page resume.