Getting ready to head out the door for an interview with a new company and unsure of what you should carry along? Interviews can be a huge source of stress for applicants. Worrying about questions that might be asked, the outfit you should wear, things that you should (or should not) say can all make for a very tiring day.
If you have been working in a particular field for a while, or if you have just graduated from a college program that included a lot of hands-on work, one thing that you should consider taking to the job interview is a portfolio.
Applications and GPAs are wonderful paper products that an employer can refer to before, during, and after the interview to determine certain things about the potential employee-such as what classes were taken and how long he or she remained at different jobs-but a portfolio can leave a fresh impression in the employer’s mind that might just put you one step ahead of the other applicants.
Portfolios are compilations of work that you have produced over time, be it on your previous job, during college or in your free time. These examples create a visual for employers to reference, and oftentimes a visual will last much longer in a person’s mind than what you say. You can tell the employer that you designed a beautiful two-story home complete with a waterfall in the backyard, but a photograph of the actual finished product will stand out in the employer’s mind much longer than your spoken description.
You don’t need a lot of samples for the portfolio; simply choose what you feel are the strongest of your works. I’d also include some samples of different types of work. If you are a writer, toss in nonfiction on a variety of subjects, from shoes to plastic surgery, with a sprinkling of fiction on top.
Do you design websites? Include samples of flash, ecommerce and html work.
Are you a hairdresser or makeup artist? Take photographs of people whom you’ve made over.
Most careers offer some type of opportunity to compile examples of work that you have completed, be it writing resumes, developing employee manuals or caring for patients.
If you are a college student, start creating a portfolio now; if you are still working in a job that you enjoy, it doesn’t hurt to build a portfolio either. You never know when you might want to change careers, and if you already have a compilation of work, it will make job hunting a little bit less stressful when the time comes to move on.