Tyler's Blog: Make yourself visible: Create an ePortfolio

Last blog post, I stated you are a brand. Well, a brand offers no value if it is not visible. LinkedIn is great but don’t stop there. With free sites such as Wix or WordPress, there is no reason to not have a digital presence.

For those of you studying for careers where there is no need or even possibility to create a portfolio, start blogging. Many professional practices, i.e. lawyers and doctors, have begun to blog. It shows expertise and allows a chance to learn even more.

For everyone else, even the process of creating an ePortfolio is helpful. It gives you the chance to learn skills like website design (duh), colour theory, search engine optimisation (SEO), and much more.

According to Global Focus, ePortfolios help students stand out in a crowded job market. It is a digital record of your academic–and professional–achievements, where your creativity and digital savviness can be expressed.

More importantly, at least in my opinion, is the chance for hiring managers and recruiters to have a personalized understanding of you. An experienced professional once told me the personality of an applicant out of university mattered a lot to her. She said with limited experience, it was the personal attributes that she believed to be important. Unlike LinkedIn, an ePortfolio allows you to provide your audience with an in-depth understanding of who you are.

Lastly, efront wrote a brilliant list of six benefits ePortfolios offer. They include:

1. Recognizing learning
2. Recording learning
3. Reflecting on learning
4. Validating learning
5. Planning new learning
6. Assessing learning

I think recognizing learning is overlooked. University life is hectic and sometimes all of the knowledge you have obtained isn’t realized. That awareness can bring confidence. I think reflecting, validating, and assessing learning belong together. Look at what you have learned, reflect, and assess how you did. Could you have done better?

My favourite, though, is planning new learning. Continuous professional development is something you should never stop pursuing and is something I will emphasize in my next blog post.