Online Portfolios Lawrence Gulston

What is an online portfolio?  A website that you design to show your accomplishments using  text  visuals  slideshows  video 2Luchuk Communications personal logo

Why an online portfolio?  Most employers now prefer to view a job candidate’s work samples and personal history online  You have more space to provide lots of detail about yourself and to give an employer a sense of your skilled and enthusiastic personality  The way you design your online portfolio demonstrates skills in graphic and web design. 3Luchuk Communications

Online portfolio websites  Examples of websites for creating your own online portfolio  Carbonmade  Behance  Dunked  Coroflot  AllYou Luchuk Communications4

Wordpress.com  Best value  Free account gives you blog or portfolio website  Lots of support, tutorials, FAQs  Well designed website themes, news, forums & features  Complete management software for custom domains Luchuk Communications5

Making a Portfolio Online  Making a website on these host websites is easy  BUT  Making it good is not! Learn to design!  You must do more than showcase your achievements  You have to convert visitors into employment opportunities  Here are the key elements: Luchuk Communications6

Know Your Audience & Purpose  Audience: the employer  The employer wants to see your work  So showcase your projects that got the best reactions from professors or clients or just friends & family.  Be selective. Put up only the best work on your website.  Purpose: what is the goal? For example,  getting a job, starting a career  keeping a flow of work coming in  building relationships, networking Luchuk Communications7

Design Carefully  Keep it simple and focussed on content.  Use more white space and fewer decorations.  Check it out in different browsers.  Invent a logo and tagline.  Create a variety of possible layouts and choose the best.  Select only your best work and describe how you created each project.  Get testimonials from professors, teachers, supervisors or clients. Luchuk Communications8 Printed by me, shipped to you. With love.

Luchuk Communications9 Single level of organization Summary of qualifications What does her portrait tell you about Jana Remy? Name prominent at top left

Luchuk Communications10 Single level of organization Includes video BIO – summary of qualifications What does his portrait tell you about Ian F. Hunt?

Build Easy Navigation  An essential feature for busy employers  Include the fewest possible sections with the fewest levels of navigation Luchuk Communications11 On this portfolio home page, just three other sections are listed across the top, easy to spot and click, then a short description of the studio with three more links to samples of her work.

Write Clearly  Only write what is useful.  Keep to the point. Don’t ramble.  Edit text down to the minimum to cover content.  Put your best content at the front (home page, top of a page).  Include writing samples (in PDF).  The right tone: relaxed and friendly.  Be clear and coherent.  Let your personal style show. Luchuk Communications12

Assert Your Personality  Home (Index) Page  who you are and  what you do  link to About Me page  About Me  education, experience, photo, goals, interests, and online resume.  This where potential employers go for answers to essential questions about the real you.  Share your point of view and how you became interested in doing this kind of work.  Use details that demonstrate your connections to other professionals. Luchuk Communications13

Luchuk Communications14 Relaxed, friendly, informative

Add links  Connect your social media accounts to your site.  LinkedIn (essential), Facebook (clean), Twitter, Pinterest, etc.  Add a blog.  Add a detailed Contact page with all your contact information  Phone numbers (especially mobile number for texting)  s (use a formal one for employer contact, ie. One with your name in it, not an alias)  Mailing address, etc. Luchuk Communications15

LinkedIn: Enhance Your Profile  Add an attractive background graphic (design or landscape photo, etc.)  Add a good portrait photo, head and shoulders only  Fill in all the fields and add supporting files to demonstrate skills  Summary: best qualifications  Experience: paid work  Courses: special certifications e.g. NAUI scuba, bronze medallion, etc.  Honours & Awards  Publications (if any)  Volunteer Experience & Causes  Projects: current and past, individual or group work  Languages  Skills: ones you can legitimately claim and other people in your network can endorse.  Education: high school and college  Interests: these become links to connect with people with same interests Luchuk Communications16

LinkedIn: Build Connections  Grow your network.  Search for people you know now or knew in the past: teachers, co-workers, classmates, or friends.  People You May Know: suggested connections based on the people already in your network.  Keep In Touch: send messages (e.g. Congratulations) to contacts. Talk about your job search.  Find Alumni: especially for the college graduate. Important connections; they know about jobs not posted. Luchuk Communications17

LinkedIn: Look for Jobs  Set your preferences: location, size of company, etc.  Search by job title, company, location, etc.  Discover jobs in your network, based on your profile information  Save job postings and searches  Review past applications Luchuk Communications18

LinkedIn: Explore Your Interests  Companies  Inform yourself about their current activities  Groups  Explore your interests and join discussions about things you know about.  Follow companies and organizations you want to work for  Pulse  Follow the posts of people whose ideas make a difference  Explore and follow Channels and Influencers (shows you’re interested in current ideas and developments)  Education  Find new opportunities for education or connect with groups at your school Luchuk Communications19

Update regularly  Keep your portfolio fresh.  Add new experience, work projects, community work, and so on as it happens.  Update social media content daily or weekly.  Keep it clean (no sex, drugs, or rock ‘n roll). Luchuk Communications20

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