Paperless career management: The advantages of an ePortfolio
Applying to undertake some further study, or to have your qualifications recognised in some way, can become like a paper chase. The search for certificates takes you into parts of the filing cabinet you forgot existed while less significant pieces of paper, such as acknowledgement of taking part in a short training course, may never be found.
Similarly, the frantic attempts you sometimes need to make to gather together enough examples of your work to present a portfolio as a showcase of your skills and talents. At the time you always mean to file things well, but life gets in the way of good intentions!
Then there is the journey that you have been on in your career, significant to you at the time but lost in the dim dark recesses of your memory. Why did you make that career decision? Who knows! What was your motivation when you created that picture, music or sculpture? Can’t remember!
Using an ePortfolio can solve all of these problems. It is an electronic way of managing and storing all your career related documents, artifacts, and information. An ePortfolio can be set up once then used in multiple ways, whenever you need to use it. It can be the secure repository of copies of all of your significant documents, combined with an online resume and examples of your most significant work. It can even provide a place to keep an online journal, one that enables you to link your thoughts with examples of your work, so an artist can have their art work as well as their explanation and rationale for the work all together in one convenient location.
An ePortfolio can be adapted according to your needs, allowing you to only show aspects of it to the public but also allowing you to change what is visible under different circumstances.
If you are still involved in a paper chase every time you need to make some career change or application, or if you simply prefer to utilise the advantages of technology in your life, perhaps it is time to consider an ePortfolio such as vumi.
Jenni Proctor