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# Ask the readers: do you keep a portfolio?

Wednesday 21 October 2009
Tagged with

- Learning
- Portfolio
- Reflection
- Personal development
- Professional development
- Ask the readers

Room 800: Police Evidence Room by Sam Teigen

One of my favourite posts so far has been my first Ask the Readers post, so I’ve decided it’s time to continue the series with another request for ideas. I’ve written before about how I kept a digital portfolio as part of my Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education qualification. It’s something that I learned a lot from, particularly in conjunction with learning about learning, and I’ve continued the reflective ethos of that portfolio here on the blog.

But as I’ve come to the end of my current stint of volunteering at the National Trust (on which more in a later post), I’ve been feeling that I want something a bit more than just the shouting into the void that I do here.

I have two difficult tasks ahead:

1. Find a challenging and rewarding job in a very competitive marketplace;
2. Continue to learn and grow outside the structures of formal education.

What I really want, then, is somewhere I can:

- Continue to reflect and learn, even when said reflections aren’t suitable for public consumption;
- Gather a base of evidence for my skills, to draw on when applying for jobs, and to identify gaps for me to work on;
- Access online, from work, home, conferences, etc.;
- Keep private but make available to individuals for PDRs, professional qualifications, etc.;
- Retain control of and keep regular backups of (this stuff’s valuable).

It seems to me like it’s time to resurrect a full portfolio, but as I’m new to this I thought I’d ask for some advice. My question to you is this: Do you keep a professional portfolio and if so, what are your top tips for doing so?

To get the ball rolling, this is where I am at the moment:

- I’ve set up a new blog on my trusty self-hosted Wordpress MU installation;
- For advice I have this advice from the University of Sheffield careers service, the course guide from the PCHE and my other half’s copy of Building Your Portfolio (aimed at qualified librarians seeking chartership).

I look forward to reading your comments and I’ll be sure to summarise them in a blog post next month and continue to keep you informed about my progress.