Re: Portfolios and examples

[Joe Malin <jmalin -at- jmalin -dot- com>]

Hi!

I am just now finishing up work on my updated portfolio!

Here's my take:
* I provide no more than five examples. One company I'm interviewing
with asked for no more than three, and specified
   exactly what types they wanted.
   I have worked on printed documentation and online help, so I provide
some of each. I always try to include conceptual,
   procedural, and reference information types. If I know that a
particular position is online-help-intensive, I may substitute
   in a context-sensitive help example.
* I would say that more than five, in general, is too many. It would
depend on the size of each. For printed documentation,
   one or two pages is not enough. If you have a large number of short
documents, such as knowledge base articles, then
   more examples might work.
* I would keep everything that's relevant to the work I do. If you do a
printed reference manual, and then five years later do
   another one, I'd toss examples from the first one and keep the second
one. Be as recent as you can, but keep examples
   that show your breadth of experience.
* *ONLY EXCERPTS*! Only keep enough so that someone can browse through
the entire example and read a page or two.
   For printed manuals, I keep the TOC, index, and glossary (if I did
one) so I can show them if I think it's warranted. Lone
   writers may want to do this to show that they can do the "full monty".
* I keep my portfolio in a three-ring notebook. The pages are encased in
sheet protectors.
* Other notes:
   * I used to store my portfolio on my website, but I have taken it
down until I can secure it.
   * On the other hand, I do set up my portfolio for distribution
through e-mail. I try to tailor a portfolio to a particular
      recipient.

Sharon Smithe wrote:
> I'm working on updating my portfolio.  Right now I've got about 20
> examples in there, but I think that may be too much and will probably
> pare it down.  Most of them are hardware and software documents that
> I've worked on over the past ten years, but some of them look so
> archaic compared to the more modern guides that I don't feel they show
> well anymore, so they will probably be the first to go.
>
> I thought I'd throw these questions out for general discussion.  They
> might be of use to some other writers looking to update and refresh
> their portfolios.
>
> + What kind and how many examples do some of you have in your portfolios?
> + How many examples would you say are too many?
> + How far back would you keep examples from?
> + Do you include entire examples of manuals, or only excerpts?
> + What do you keep your portfolio in?  Art-type portfolio?  Briefcase?
> Grocery bag?   (I've got enough that it requires it's own briefcase
> and then some, which is why I'm looking to take a few things out.)
>
> Discuss!
>
> -----Sharon
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