Re: what's in a portfolio?

[John Posada <john -at- TDANDW -dot- COM>]

Hi, Miki.

I'd like to address a couple of points that I disagree with (nothing
personal, only based on experience), and the reader can pick the most
appropriate direction.

>
> Make sure the portfolio itself is good-looking. You don't need a leather =
> one, or lots of bucks. Even a plain vanilla 3-ring binder with your own =
> cover can look good. Use some nice color-border paper and make a well-desig=

I did invest alot in the binder, probably about $40-$50. That probably
equates to less than you earn in one or two hours on the job. This was
about 4 years ago. It still looks good, the zipper still works like new,
the leather still shines, but the most important, the three rings still
close tight and still align straight. For those that have used less than
the best binders, wsn't it true that the rings lost alignment or gapped,
spilling the content at the wrong time? Eliminate anything that could
turn into a distraction during your S&D.

You are spending the money on yourself toward your career. Who deserves
it more?


> ned cover. Make several, depending on the kinds of jobs you might apply =
> for. A cover for a marketing job, for example, could have the glitz that =
> would be inappropriate for a software documentation job.=20

Yesterday, I went on a job interview. It went 3 1/2 hours without a
break..4pm to almost 7:30. I was interviewed by a succession of 5
different people from all parts of the company. You know the drill...the
openning act was the Director of HR, sprinkled in were some product
managers, and the closer was a SrVP. (I must admit, it was both tiring
and thrilling at the same time, and they actually asked interesting
questions!)

Since this was a tech writing job for software and hardware
documentation, using the suggestion above, I would have gone in with a
certain colection of samples. However, it turned out that the position
would involve hardware documentation, software documentation, and also
proposals, marcom, and web pages.  Had I not had the whole range with
me, I would not have been able to address all their issues. OTOH, by
having them, I was able to and also created the impression of a diverse
range of skills.

If you have the stuff, bring it. Better to have it and not show it then
to be sitting there 1 minute after the rejection phone call thinking "If
only I'd..."


Yes, if you don't have the material because you haven't done it yet,
then I agree with most of Miki's suggestions. However, never assume you
know in what direction the interview will go...they'll surprise you
every time.

--
John Posada, Technical Writer
Bellcore, where Customer Satisfaction is our number one priority
mailto:john -at- tdandw -dot- com   mailto:jposada -at- notes -dot- cc -dot- bellcore -dot- com
phone(w) 732-699-3077    phone(h) 732-2910-7811
alpha-pager: 800-864-8444 pin 1857522  http://www.tdandw.com
email pager: mailto:1857522 -at- pagemart -dot- net
My opinions are mine, and neither you nor my company can take credit for
them.
  "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish,
and he will sit in a boat and smoke cigars all day."
  "The only perfect document I ever created is still on my hard drive."

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