Start by asking "What will I use it for?"

Academic possibilities

• A record of my school history
• A repository for applications to graduate school
• To store my tuition statements
• To house my transcript(s)

Work-related reasons

• A record of my work history:
• volunteering
• internships
• summer work
• Copies of my contracts or collective agreements

Career Development

• Self-assessment results
• A record of workshops and counselling appointments I've had at the Career Centre

All of the above

When in doubt, include it all

Career Cruising and the Portal both allow you to choose what you want to show to prospective visitors. Just because it's in the portfolio you've made doesn't mean it needs to be in the portfolio you share.

In other words, you can put everything in there, and choose what to show and what to hide later. So be as detailed as possible!

Key items to include

• Volunteer activities
• Extra-curricular activities
• Employment history
• Samples: projects or presentations from both work and school
• Educational achievements or awards
• Career Centre-related activities (such as events and appointments you have attended, particularly those related to your personalized career development plan)
  

What should I leave out?

Don’t include anything you feel is unprofessional for your intended audience to see. This audience may include at various times program admissions officers, potential employers, and career counsellors. You want each of them to make a fair and objective assessment of your skills and experiences, but you don’t want them to be distracted by unrelated or unimportant information. Remember: there’s a difference between how you present yourself as a person and how you present yourself as a candidate.

Take a look at this example from Florida State University to see what you might include in your own Career Portfolio.