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As many of you previously mentioned, this portfolio is signaling our transition from college assignments to professional work. Creating a successful portfolio could get you a job or career, not just an A+. As a result, while revising, we need to think of our audience as potential employers rather than a professor. This week’s reading touches on this subject when discussing multiple levels of revision, which include new audiences/purposes and the demonstration of skills.
The different levels made me think about what documents an employer would be interested in viewing and how they would want the documents presented. Unfortunately, my document selection is somewhat limited, so I can’t really pick and choose. However, I can definitely carefully consider how I want my work presented. First of all, I’ll check thoroughly for small errors (misspellings, etc.) and document organization, because if the documents’ content isn’t professional, then the presentation won’t matter. I’m not sure how I could revise my documents to include more multimedia elements, since two already contain them and the other is an annotated bibliography. The only thing I can think of is including more hyperlinks so readers can easily navigate sources. Next, I plan to use a theme (Creating Connections) that will connect all of the documents’ introductions and create a sense of continuity. I also want to create a color theme that will make the portfolio attractive, yet tasteful. I think colors and subtle designs are an effective way to project your personality. Like Stephanie, I’m concerned being too enthusiastic or creative in the “about me” aspect of the portfolio could cause more harm than good. The focus should be on my documents, not my hobbies or personality.
So, I’ve spent the week thinking about possible themes and organizational schemes for my portfolio. After further consideration, I decided to use the same theme I created for my poster presentation, which is “Creating Connections.” This theme needs some fine tuning, but the basic idea is that my internship focuses on helping the WVU Writing Center connect with the outside world (professors, students, and other writing centers). I’ll probably organize my documents according to the degree of their contact with the public. For example, I’ll discuss the Pinterest page first because social networking directly connects with the outside world. Last, I’ll include the annotated bibliography (which will eventually be used for a public presentation) because its contact is more indirect. Has anyone else made any more progress?
I thought that this week’s readings on portfolio design tied in well with last week’s in-class discussion of poster design. The readings point out that, similar to poster presentations, an overarching theme is crucial to the success of your portfolio.
In Chapter 3 of PTPC, the authors cover the importance of carefully planning the content, design, and structure of your portfolio. First, they advised you begin with a general list of your work and then narrow your content down based on quality and relevance. I really liked this idea, because it allows you to consider all possibilities without stressing about where each individual work fits into your design/organization. After choosing audience appropriate content, which I guess in our case is works that demonstrate the various skills we used in our internships, the chapter suggests implementing a theme to connect all of the content and create a more interesting experience for the audience. The authors break down the various approaches to including themes into 4 categories: professional personality, personal interests, conceptual theme, and symbols. Personally, I think creating themes that focus on symbols or reflect concepts would be the easiest to incorporate into our internship portfolios. Also, this section reminded me of the discussions we have had about poster themes and made me wonder if we could use the same theme for both. Finally, the chapter discusses the importance of portfolio organization. This could entail placing your content in order of importance or separating content into specific categories, such as academic writing or multimedia writing. It also really emphasized the idea that users should be able to access a table of contents and peruse your portfolio based on their interests. This was very helpful to me, because I hadn’t previously considered that usability was just as important in a portfolio as in any other form of technical communication. Finally, I believe the “Managing Your Content” section of WP24T complimented the PTPC chapter in that it provides the technical directions necessary to manipulate content (such as editing media files) and achieve effective design and structure (such as managing post categories).
So, overall, the message I took away from this week’s readings was that theme, organization, and design are the main points you should focus on when creating a portfolio. Do you have any particular theme in mind? If so, which of the 4 theme categories does it fit in? Also, how are you planning to organize your portfolio content?0
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I thought that Chapter 2 in PTPC was very enlightening and prompted me to view the process of making an online portfolio in a new way. Previously, I’ve always assumed online portfolios were just collections or samples of your best work that you present to prospective employers. However, I now understand creating a portfolio is much more complicated. I especially like the part that points out the importance of understanding the rhetorical situation (purpose, audience, subject) and context of your portfolio according to your career goals. For the most part, I think people (myself included) automatically assume a portfolio’s purpose is to convince employers to hire you, its audience is prospective employers, and the subject is whatever its content includes. I believe many people ail to consider the larger context all together. But, this thought process is a severe oversimplification of portfolio creation. First of all, it’s important to analyze and understand your personality and career goals. The chapter suggests using online personality tests like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Keirsey-Temperament Sorter. Even if you don’t think the results of the tests are accurate, they still get you thinking about your personality and goals in a deeper way. Considering these two factors is vital, because you should tailor your portfolio content to fit a career in which you can be reasonably happy and successful. Also, identifying the context of your portfolio is an advantage, because it helps you understand the environment and attitude of the job field you are trying to enter. For example, if there is a growing demand for graphic design specialists in technical communication (and you have strong graphic design skills), you should definitely emphasize graphic design skills in you portfolio. Other than deciding which pieces work to include, customizing the design and adding plugins to your portfolio can add further depth and appeal. WordPress 24-Hour Trainer discusses many different options in relation to plugins. I appreciated the fact that they offered an initial explanation of the purpose and advantages of plugins (fee and easy to add/delete) since I’ve never tried to add one before. In my opinion, the most relevant plugins for someone designing a portfolio are ones that allow social media use, mobile viewing, and search engine optimization. So, overall, this week’s readings helped me understand that you should put as much thought into the creation of an online portfolio as you did in writing the pieces of work you want to include.
I have always viewed performance reviews as an intimidating and negative experience. However, after going through this weeks discussion readings, I feel I have a deeper understanding of reviews. The Messner article clarified the reasons for and benefits of performance reviews. It also described how employers also face difficulties related to reviews, which was kind of comforting. In addition, I appreciated the fact that Messner described the different performance review structures. Now, I feel like I can prepare for reviews to prevent being surprised or stumped by on-the-spot questions. I also never considered requesting that a performance review happen on neutral ground, rather than a supervisor’s office.
The Zimmerman and Varhol articles were also very helpful. They both offered many useful tips for performance review preparation. Both suggest self-reflection before the review to avoid being surprised by feedback you should have expected. Varhol also suggests writing down summaries of your achievements, both for your supervisor and yourself. This way, you can further emphasize your preparedness and value to your boss, while making sure you can respond to questions in an organized manner. Overall, both of these articles helped me become more comfortable with the idea of a performance review, as well as more confident in my ability to prepare for one.
Finally, even though I was initially unsure of the significance of the Katz article, I found it very interesting and enlightening. Darlene’s story was inspiring and a great example of taking initiative at work. I also liked that Katz illustrated just how important writing is to organizations in regards to credibility, efficiency, and productivity. The article also made me aware that I need to market and utilize my natural talents, even if they aren’t asked for in the job listing.
Just like the majority of the class, I find “My Entry Level Life” very relatable. The idea of graduating, getting a job, and living a real “adult” life is daunting. I’ve been in some kind of school since I was five years old, so finishing will be both strange and liberating. However, I’ll be attending graduate school next year so I guess I get to out off “real” life for another two years. At the same time, I’m intimidated because I’ll be a graduate teaching assistant which is a position that carries way more responsibility than I am used to. I suppose it will be like having an entry level job, and I’ll definitely be at the bottom of the totem pole.
Thankfully, I don’t have to deal with a lot of the awkwardness mentioned in “Learning How to Deal with Emotions During an Internship”. I’m interning at the WVU Writing Center, and I’ve been a tutor there for about two years. I’m very familiar with my supervisor and we get along very well. She always asks for my opinion and listens to my suggestions. Overall, the work environment is very casual and positive. People share many things about their lives, from everyday annoyances to relationship problems. Sometimes people over share, but not enough to make anyone really uncomfortable. The ability to control and read emotions is more important when dealing with the students who come to the center for help. Many of them are stressed out because of writing assignments, and it’s important to listen carefully and show them that you care about helping them. So far, the only issue I might run into is time management. I haven’t really gotten a feel for everything I’ll be working on this semester, especially since the writing center isn’t open the first week of school. Many of the projects I’m working on will last the entire semester, so I don’t have many deadlines to guide me. However, I’m starting to develop a schedule so I stay on task.
