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I also considered using the “sandwich method” when creating my portfolio, but it eventually just became too redundant of a process for me to handle. I understand that our potential audience isn’t familiar with my internship as I am, but I’d still like to think that the things I wrote are pretty self-explanatory. An article is an article and a press release is a press release. With all of my work separated neatly into individual categories, I am a firm believer that one explanation for each genre should suffice.
Like Liz, some of my work I am putting in my portfolio won’t be in its finished state as I’d like it to be. This is disappointing because I feel like it somehow discredits me and what I’ve worked hard to produce. But the bright side is that it won’t be this way forever. All of my work will eventually be in its published, end-product form and I’ll finally be 100% professional and look like I have my life together.
I am lucky, though, that I’m not currently having to deal with the mess of copyright and legal issues like some of my classmates.
Revision was a major topic in our reading for this week, and I’m sure it’s something we’ve all started considering as we put our portfolios together. Revision is important for anyone at any professional level, but for us as students it is especially important. Since most of us will be (or already are) on the job hunt, it is important that we select which documents to use in our portfolio very carefully. How do we want potential employers to perceive us and, more importantly, our work? Personally I’ve spent quite a bit of time going over everything I’ve written during my internship, deciding which documents best showcase my abilities as a writer. This process may have taken my work count down a bit, but I guess the saying, “Less is more,” applies here.
Our reading also discusses many design elements to taken into consideration when putting together a portfolio. Some of them, such as creating individual statements for each section of work, were things I hadn’t really taken into consideration. I had momentarily forgotten that not everyone was familiar with my internship or even the place I interned for. Work that you think is self-explanatory may not be as straightforward to a potential employer.
Luckily, though, we’ve been producing documents for internships that have been used in a professional manner, and so we can avoid the awkward ‘this is a college project’ situation our book discusses. That doesn’t necessarily mean our revision process is over, though. A year from now we could decide to revamp our portfolios and face palm over some of the work we chose to include. It’s a never-ending process.
Although I actually enjoy making portfolios (there’s just something about having all of my work in an organized area that I like), I’ve never actually had this much freedom with a portfolio before. Many class portfolios have specific requirements, and this one has very few of those.
It’s important that my portfolio represents me well, and covers a wide range of work I’ve done. Like someone else already mentioned though, there is the dilemma of not having all my internship documents in their “professional” format any time soon. So I suppose that leaves me with having a few documents in PDF format, and I am a little worried as to how that looks to potential employers.
The home page of my portfolio will detail my work during my internship and my experience overall. I have decided to arrange my work according to topic (press releases, interviews, web/magazine articles, etc.) from general to more in-depth for easier navigation.
Having an online portfolio is a great way to promote your work, and I think there’s something very professional about having an organized, well-developed online portfolio. It’s easily accessible and maybe (that’s a big maybe) someone who has some great connections will stumble upon it.
Like a few others have mentioned, it is a little strange because any portfolios or sample work we’ve pulled together in the past have mainly consisted of class work. The feeling of inferiority and uncertainty about class work started to fade, for me, over the past year or so. Classes in the PWE program have given me sample work that is just as professional as any work I’d be producing at my current internship. I can now feel more comfortable using sample work from my classes.
Yes, getting a review of any sort can be intimidating and nerve-wracking, whether it’s academic or work related, and you suddenly start second guessing everything you have done up to that point. And while, as Celeste mentioned, promotions and pay raises aren’t going to factor into the equation for our performance reviews, I still think they will prove beneficial for all of us. Performance reviews in the less stressful situations we are in now can help prepare us for the real thing later on down the road. Also, I think it is important to remember that even though we look at these as semester-long internships, how our supervisors see us now can help us with employment in the future. The Alumni Center where I am interning has actually offered previous interns full time employment. That’s definitely something to keep in mind this semester.
The 360 review wasn’t something I had really ever considered before, but now it seems like one of the best performance reviews that could be conducted in a work place. People tend to alter their attitudes around supervisors and authority figures, so getting reviews from co-workers would wipe out any false professionalism. It is important to be professional, but open and approachable at the same time.
These articles really stressed the importance of hard work and preparedness. I always find myself hearing, “It’s who you know, not what you know” when it comes to employment and moving up in the workplace. But really, as these articles demonstrated, if you are responsible, hard working, and conduct yourself well, things can work in your favor.
Like Liz, I am fortunate to have a very kind and understanding supervisor, so I too haven’t really experienced any major stress or dealt with any unfair situations like in Stitt’s article. However I do still feel the anxiety of possibly disappointing my supervisor and those that I work with. I am not treated as a ‘lowly intern’ but more as an equal; everyone around me values my opinions and insights and they place a great deal of faith in me. At times I feel that not having graduated yet makes my abilities insufficient.
“Learning How To Deal With Emotions During an Internship,” and “Expressing Emotion in Interpersonal Interactions,” were interesting reads, especially since I’ve recently found myself in “don’t overshare” situations that “make others uncomfortable” as Jocelyn said. It’s tough for me to find a balance of being open and friendly and saying too much, especially since I work with a group of people with a very familial bond. They are all very close and give out their opinions quite freely. I don’t know if I will ever reach that point of familiarity with them, and I’m still not entirely sure if it’s appropriate. Is it still unprofessional or do you go with the flow of things?
Like pretty much everyone else, “My Entry Level Life,” stood out to me. It’s a little daunting at times (okay, all the time) to think that after graduating I will no longer be just a “9 digit number.” I will no longer have professors and instructors and homework assignments, and I will no longer be guided through every aspect of my work. It’s a freeing feeling too, I suppose. My internship is definitely providing me with much needed, wonderful experience, but just like everyone else regardless of major I will eventually have to work my way up in the ranks.
