Portfolios and the Interview

Graphic artists and teachers have long been expected to take a portfolio containing samples of their work to the interview. Now job seekers in other industries have an opportunity to prove their worth by bringing portfolios or “show me” pieces when they interview. Portfolios contain not only work samples, but copies of your resume, brochures that you helped create, promotional material for products you helped launch, pictures of you involved in successful projects especially with a team, testimonials from satisfied customers/clients, past performance evaluations, sales statistics, and copies of credentials or relevant CEU certificates. Portfolios are excellent backup documentation to refer to when answering behavioral or situational interview questions. When using portfolios make sure they are professional in appearance and have sections clearly tabbed for quick reference. Always offer to leave your portfolio behind for a few days for the selection committee to review.