An Introduction To E-Portfolios

With today’s jobs becoming harder and harder to acquire, everyone is looking for a way to make their job applications stand out from everyone else’s. Recently, the rise of social media and other web-based recruitment technology has significantly changed the way people apply for jobs and the way companies hire new employees. However, in a world where there’s so many things to choose from and not enough time to commit to all of them, people are searching for different ways to stick out from the crowd.

One increasingly popular way to do so is an electronic portfolio, or e-portfolio. “An e-portfolio is a digitized collection of artifacts including demonstrations, resources, and accomplishments that represent an individual” (Lorenzo & Ittelson, 2005, p. 1). For students entering the workforce, some things that can be put into an e-portfolio include an online résumé, examples of their writing assignments or projects as well as samples of their previous work.

However, this doesn’t mean that an e-portfolio is the best option for everyone, or that it is even an effective way of applying for jobs. It can take a considerable amount of time to build an e-portfolio, and the effort required may not pay off. Depending on which industry you want to work in, building an e-portfolio may bring a greater payoff.

For the next few posts, I will explore whether or not e-portfolios actually have an effect on the hiring process, and whether it’s worthwhile for you to invest time in to making one. 

REFERENCES

Lorenzo, G., & Ittelson, J. (2005, July 1). An Overview Of E-Portfolios. Retrieved October 15, 2015 from https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI3001.pdf 

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