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Now that you have some idea of what other portfolios look
like, you are ready to start thinking about your own. The first step is to identify
all the personal objectives you can. These include (but are not restricted to)
the following:
 | Career path(s)--specificity is nice if you have it, but my
basic advice is to be as broad and flexible as possible. As an
undergraduate, I had no clue that I would wind up being a college professor,
but I am far happier than I ever was doing what my undergraduate degree
trained me to do (manage a restaurant). Life takes funny turns, and being
open to new opportunities and ideas is usually better than rigid adherence
to a game plan unless you really know what you want to
do. |
| What are the academic prerequisites for the relevant career
path(s)? is a graduate degree necessary? if so, what kind? When should you
pursue graduate education? For example, most MBA programs recommend that you
have several years of experience before getting an MBA. If you are thinking
of grad school, figuring out how to finance it should be part of your
planning process. (Not thinking about grad school? For what it's
worth, as a 22-year-old undergraduate at UMass in 1965, I don't think the
prospect of graduate school ever seriously crossed my mind. However, by the
time I was 41, I had both a Master's Degree in Accounting and a PhD in
Business Administration.) |
| What are your co-curricular
interests? What is the linkage between those interests and your career
choices? How has leadership on the soccer field or the basketball court
influenced your sense as a leader in a business situation? Has participation
in speech and debate activities sharpened your skills in public speaking?
Has your artistic ability enhanced your interest in developing graphics for
advertising and product promotions? |
| What work experience (including internships) have you had?
How do your experiences on the job inform your ideas about career choices. A
part time job or initial employment experience may (or may not!) be a good
indicator of what you'll encounter as a professional. |
Record all this in whatever format is useful to you--an outline, and informal
essay written in MS Word, notes on a legal pad, sketches and diagrams that
highlight interrelationships--whatever works. You may want to use more than one
format. Whatever you do, it need not be formal or polished. The purpose of this
is to provide yourself with the "raw material" that you will work with
in subsequent assignments. You may want to come back to this later (which could
be as soon as next week or as far in the future as next year...or five years from now) and
revise or rethink what you have done. Remember that a useful portfolio is a
dynamic entity, which changes as you and your environment do.
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