RAPPORT
Volume 3 Issue 1 (2018)
activities, co-curricular activities and skills,
as well as to build their “career identity and
integrity” (Cambridge, 2010, p.45). In
addition, providing eportfolio training and
professional development that teaches
students how to use eportfolios for career
readiness has been a successful formula
in my work with eportfolios. Knowing that a
project can be used to demonstrate
mastery of skills in a potential job interview
motivates students to improve the quality
of their projects and assignments (Light et
al., 2011), which is one of the most
important values of having an eportfolio
(Holt et al., 2016). This is definitely the
start of the process of revamping
assessment eportfolios to help students
with their career readiness.
In the next sections of this article, I will
describe the elements that are necessary
to effectively prepare students to revamp
their assessment eportfolios and use them
in the job application process and to
market themselves as professionals. Even
though the context of this discussion
reflects a reality in the United States, this
direction in the field of eportfolios and the
strategies presented in this article can be
beneficial for academic institutions in other
countries interested in a similar
implementation.
Getting Started and Updating
It is a common misconception that
students should start creating their career
eportfolios during their senior year or when
they are starting to look for jobs. The
career eportfolio should be started as soon
as students start their college journey and
it can be used as a tool to plan and
document all their curricular and co-
curricular experiences. Since sharing of
the career eportfolio on social media is a
need nowadays, students with strong
eportfolios can secure internships,
employment, and other sources of funding
way before graduation if their credentials
are strong enough.
On the other hand, the career eportfolio
should be considered an ongoing process
that is not limited to one specific job. Since
this eportfolio can establish the
background and skills of a professional,
both of which evolve over time, it is
important to update it with regularity. Every
time that a significant project is completed
or that a new skill is practised or acquired,
the career eportfolio should be updated
(Flanigan, 2012). Even as an employed
professional, the journey of the career
eportfolio should continue for promotion
and advancement purposes.
Format
Even though the format might not be so
relevant in assessment eportfolios, it does
make a difference in the career eportfolio,
hence the need to customize it for different
types of job applications (Graves &
Epstein, 2011). Hiring professionals and
managers only spend a few seconds going
through application materials, so it is
important to present an eportfolio that
stands out and that is easy to navigate
(Yaffe, Offori & Nino, 2016). Faculty
members should encourage students to
learn about message design principles and
apply them when revamping their
assessment eportfolios (Gordon &
Campbell, 2013). Message design can
teach students how to choose the right
color combination and types of font that
are easy to read, to consider accessibility
issues, and how to position elements in
the eportfolio (Hagen & Golombisky,
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