Guide to Building A High Performance, Job-Getting Portfolio

You might want to consider burning your resume, but that might be a little extreme. You could set your house on fire! But I do want you to stop thinking in terms of the traditional one- or two-page resume.

I know virtually every book on resume writing and almost every career counselor and recruiter across the country will tell you to write the traditional one- or two-page resume. I'm going to tell you how to avoid a disaster.

Corporations and recruiters are flooded with thousands of resumes. For all practical purposes, they look exactly alike. Do not be afraid to break out of the traditional resume box. In a competitive job market, you must find a way to differentiate yourself in order to generate interviews. To that end, I encourage you to build a powerful "resume portfolio."

The portfolio is focused on the individual's expertise and ability to make a bottom-line contribution to the organization. It requires extensive preparation with many long, hard hours of work. The end result will be an extraordinary set of marketing credentials. Typically, these credentials will run six to ten pages in length.

Initial reaction by some to this approach is that HR people won't read it because it is too long. This is true; it is likely that HR people won't read it. This extraordinary credentials package will not be directed to the HR department. Rather, it will be presented to the key decision-maker—typically the president, vice-president, department head, or person most likely to be your boss.

Assuming the organization has a need for someone with your expertise (notice I said expertise, not experience), he/she will read every word. The use of this approach by thousands of my clients across the country has demonstrated that it generates interviews at a rate far greater than any other approach.

The exact content of the portfolio will vary from person to person. There are also a couple of different formats you must consider depending on the approach you want to take.

Online Multimedia Portfolio - Placing your portfolio into a Web format is extraordinarily powerful. It demonstrates that you are current and contemporary. The visual impact is striking. You can use photos, sound bytes, and even streaming video introductions.

MSWord Portfolio Resume - These portfolios are great as an attachment to an email. However, an even more powerful strategy is old fashioned “snail mail.” Print out your portfolio in color. Place it into a presentation folder with the cover letter and resume on one side, supporting documents on the other side. Include a business card in the card slot. Snail mail it direct to the decision maker.

Text Only Resume - When posting your resume on CareerBuilder, it must be in a text-only format (Example, here). We recommend you only post the resume portion of your portfolio to the search engine.

When it's all said and done, leaders go where others fear to tread. Go ahead and “break the rules” with a resume portfolio. A well-written resume portfolio represents a powerful, out-of-the-box alternative to traditional resume strategy. You will be glad you did.

Links to examples are provided at the end of this section. Here are some descriptions of the most common elements you should consider including in your high-impact resume portfolio (NOTE: it is not necessary that every item listed here be included. This list is to serve as an idea generator.):

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

How to Write the Resume

Your resume should be a two- or three-page in-depth review of positions, responsibilities, accomplishments, education, professional development, professional affiliations and community service. The focus should be on key accomplishments. Quantify the results if possible. At the very least, provide good qualitative results. Most importantly, where possible include a visual. Yes, that's right-you heard me. The visuals may include graphs, tables or charts. People are visually motivated. Powerful visuals are used to stimulate the buyer for every product or service nationwide. Why shouldn't you do the same thing to generate an interview?

I recommend: If a resume is all you want, read this excellent guide to writing a resume that generates results. It will show you to write a resume equal to one done by a top-notch professional writer. There are some other excellent thoughts detailed in this powerpoint guide.

Writing Effective Accomplishment Summaries

These are one-page summaries of key accomplishments you have achieved throughout your career (one summary per page). These summaries should include a powerful descriptive title, a brief description of the problem or situation, a bulleted list of your actions, and a two- or three-sentence quantitative/qualitative summary of the results. You should develop at least ten of these summaries for use in different situations, but you will typically include three to five summaries in each portfolio.

I recommend: Since I write a lot about this subject, I have a whole article on creating effective accomplishment summaries.

Create A Project Index

This option is perfect for engineers, programmers, consultants or anyone whose career centers around projects which involve the input of many people. List all the major projects in which you played a key role, or your input made a difference in the project outcome. The list should be confined to one page. Each item typically will be limited to one or two sentences.

I recommend: This is an excellent article that will aid in defining your projects.

Include A Field Research Summary

This document demonstrates to the reader your intense interest in their company and industry. It may include a summary of interviews with customers, distributors, association executives, or employees. For business development people, a review of the competitive marketplace is very effective. This document may also contain data on field surveys that you conduct.

I recommend: So how do you present your research findings? Great question. Not a lot of people know how to do that in a concise and impact-ful way. You want to follow a structured format for presenting the results. This will help the hiring personnel interpret your capabilities in an easy to digest fashion, without their eyes glazing over.

Add the Results of An Independent Study

This is an excellent document for people doing dramatic career transitions. It's purpose is to reinforce your knowledge and insight into industry key issues, emerging technologies, and products-even though you may not have experience in the industry. Generally this document will contain a summary of the information derived from a third-party, plus a bibliography supporting your conclusions.

I recommend: The things to look for in an ideal independent study are 1.) A credible source, and 2.) thought leadership. Without these two components the inclusion of an independent study could harm your case more than it helps.

Synopsis of Patented, Copyrighted or Authored Material

Examples include: A one-page review of a patent, including application and benefit. A summary of a software program you designed including application and benefit. A synopsis of a book or article you published (if the article is not too long, include a copy if the information is relevant to the position for which you are applying).

I recommend: Download this sample curriculum vitae to see what NOT to do. This synopsis should be restricted to those things which can be considered your intellectual property or intellectual "output."

Summary of Your Industry Insights

This can be the most important document you create. In one page, using a bulleted or narrative form, present the key issues relevant to the position or industry you would address if you were in that position. This document demonstrates your insight, industry/position intelligence, initiative, and proactive thinking. It is rare that any individual will take the time and effort to create this document, but when properly used, it typically results in a grand-slam home run for generating interviews!

I recommend: When you become a thought-leader in your field, you corporations audition to become your employer, not the other way around. If you're not already a thought leader, then Scott has 17 ways for your to become one quickly.

Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• "Brand" your portfolio piece. Choose a well-coordinated color scheme that suitable for the job being applied.
• Remember that specifics out-pull generalities any day of the week. Quantifiable results trump qualitative results. Qualitative results trump "what you did", task-based resumes.
• Pick out two or three common themes from this exercise and focus on them.
• Distribute articles and other authored works in order to generate interest in your professional portfolio.