WEBVTT - Portfolios aren't just for artists

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to collect samples of work you are

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<v Speaker 1>especially proud of. This can help you document what you

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<v Speaker 1>have accomplished and lets you give yourself a boost on

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<v Speaker 1>days when you are not feeling especially successful. So I

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<v Speaker 1>had these somewhat strange experience recently of being asked for

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<v Speaker 1>a resume for something. I wasn't applying for a job,

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<v Speaker 1>but some people I was working with or applying for

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<v Speaker 1>something rather formal, and I guess the point of my

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<v Speaker 1>resume was to show that I was legitimate. I don't

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<v Speaker 1>actually have a resume because I'm not entirely sure what

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<v Speaker 1>it would say. I haven't had a normal job in decades,

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<v Speaker 1>and my educational background doesn't necessarily flect what I've done

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<v Speaker 1>with my life. We figured out a solution to the

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<v Speaker 1>resume question, but I realized that the reason I don't

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<v Speaker 1>have a resume is because usually when someone is debating

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<v Speaker 1>working with me, they don't look for a resume. They

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<v Speaker 1>look at what I've produced. If you search for my name,

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<v Speaker 1>you can quickly find books, articles, podcast episodes, videos of

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<v Speaker 1>my speeches and so forth. I have a portfolio rather

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<v Speaker 1>than a resume. Lots of creative professionals maintain portfolios to

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<v Speaker 1>show off their skills and the range of work they

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<v Speaker 1>can do. For instance, when I was looking to hire

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<v Speaker 1>a designer to help with my new home renovation, I

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<v Speaker 1>looked at her pictures on Instagram and those she sent me.

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<v Speaker 1>But portfolios don't have to be just for creatives. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>we're all creative, but you know people who do it

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<v Speaker 1>for a job. Even if you do keep a resume current,

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<v Speaker 1>it's helped to create a portfolio too. Whatever your field,

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<v Speaker 1>you can collect examples of your best work. So yes,

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<v Speaker 1>that could in fact be a power point deck from

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<v Speaker 1>a great presentation. It could be an agenda for an

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<v Speaker 1>especially productive and well thought through meeting. It could be

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<v Speaker 1>a white paper or a blog post that was posted

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<v Speaker 1>on your company's website. It could be the budget narrative

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<v Speaker 1>for your department's annual budget proposal, and so forth. When

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<v Speaker 1>you do something that you are especially proud of, add

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<v Speaker 1>it to your portfolio. Aim to have at least one

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<v Speaker 1>or two samples of each kind of work that you

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<v Speaker 1>regularly do. As you are pulling this together, make notes

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<v Speaker 1>about the context of the work and what made the

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<v Speaker 1>work great. You may think this will be obvious, but

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<v Speaker 1>it's easy to forget the specifics, like how an infographic

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<v Speaker 1>on a particular slide sparked a lot of discussion, or

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<v Speaker 1>how you gave this particular presentation at your company's annual

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<v Speaker 1>meeting with a hundred fifty people in attendance. Also include

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<v Speaker 1>any feedback you received on your work. Perhaps you received

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<v Speaker 1>a complimentary email from a colleague or client. You may

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<v Speaker 1>also be able to provide data about the works impact,

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<v Speaker 1>like the dollar value of the contract that resulted from

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<v Speaker 1>your pitch to a new client, or the number of

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<v Speaker 1>views on your really good blog post. As a side note,

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<v Speaker 1>these notes and numbers are really useful as you pull

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<v Speaker 1>together information for your annual review. But just as importantly,

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<v Speaker 1>the portfolio can be useful when you are feeling discouraged.

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<v Speaker 1>I write a lot, but I definitely still get rejected

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<v Speaker 1>for stuff, And when that happens, it's nice to be

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<v Speaker 1>able to read some of my other published work, or

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<v Speaker 1>look at my books lined up on the shelf and

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<v Speaker 1>decide that maybe other people will still want to read

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<v Speaker 1>my work even if this particular gatekeeper didn't Now I

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<v Speaker 1>do understand that if you work for a large company,

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<v Speaker 1>some work products will not in fact completely belong to you,

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<v Speaker 1>or at least you won't be able to easily show

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<v Speaker 1>them outside of your organization. And that's fine. You might

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<v Speaker 1>split your work into categories stuff you can show, and

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<v Speaker 1>then also stuff that is for helping boost your internal

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<v Speaker 1>career and to boost your own spirits. But in any case,

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<v Speaker 1>a portfolio can be incredibly useful for keeping you focused

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<v Speaker 1>on results. In day to day life. We often get

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<v Speaker 1>so caught up in administrative details and making it to

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<v Speaker 1>things on time that we feel busy without being sure

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<v Speaker 1>what we are accomplishing. A portfolio can remind us of this.

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<v Speaker 1>It certainly does for artists and other creative professional but

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<v Speaker 1>it can for anyone, So why not start pulling one

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<v Speaker 1>together In the meantime, This is Laura, Thanks for listening,

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<v Speaker 1>and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod

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<v Speaker 1>that's B the number four then Breakfast p o D.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>podcast at i heeart media dot com that before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,

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<v Speaker 1>I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is

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<v Speaker 1>a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from

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<v Speaker 1>my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Yeah.