The Online Telecommuter’s Portfolio—What’s
In Yours?
By: Sylvie Fortin
Working from home is more than
resumes and cover letters. You need to have a professional
portfolio if you want to be successful. A portfolio shows
prospective clients that you’ve got the “right
stuff.” Without it, you’re just another faceless
name on a piece of paper. When you learn how to create your
first portfolio, you are taking the first step toward growing
your career toward success. Let’s get you on your way,
shall we?
The most important thing you
can do to create a professional image for yourself is to create
a portfolio online. Without it, you'll just be sending resumes
and employers don't respond as well to resumes as they do
to a great portfolio. It really doesn't matter what kind of
job you are looking for: If you don't have a portfolio as
proof of what you can do, it will be much more difficult to
rise above your peers and land a great contract! Portfolios
are not just for artists and web designers. Anyone who really
wants to work from home should consider putting up their portfolio
online.
Let's face it...resumes are
boring. Endlessly droning on about past employment and skills
is enough to make employers hate reading resumes. But, if
you have a nice website with high-quality graphics that portray
you as a real professional, employers are more likely to sit
up and pay attention to who you are and what you do.
Don't worry! Even if you don't
have any previous client projects to display, you can create a
wonderful portfolio online.
So, now that we've established
that you need a portfolio, what can you do if you don't have any
previous client projects to show off? Having a portfolio if you
have no experience is the most important thing you can do! Think
about it! If your resume is skimpy on experience and you have no
projects completed for pay, then how on earth are you going to
compete with all those others with tons of experience and a
thick portfolio? The answer is simple: dummy it up!
That’s right—get very creative
and think up all kinds of dummy samples. Do your best work and
show off the skills you've got! Show your entire range of skills
in the form of "Examples Only" samples. You aren't lying to your
future customers: you are showing them examples of what you are
capable of. Employers are typically more interested in what you
are able to do for them, as opposed to what you've done for
others, so it is important to show them what you can do in the
form of dummy brochures, logos, transcription samples, research
spreadsheets and other types of samples relevant to the job
you're looking for.
When an employer can see what
you’re capable of, as well as your commitment to doing whatever
it takes to get the job, you’ll find that you’ll be able to
quickly replace that dummy data with all the work that you’re
getting!
Once you have samples to show
off, it's time to create your own online portfolio. There are a
few ways you can do this, depending on how you want to put it
all together. You can create your own website or post your
portfolio on a career builder website. But, perhaps the easiest
way to publish your portfolio is to use a professional online
service that allows you to host your portfolio online with no
need to learn html. This is the most recommended way to do it,
especially if the cost for doing it is very low.
No matter how you do it,
getting your portfolio online is a must for the would-be
telecommuter. By showing the world what you have to offer, you
are taking your destiny into your own hands and making the first
step toward turning your work-at-home dreams into a reality.
=================================================
This article is excerpted from “You
Can Work in Your PJs”, a real world guide to telecommuting.
Sylvie Fortin works from home full time and wrote this book
to share her unique techniques with others. You can download
your copy of “You Can Work in Your PJs” by visiting
http://www.inyourpjs.com
=================================================
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To your work at home success...!
Sylvie Fortin
Founder and CEO
Workaholics4hire.com Inc.
support@workaholics4hire.com
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