67 Why create a writing portfolio?
In today’s job market, recent college graduates or those entering the strategic communication profession need to demonstrate job preparedness beyond academic achievements. Excelling in the classroom is important, but many employers are just as interested in your work experience, expertise, and job-related skills.
Demonstrating your writing skills is especially important, and creating a portfolio of samples will help you in your next job interview. Writing portfolios supplement what you’ve learned in the classroom. They provide an advantage in today’s competitive market by illustrating and marketing your brand. Regardless of career level, strategic communication professionals should have a portfolio to showcase their work.
68 Online versus hardcopy portfolios
Online portfolios are increasingly common because many communication materials are digital. However, some employers may ask you to bring a hardcopy portfolio to the interview. Create an online portfolio, such as a professional website, so that the general public can see your work. Send the online portfolio to professional contacts in your network or to potential employers before the job interview so they can see your writing samples. As a precautionary measure, also print some of the writing samples and put them in a leather zip-up portfolio or a professional binder when you’re preparing for the job interview.
69 Writing portfolio content
When considering what to include in your writing portfolio, look at relevant class assignments or work produced in a previous or current role. Save everything in a file, especially work from a class that requires you to write common communication materials such as newsletters, press releases, brochures, and news articles. If you do not have internship or work experience, try to do volunteer writing for a nonprofit organization or a small project for a startup company. What matters is that you have writing samples to show, not whether you were paid to do the work.
The first page of a hard-copy portfolio is usually a resume. Online portfolios include a description or summary of your professional background. From there, create clear sections and headings and arrange the content by article or document type. Tailor the portfolio to jobs or industries you’re interested in and by chronological order, with the most recent work first or at the top of the online portfolio. For example, if you’re applying for a job that requires proficiency in AP style writing, include writing samples that use this style, such as press releases or feature articles. If you’re applying for a job that requires social media writing skills, include social media posts that you’ve created for an organization. Here’s a list of some of the materials you could include in the portfolio:
- Press releases
- Website copy
- Feature articles
- Media pitches
- Social media posts that you created for an organization
- A sample RFP (request for proposal) for a campaign or a detailed public relations campaign proposal
- News media clippings of coverage you secured from pitches (it helps if you provide the original pitch that led to the media coverage)
Include brief information about each document, such as the name of the organization it was created for and the date. Be ready to discuss your writing samples during a job interview. You may explain why you created the material and the results that came from it, such as increased website traffic and Twitter followers from a news article publication. For more examples of writing portfolios, click on the following links:
- Tips and examples of writing portfolios for aspiring PR pros
- Gari Cruze, copywriter
- Brandi Uyemura, features writer
70 Other important points about the writing portfolio
As you work on more projects and articles, remember to include them in your portfolio. Constantly update the portfolio so that employers and professional contacts can see your most recent work. Include a minimum of two to three writing samples, although the quality of the portfolio materials matters more than the quantity (Lovering, 2016).
Some employers may not ask for a portfolio, but will require you to take a writing test. Employers use this assessment to determine your editing skills, understanding of AP style, knowledge of grammar and punctuation, and ability to write under a strict deadline. It might be a timed test or a take-home assessment. The following sentences are examples from the editing section of a writing test.
Exercise
Please edit the following sentences:
- To kick off the days event, XX Partners Inc. will be hosting a special guest speaker, Dr. P. Richardson from 8:30 to 9:30 am in lexington Auditorium.
- Employees that volunteered for the community service event should contact there manager for further instructions.
- To compete effectively for full-time, entry-level talent in a highly-competitive and shrinking talent pool, we are placing a stronger emphasize on how we define a intern.
Platforms to create your online writing portfolio:
71 References
Lovering, C. (2016). How to make an impressive writing portfolio. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from: http://work.chron.com/make-impressive-writing-portfolio-3214.html
