Applications, Interviews, and E-Portfolios, Oh My!

My original perception of e-portfolios most aligned with Steve Watkins’s: “‘an intricately related set of documents, with multilayered, multiaudienced ‘reflective introductions” targeted to different audiences” (Yancey 131). The purpose of a portfolio is to present a selection of work that exemplifies breadth of skill and experience. Producing an e-portfolio is a skill in itself that should be evaluated. Just as a paper portfolio shouldn’t have 10 different fonts, missing indents, and spelling errors, an e-portfolio should be easy to navigate, have working hyperlinks, and a layout design that is compatible with all devices. E-portfolios should be as professional of a representation as possible, as they could make or break an applicant’s chance of getting an interview with potential employers.

For my e-portfolio, I’d like to demonstrate how I’ve been able to apply knowledge and concepts learned from our class to our assignments. I will include blog post example(s), my remix project and rationale, as well as my transmedia package and rationale. Together, these components will represent my ability to produce media and my understanding of terms used in the digital publishing industry. Like Kiera, I think that the rationales are important to include because they provide reasoning and context for employers to use in evaluation.

Hypertext will be a necessary component for my e-portfolio so that I can direct my audience to my remix and transmedia package, where they are hosted on the internet. Because my remix is a wix site and my transmedia package is presented as a tumblr, I will need to link these pages so that anyone can access and interact with my media. One important aspect of digital publishing is that the media be interactive, at least to some extent. Thus, it is critical that future employers are able to interact with my content. They would not be able to conclusively evaluate my portfolio if they were only provided with screenshots of my interactive content because that would be an incomplete presentation.

I really like the idea of e-portfolios because they allow for more creativity as far as presentation of works. As all industries become increasingly digital, employers will increasingly appreciate and expect digital fluency. Demonstrating the ability to produce quality digital media could be the deciding factor to make one job applicant stand out versus another. When I begin applying for jobs I will use an e-portfolio to show that I am willing to go the extra mile.

Word Count: 407