Today’s learning and development professionals showcase their knowledge and skills to prospective employers mainly through online portfolios. Having a well-designed portfolio website is an excellent way to be competitive when applying for jobs and can showcase, for example, knowledge of adult learning, of the instructional design process, or how to effect change that results in the desired workplace performance and behaviors. A professional portfolio is often a lifelong work in progress that help professionals stay current on the workplace trends and technologies that impact the nature of work in their organizations.
The Department of Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning (OPWL) graduate programs are helping individuals achieve their professional goals by providing access to portfolio building tools and resources to every student in the OPWL program.
From the first semester of study, each of the courses in the OPWL programs contain activities and assignments intended for use as artifacts in a professional portfolio. Examples include a task analyses, learner analyses and performance analyses, instructional design objectives and measures, video examples, design blogs, needs assessments, evaluations and performance improvement interventions. OPWL elective coursework also guides students to produce artifacts in design thinking processes, high level design for elearning development, as well as elearning modules using Articulate Storyline or Captivate, to name a few.
“Providing access to portfolio building resources and tools in the very first semester encourages students to see their classroom learning as part of their ongoing professional development and helps them maximize their career preparation and job opportunities with their portfolio even during their study,” said OPWL department chair Yonnie Chyung.
In addition to the portfolio building tools, the OPWL department also is developing resources for portfolio “polish,” including using portfolio branding strategies. Branding creates a consistent image that spans the portfolio and showcases unique style and professional focus. Branding resources in OPWL include internal experts Lisa Giacumo and Vicki Stieha, as well as experts from the field.
“We’re excited to bring the first of many voices from the field to guide our students as they develop their professional portfolio brand,” the duo stated.
OPWL is excited to be offering these portfolio building tools and resources to students and graduates, and providing them with a competitive edge when applying for jobs.