By Marrissa Ballard | Co-Editor-in-Chief
In an online-driven job market, students are always searching for the best place to display their work and experiences. To provide a place for Salve students to highlight their various skills and projects, the Center for Student Development launched a new service called Portfolium, which is free and open to all current students.
As a website, Portfolium is similar to LinkedIn, making it easy for students to create profiles and upload pieces of work. However, Portfolium differs from other platforms in that every student who signs up is automatically connected to the Salve network.
According to Ducha Hang, Director of the Center for Student Development, the connection to Salve adds an element of legitimacy to a student’s profile. “Connecting through the Salve network confirms that your account is official and that all of the work you’ve done is official,” says Hang. “The idea is that students who have Portfolium can also connect to each other.”
On the site, users can create entries for jobs, volunteer work, or classes and upload a piece of work for each entry. “With Portfolium, you can not only list your experiences and your accomplishments, but also attach evidence,” says Hang. Every paper or project that the user uploads also becomes a part of a portfolio attached to their profile. When a user posts papers or projects to their profile, Portfolium will also show how many people have seen it, liked it, or commented on it.
Hang also says that the profile can be tailored to anyone’s major based on what they want to display, whether that is photos, paintings, or written work. Students can also use Portfolium to describe internships, clubs, and leadership roles. “Whatever applies to you, you can add to your portfolio,” she says. “Whether it’s a CAB event or a march you’re putting together, those are things to showcase.”
No matter what the student chooses to upload, Hang has one main piece of advice. “One thing you really need to pay attention to is what you put up there,” she says. “I suggest quality over quantity. You want to put work up that demonstrates specific skills.”
Students can ensure that each piece they upload displays certain skills by tagging the post with keywords and adding a few sentences of description. In particular, Hang suggests tagging with skills that employers look for, such as “Critical Thinking,” “Teamwork,” and “Communication.” According to Hang, the pieces of work that are uploaded should prove to employers or possible connections that the student has exercised those skills.
“Really the idea of this is that it’s a great way to say that the work you’ve done stems from a particular academic department, co-curricular experience, or leadership role,” she says. “Employers are looking for particular skills with work to demonstrate those skills. With Portfolium, you have the ability to show employers, in a very quick way, what you’re capable of.”
According to Hang, the site has other benefits for job and internship searches. “If you’re looking for an internship or a job and they’re looking for specific skills, you can build an exported PDF of those skills and share them with an employer,” says Hang.
Students who connect through Salve also get to keep their Portfolium accounts for life. “In the future, what we envision is building relationships between undergraduate students and alumni,” she says. These relationships, according to Hang, would ideally not only include connecting with alumni, but also shadowing them in their field. As of now, the class of 2017 will be the first class of alumni to have access to the website.
To motivate students to get started on Portfolium and navigate its features, the Center of Student Development is hosting a contest called the Salve Spring Open Challenge. Students can enter the Salve Spring Open Challenge by submitting their best piece of work as an entry. Prizes for the challenge include $100, $50, and $25 gift cards for the Salve bookstore. The contest closes on May 2nd, but Hang hopes to have more in the future to continue introducing students to the service.
To learn more about Portfolium and how to create an account, students can visit portfolium.com/about or contact the Center for Student Development at (401) 341-3288 or salvecsd@salve.edu.
