Electronic Portfolios: For Assessment and Job Search

Electronic portfolios (eportfolios) have slipped silently into colleges and universities as effective assessment tools of student work. While originally conceived as methods for demonstrating student competencies and department as well as university commitment to learning, eportfolios are beginning to find their way into the world of work. This phenomenon poses interesting questions for business communication scholars and practitioners. In the spring of 2005, my department initiated the first senior eportfolio program with three aims in mind: (1) to help students reflect on their experiences and areas of growth while at the university, in general, and in the Department of Communication Studies, specifically, (2) to assist members of the department in assessing program strengths while identifying areas for improvement, and (3) to provide qualitative measurements of student competency in four key areas defined by the university: oral communication, writing, information literacy, and quantitative literacy. The assessment aspects were well researched and planned. Students worked hard to create eportfolios that explicitly demonstrated oral and written communication skills as well as quantitative and information literacy. In designing the eportfolio assignment, I did not anticipate that students would take their eportfolios with them into the workplace, and I did not imagine employers would respond so favorably to the assessment-driven eportfolios. Most (29/56, or over 50%) students who shared their eportfolios with potential employers were offered a job (many on the spot), and many (10 students, approximately 35%) were either offered better jobs than what they applied for or were given jobs with expanded responsibilities. Perhaps J.R. Young (2002) captures this professional notion of eportfolios, noting “an e-portfolio is an extensive resume that links to an electronic repository of a student’s papers, problem sets, pictures from study abroad stints, and anything else that demonstrates the student’s accomplishments and activities.” Young quotes students who believe eportfolios have promise for job searches and administrators and faculty who explicitly state that eportfolios are not intended “to be just souped-up resume[s]” but rather to “breathe life into the academic-advising process and help students reflect on how their disparate activities become a well-rounded education.” In this paper, I will address briefly some of the history and theory of portfolios, describe my experiences with students, eportfolios, and employers, and then posit why eportfolios hold currency for today’s business environment. I will ground my discussion in practice and share some observations gleaned from interviews with students and employers. My comments here,