I've put up a portfolio so would be keen in hearing some opinions from people who don't know me. I will use the portfolio when applying for internships/jobs in Computer Science and IT as I am graduating soon. Some of my questions: What's the first impression you get about me? Do I seem too arrogant/dorky in the presentation? Could this portfolio be presented to any kind of organization/company? Could I use a link to this website instead of a CV? Ofcourse you can point out whatever comes to you. I just wrote some questions to give an idea of what I am wondering about. All criticism is good so hit me ruthlessly Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
First off, Be yourself. There's no point being something your not because if you get a job at the end of the day they'll expect what you've put forwards to walk through the door and not find someone trying to be something their not. So don't worry about being arrogant or dorky, just stick with the idea of being capable of doing the job and hopefully your "winning personality" will land you what job you are after. As for portfolio's, the important thing in coding is the capability of documentation and the ability to play nice with others. If you can't work in a team environment (being able to coordinate your contribution with that of others for a larger project) then you'll be looking at solo gigs which can be extremely time consuming. If you are good at being a team player, then emphasise the examples more (Which ones prove your team playing capacity and your knack for documentation?) A nice touch would be a "development blog" for any projects you've worked on as it's useful for developers to show their musings while going through the process of developing. In some companies it would be paramount to be able to vocalise what actions your doing for both internal and external tracking. (incidentally are you versed in any Project Management software? That's can be useful during coordination efforts.) You don't mention any Hobbies or any Volunteer work, it's not necessary however it can be useful to get people to identify with you. You can find that some larger corporations sometimes have various sports events or team building days where people go do something other than the work they usually do. Volunteer work identifies more about what sorts of things your passionate about and if you might or might not need time on occasion to cover things (for instance if you volunteered to take handicapped kids on a day out, they might be more lenient knowing that in advance) As for Alternatives to Resume/CV's, In recent years people have been using a lot of different methods to make that human connection with employers, this has meant some have event got to faking recorded interviews to put on Youtube to cover their answers to questions that could be asked, or just a 3 minute video covering what they can do. (A prospective employer then gets to see the face of the person and the potential charisma of their character to decide if they should grant them an interview) If you did a video like that, I'd suggest going the whole hog. Story board it (show the draft storyboard), film it, add titling sequences, if you talk about things in your life or your portfolio cut some video footage of those things into it, keep it perky but not too zany. If you can show you can do all that, then you've covered presentation which is enough to get people to understand what you need from them in a workplace. I wouldn't suggest spamming out Resumes/CV's all over the place, they tend to either get automatically chewed up in email spambins or placed into a big wad of potentials which secretaries occasionally browse through when they need cheering up in an office. The best bet is similar to what you've already done, put forwards a website as a teaser or taste of who you are and a statement like "if interest contact me for a copy of my Resume/CV". I can't guarantee all I've suggested will work or if it's for you, but if your up for it and think it fits who you are then there's no harm trying it.
