Public Relations Portfolios

You, On Paper (and Online) Constructing a public relations portfolio

What is a portfolio?
It’s a compendium of materials that demonstrate your expertise in public relations
It’s used to show potential employers that you know what you’re doing

What should it look like? Clean and crisp is more important than new or expensive

Let your career goals guide you
A portfolio for someone working in the arts should look quite different from on for a person in banking
Both exterior and interior
Color choice
Font
Elements included

What does the employer expect?
Review basic skills required in job postings to see what employers are looking for
Emphasize basic PR tools that you will actually use in your first job

What goes in the portfolio?
Resume (CV)
Generic reference letters from employers, teachers, volunteer supervisors, etc.
Writing and design samples
It’s okay to include items created in class
“We know they’re students.”

Documentation of work
Anything can be documented
Club newsletter showing your activities
Special event on paper:
Checklists
Event planning materials
Fliers or invitations

But most importantly…
RESULTS: Not just that you wrote or designed PR materials, but what happened because they were distributed
Pictures of a special event to document attendance
News stories resulting from media relations
Evaluation materials (survey results, etc.)
Web copy (links from blogs or Web sites, etc.)

Selecting items
Try to include a variety of materials, preferably in their original form
Print, Internet and broadcast
Research, strategic thinking/planning
Variety of publics targeted, positions held
Choose only your best
One great news release is better than one great one plus two okay ones

How should I organize it?
Room for creativity
By job/position held
By item type (i.e., PSAs in one section, events in another)
You can also customize it for each interview

Organization is vital
Organize it so someone could figure it out if you weren’t there to explain
Most employers just skim, so you should highlight what’s most important
Tabs/section breaks, table of contents
First page of each section
Headlines, attention-getters

Appearance is also vital
Do:
Clean, crisp pages (use protectors)
Clean copy
Don’t
Poor design
Anything that will detract from skimming
Crazy fonts, clip art, frills

Electronic portfolios
Show off your online skills
Convert writing/design samples to PDF files
Links to news coverage based on your media relations activities
Remove personal information such as address and telephone numbers (yours, references, etc.)
Social media resume
Links to blog, Web site, Twitter account, podcasts or other online activities

What do I do with it now?
Take it with you on every interview
If you have an electronic portfolio, bring a paper version to the interview
Ask the interviewer if they would like to see it
They won’t necessarily ask you to see it
They assume you will bring one if you have one

Showing it off
Don’t just shove it at them and sit silently
Use it as a chance to link your experience with their needs
Narrate what they’re seeing
“You were asking about my experience with newsletters. Here’s an example of an article I wrote for my club’s newsletter. I also took the pictures.”

Takeaways
Make photocopies of the very best items, put in a packet that you can leave behind
Can include a page with link to your electronic portfolio or other links

I got a job!
Now what do you do with your portfolio?
Keep it
Keep adding to it
Reorganize as needed – the beauty of page protectors
PRSA suggests using it for
Negotiations (raise, promotion)
Scholarship, grant, bonus applications

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Public Relations Portfolios

by KarenRussell on Apr 16, 2008

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Public Relations Portfolios — Presentation Transcript