The document discusses the importance of developing a student portfolio and career portfolio. A student portfolio allows students to plan for their future, evaluate their progress, identify learning experiences, demonstrate their skills and accomplishments, and record ongoing work. A career portfolio is used after graduation for job interviews, internships, or graduate school applications to demonstrate work examples and support points made during interviews. The document also discusses the differences between a resume and portfolio, examples of what to include in a dietetics internship portfolio, and the five step portfolio development process of reflection, assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation.

1. Chapter 4 Online Lecture Notes
One of the requirements of this course is the development of a student portfolio. A portfolio allows you
to:
 Think about and plan your future
 Evaluate your progress
 Identify learning experiences that will help you reach your goals
 Demonstrate what you know and can do
 Learn to use a progressive tool that will be carried forward from year to year to recognize vital pieces of
your personal, academic, and career development process
 Record ongoing work and accomplishments
What is a career portfolio, and why is it important?
A career portfolio is used after college graduation to obtain an internship, to get into graduate school, or during
a job interview. It allows you to demonstrate examples of your work and accomplishments and supports points
made in an interview regarding experience, skills, or accomplishments. It is important because it allows you to:
 Have an edge in the promotion process
 Shine in a performance review
 Distinguish yourself from the competition
 Turn an interview into an offer
 Find the right position for you
 Create the opportunity to stand out
 Be professionally empowered
 Possess better, more authentic, more robust evidence of good practice—for reflection, discussion, and/or
evaluation
 Leave a legacy to new members of the profession
Other than length, how does a résumé differ from a portfolio?
A résumé is simply a marketing tool that outlines your skills and experiences so that someone can see at a
glance how you might fit in a position. The résumé needs to be succinct, organized, and clearly focused on the
particular purpose for which it is being used.
What would be an example of a PAR statement that you might include on your résumé?
Conducted research project on sanitation of university foodservice cutting boards. Designed and conducted the
experiment. Determined best method for sanitation of cutting boards; reported to the foodservice contractor,
who implemented the method.
If the purpose of your portfolio is to get into a dietetic internship and your audience is the dietetic
internship director, what items would you choose to highlight in your portfolio?
 Academic achievements, recognition, and awards

2.  Relevant work experiences
 Skill sets
 Career goals
 Philosophy statement
 Evidence of teamwork
 SWOT analysis
Why is it so important that a résumé be succinct, organized, and clearly focused on the audience for
which it is intended?
Research shows that interviewers often make decisions from a résumé in less than 30 seconds. Also, the résumé
is an example of your communication, organization, and writing skills.
This chapter begins with the statement “. . . success in any chosen profession begins with knowing
yourself.” Why is this true, and what are some ways in which one can begin to know him- of herself
better?
If you don’t know what your interests, strengths, weaknesses, and long- and short-term goals are, then it is
difficult to make decisions or plans on how to achieve success. It is also likely that you will change direction in
your career path until you are able to know yourself. Reflection and self-assessment are helpful in arriving at
self-understanding. The portfolio process requires both continuous reflection and self-assessment.
The five steps in the portfolio development process are:
1. Reflection: This first step is the most important, and possibly the most difficult. The more thought you put
into this step, the more rewarding your portfolio will be. The questions to ask and answer are:
 What are my strengths, weaknesses, and interests?
 What do I enjoy most in my coursework, work experiences, and so on?
 What are my short- and long-term professional and personal goals?
Answers to these questions should be written out and included in the portfolio. You may want to write a
personal statement or reflective autobiography, a story of your intellectual, emotional, and spiritual growth told
by the person who knows it best—you. It requires some very deep reflective thought and should reveal to you
some new insights into who, why, where, and what you are at the present time.
2. Assessment: Based on your short- and long-term goals and perceived weaknesses, what are your learning
needs? Prioritize these needs based on their level of importance in reaching your goals. This step may help you
to determine which classes would make good electives and what work experience would help to get you
accepted to the internship of your choice.
3. Planning: What is needed to accomplish your learning needs? Each learning need should relate to at least one
goal, and that learning need should be accomplished with a proposed plan.
4. Implementation: Put the plan into motion. Document what you are doing or have done to accomplish your
plans. A very valuable addition to a portfolio is “work in progress.”
5. Evaluation: Review your progress over the past few years. Evaluate what you have learned and how you have
applied the new knowledge. Revise your goals as they are accomplished, writing new goals as some are
achieved.

3. SWOT stands for, and how do S and W differ from O and T?
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors because you control them.
Opportunities and threats are external factors because you do not control them.
The purpose of conducting a SWOT analysis
SWOT is a method of focusing your self-assessment in order to make better future decisions. Understanding
your strengths and weaknesses and the opportunities available to you and the threats you might face will enable
you to utilize your talents, manage your weaknesses, uncover and take advantage of opportunities, and eliminate
threats.