[MUSIC] Welcome to module 2, in your path to successful interviewing. You're going to get the tools, techniques and strategies to build your confidence and perform successfully in an interview. First, you learn how to put together a valuable tool, the job portfolio. Then in lesson two, you learn what you can do to control the first impression and interviewer makes with you. Lesson three will coach you to build on that professional impression during an interview. In lesson four, you'll hear an interview with our resident small talk expert, Caralyn Bushey. She'll give you in sight into the fine art of small talk. And essential skill, not just for interviewing but for any business conversation. Finally, in the last lesson of the module, we'll treat you to some remarkably simple strategies for controlling you nerves. Strategies that will give you a winner's confidence. [MUSIC] For years, graphic artists, journalists, teachers, and other creative types have used career portfolios of how job hunting. But, only recently has idea cut on for all types of job secrets. Your job skills portfolio gives employers a picture of your experience, your education, your accomplishments and your skill sets. It lets them see what you have the potential to become. It goes well beyond to resonate, it's a job hunting tool you can use in interviews, to showcase your value to your organization. [MUSIC] Most experts agree that the portfolio should be kept in the professional three-ring binder. You should include a table of contents and use some kind of system. Such as tab's or divider's to separate the various part's of the portfolio. You may also want to put your portfolio online, on a digital portfolio site like carbonmade, Jobrary. [MUSIC] Or Digio. Of course if you already have a website, you can put your portfolio online there. [MUSIC] Here are items to consider including in your portfolio. You don't have to use them all, and you might have some other ideas. As you think about what to put in your portfolio, think about how you want to showcase your education and work experience. You want evidence of your work, your skills, accomplishments. During an interview, you're likely to be asked where do you want to be in five years, or a similar question about your career goals. This section lets you reflect on these questions and pull together your personal value statements. Those that you came up with in the first course. What kind of work do you enjoy? What is your leadership philosophy? At the university, we write up our teaching philosophy. You should have a similar outlook statement for your field. Can be anywhere from 250 to 500 words. In his book, First Things First Steven Covey refers to crafting a mission statement as, connecting with your own unique purpose and the profound satisfaction that comes in fulfilling it, your mission statement helps you identify your core values and beliefs. It should address three questions. First, what is your life about? Then, what do you stand for? And finally, what action are you taking to live that out? Your mission statement should answer what you wish to accomplish and contribute in your life, and who you want to be. The character strengths and qualities you wish to develop. Kobe and his co-authors use the mission statement to guide the direction of their lives. The idea is simple, if you live by a statement of what's really important to you and what you want to accomplish in your life you can make better decisions. To help you craft a mission statement, you can use the mission statement builder, that's linked in the readings for this lesson. Here, you include your resume and your Curriculum Vitae or CV. You'll learn more about writing these later in this specialization. At this point, think of your resume as a one or at most two page document customize for the perspective organization. Your CV is a more comprehensive document. It details all your past education, experiences and confidences including public presentations, academic writing and professional development. This section includes a detailed examination of your skills and experience. You should include the name of the skill area, the performance or behavior, knowledge or personal traits that contribute to your success in that skill area. Your background and specific experiences that demonstrate your application of the skill. This can come directly from your story file and the background research you did in the first course. Remember the enjoyable accomplishments journal you put together in course one, and the accomplishments journal, but I've recommended you keep up to date. That's what you want to include here. You've heard me say that accomplishments are what hiring managers care about. Much more then past duties and responsibilities. What have you done in the past? That's what hiring managers use to predict what you can do in the future. Then if you're asked what accomplishments are you most proud of, you'll have plenty of examples to choose from. What you include in this section, depends on your field. It might include, visual designs, marketing copy, white paper, reports, presentations, publications, book references, whatever is relevant to your career. Be careful, however, not to include proprietary material that does not belong to you. Code you've written, for example, may be covered by intellectual property rights that precludes your sharing it with third parties. Respect those restrictions. Instead a hard copy samples you can provide a table of contents and then include the works on CD-ROMs or DVDs. In this section, you'll include any kudos you have received from customers, clients, colleagues, past employers, professors, supervisors, letters of recommendation, commendations, any such goes in here. As faculty members, we include student evaluations. Copies of favorable employee evaluations and reviews could be included here as well. This section includes a collection of any certificates, awards, honors, and scholarships you've received. Are you distinguished toastmaster? That demonstrates your leadership and public speaking skills. Perhaps you have received an award for civic excellence, that demonstrates your sense of social responsibility. Any awards or honors can be included here, whether for professional, civic or volunteer activities. Here you can include a list and brief synopsis of any conferences, seminars, workshops, classes or online programs you've participated in, either as an attendee or as a presenter. Certificates awarded can be included here as well. Do you hold a pilot's license? That demonstrates commitment. Are you deep water scuba certified? More commitment. Any relevant courses, degrees, licenses, or certifications you've received can go in this section. If you've been out of school less than five years, include your school transcripts as well. You may include these under conferences and workshops, but if you're a member of a professional association, or have attended or presented at professional conferences, you can include that here. Abstracts of any conference presentations you've made, promotional materials for any workshops you've offered, anything like that can go in this section. If applicable, provide here a listing of your military service, award's and decorations that recognize service and personal accomplishment's while a member of the military deserve mention, as well. You can use this section to demonstrate leadership skills, technical skills or guiding light values. [MUSIC] Here you can document any community service you perform for the benefit of the public or it's institutions. Performing community service is not the same as volunteering, since it's not always performed on the voluntary basis. Maybe required by a government as a part of the citizenship requirements. It maybe performed as community payback. It maybe mandated by schools such as service lines. Or it may have been made a condition for receipt of certain benefits as in the UK. Volunteering is generally considered an altruistic activity that you provide for no financial gain. Volunteering may also allow you to showcase skill development, as it is often intended to promote goodness or to improve human quality of life. So it speaks directly to your self-appointed mission. Instead of the dry and non informative line references provided upon request, be proactive, have a list of three to five people who are willing to speak about your strengths, abilities and experience. Include full names, titles, addresses and phone and email. At least one reference should be a former manager. So, that's your job search portfolio. Your biggest time commitment will be inputting your portfolio together for the first time. But once you've developed it, keeping it up to date should not be hard. Be sure to take it with you to all your interviews. Review it beforehand. Remind yourself of just how valuable you are, and how fortunate that prospective organization would be to have you. [MUSIC]
