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The Design and Use of a Career Portfolio to Promote Student Career Development Jill Lumsden Katie Meyer Robert Reardon James P. Sampson, Jr. Florida State University March 2006

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Presentation Outline Portfolio Goals and Potential Outcomes Process for Successful Portfolio Use Employer Evaluations Student Evaluation

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Goals of the FSU Career Portfolio Educate students about workforce skills Connect students with opportunities to develop skills Provide students with a mechanism for students to document their skills Market students skills to employers or graduate schools

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Goals in Finland Help students in Finland make their individual study plan Evaluate progress in: Achieving competencies Setting new goals Provide a means for discussing progress in leaning and completing their program of studies Provide data for quality assurance

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Goals in Finland Help faculty in Finland to identify their competencies Provides one element for faculty evaluation for new and existing faculty members

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Potential Outcomes Developing strategic career planning skills Using career resources and services when needed Identifying and completing experiences for gaining skills Identifying skills and describing related experiences each semester Documenting the evidence of skills obtained

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Process for Portfolio Use Identify Experiences for Developing Skills Document Skills with Artifacts Identify Each Skill and Describe the Related Experiences Complete Experiences Develop Profile Develop Resume Obtain References Identify Employers and Positions Repeat to develop additional skills Provide Employer or Graduate School Access to the Portfolio Obtain Employment or Graduate School Admission

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Options for Portfolio Use Self-help use Use with brief staff-assisted support provided by faculty, academic advisors, and career counselors Courses, academic advising, career planning classes, outreach presentations, and career advising Use with individual case-managed services available from career counselors Career counseling

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Factors Contributing to Successful Portfolio Use Early use of the Portfolio Early identification and use of learning experiences for developing skills Regular updating of experiences, skills, artifacts, and resume Seeking assistance when needed

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Portfolio Usage Student Users16,048 Female 8,827 Male 7,221 Active Portfolios* 9,430 Inactive Portfolios* 7,918 *includes non-student users

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Portfolio Usage by Classification Freshmen 891 Sophomores2,225 Juniors2,855 Seniors7,114 Graduate2,312 Other 651

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Portfolio Usage Skills Cited Communication4,042 Leadership1,859 Teamwork1,657 Creativity1,641 Technical/Scientific1,546 Critical Thinking1,121 Social Responsibility1,112 Research/Project Development 979 Life Management 816

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Portfolio Usage Artifacts Average Number of Artifacts2.3 Top Five Artifact Types 1.Word Documents 2.PowerPoint Presentations 3.Image 4.Microsoft Works 5.Rich Text Format

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Portfolio Usage Access Keys Created 2002* (May December) 418 2003*1,441 2004 (as of June 4, 2004) 910 *incomplete data

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Portfolio Evaluation Employer surveys Interest in portfolios Usability and effectiveness Familiarity, access, and effectiveness Importance of components Student survey Evaluation

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Employer Survey - Interest in Portfolios Date: September 15, 2000 Participants: Employers participating in Expo, Fall 2000 Method: Survey distributed at Expo Number of Employers Surveyed: 264 Respondents: 87 Percentage: 33%

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Interest in Portfolios Would you be interested in an online portfolio system?

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Would you use an on-line portfolio to screen candidates? Would you use an on-line portfolio to supplement a candidates interview? Interest in Portfolios

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Would you prefer a paper portfolio rather than an on-line portfolio? Would access to candidates self-reported employability skills be useful in screening potential applicants? Interest in Portfolios

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Implications Employers endorsed an on-line portfolio system - a tool providing evidence of a candidates skills would be useful in screening and evaluating candidates.

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Employer Survey Usability & Effectiveness Date: December 2001 Participants: Actively Recruiting Employers Method: Electronic Survey Number of Employers Surveyed: 93 Respondents: 21 Percentage: 23%

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Usability & Effectiveness 100% of employers agreed or strongly agreed the portfolio was easy to use

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Usability & Effectiveness 95% strongly agreed or agreed the design was user friendly

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Usability & Effectiveness 100% strongly agreed or agreed that the Career Portfolio was well organized

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Usability & Effectiveness 98% strongly agreed or agreed the portfolio validated candidates skills

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Usability & Effectiveness 95% strongly agreed or agreed that the Career Portfolio was beneficial in assessing candidates

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Implications Employers endorsed the Career Portfolio as easy to use and effective in assessing and validating candidates skills.

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Familiarity, Access, & Effectiveness Date: Fall 2002 - Spring 2004 Participants: On-Campus Recruiters Participants at Career Expos Method: Employer Evaluations Respondents

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Survey Return Rates OCR 2002- 2003 OCR 2003- 2004 Expo Fall 2003 Expo Spring 2003 Eng. Expo Fall 2003 Number Surveyed 39531712210458 Number Responded 149107463118 Response Rate 37%34%38%30%31% Overall: 34%

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Familiarity, Access, & Effectiveness 42% were familiar

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Familiarity, Access, & Effectiveness 27% were given access

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Familiarity, Access, & Effectiveness Those 27% rated the Portfolio as Beneficial

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Implications Familiarity of the online portfolio is increasing among employers, yet only 1 out of 11 have been provided access by a student. Employers with access rated the effectiveness of the online portfolio as above average.

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Employer Survey - Importance of Components Date: January 2004 Participants: Judges of Career Portfolio Contest Method: Employer Survey & Focus Group Respondents: 7 Judges/5 Participants

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At what step in the recruitment process would you find this tool most useful? Importance of Components

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Please rank the following items in terms of their usefulness in evaluating candidates. (1=Most Useful, 6=Least Useful) Importance of Components

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Implications Employers identified the second interview as the most likely stage they would use the online portfolio; the application process was second. The resume was considered the most important component; followed by skills and artifacts.

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Online Evaluation Evaluation of Career Portfolio System Participants: Students Required to Complete Career Portfolio Method: Electronic Survey Number of Responses: 96

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Student Evaluation

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The Career Portfolio Program Allowed Me To: 70% Strongly Agreed or Agreed Find experiences at FSU that will lead to the development of transferable skills. Not ApplicableStrongly Disagree AgreeStrongly Agree 0 10 20 30 40 50 14 6 9 43 24

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The Career Portfolio Program Allowed Me To: 63% Strongly Agreed or Agreed Find experiences in the community that will lead to the development of skills. Not ApplicableStrongly Disagree AgreeStrongly Agree 0 10 20 30 40 19 5 12 38 22

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The Career Portfolio Program Allowed Me To: 83% Strongly Agreed or Agreed Understand how my academic and professional skills relate to my career goals. Not ApplicableStrongly Disagree AgreeStrongly Agree 0 10 20 30 40 50 3 6 7 4138

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The Career Portfolio Program Allowed Me To: 80% Strongly Agreed or Agreed Show evidence of interpersonal skills needed to work with or for others. Not ApplicableStrongly Disagree AgreeStrongly Agree 0 10 20 30 40 50 77 5 46 30

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The Career Portfolio Program Allowed Me To: 85% Strongly Agreed or Agreed Show evidence of skills developed in my academic program. Not ApplicableStrongly Disagree AgreeStrongly Agree 0 10 20 30 40 50 455 44 38

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The Career Portfolio Program Allowed Me To: 85% Strongly Agreed or Agreed Show evidence of skills developed through volunteer experiences, part-time employment, internships, and/or a co-op. Not ApplicableStrongly Disagree AgreeStrongly Agree 0 10 20 30 40 50 55 4 43 39

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The Career Portfolio Program Allowed Me To: 81% Strongly Agreed or Agreed Show evidence of skills that can apply to a variety of occupations. Not ApplicableStrongly Disagree AgreeStrongly Agree 0 10 20 30 40 50 9 6 3 47 29

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The Career Portfolio Program Allowed Me To: 83% Strongly Agreed or Agreed Show evidence of skills necessary to obtain and maintain employment. Not ApplicableStrongly Disagree AgreeStrongly Agree 0 10 20 30 40 50 8 5 3 47 33

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The Career Portfolio Program Allowed Me To: 85% Strongly Agreed or Agreed Communicate my skills to potential employers. Not ApplicableStrongly Disagree AgreeStrongly Agree 0 10 20 30 40 50 563 41

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The Career Portfolio Program Allowed Me To: 80% Strongly Agreed or Agreed Prepare me for job searching and interviewing. Not ApplicableStrongly Disagree AgreeStrongly Agree 0 10 20 30 40 50 9 4 7 43 32

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Implications Students endorsed the Career Portfolio as Easy to use and effective in evaluating and documenting their skills Important in identifying opportunities for developing skills before graduation Important in relating their skills to their career goals Important in communicating their skills to potential employers

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Questions & Discussion For more information, please visit: http://www.career.fsu.edu/portfolio/info.html Thank You