Portfolio development
What is a portfolio?
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Portfolios are made up of samples of your work that demonstrate your knowledge skills, abilities and competence.
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A portfolio is a valuable visual tool that you can use throughout your career to assess your professional development, to show that you meet the required standards for registration and revalidation, to help you interview effectively, negotiate job offers, prepare for performance appraisals, manage career transitions and track accomplishments and successes.
As a professional you are required to keep up-to-date in your professional practice and show that you are developing and utilising your skills, knowledge and competence within your professional role. In order to demonstrate this you need to provide evidence of your Continuous Professional Development.
It is therefore recommended that you maintain a personal portfolio. This will provide you with a record of your career to date, detailing your achievements, skills, qualities and qualifications. It will bring together all the evidence that reinforces what you have achieved in terms of work activities and attainment, using testimonials, appraisals and other forms of personal feedback.
You should consider skills and competencies gained both in and outside your current work environment.
Portfolios should be:
- Accessible – easy to navigate, read and understand
- Living – change and grow with your personal and career development
- Robust – for positive assessment of the evidence
- Useful – now and in the future
What do you need to provide evidence of?
- Public health competencies
- Competencies
- Good public health practice
- Appraisal evidence
- Feedback
- CPD
- Training/educator standards
- Specialist competencies
- Leadership standards
- Professional standards
Uses for your portfolio evidence
- Appraiser for appraisal
- Manager for performance review
- Coach/ supervisor for evaluation of progress
- Assessor for accreditation of new competencies
- To record CPD activities for ‘keeping in good standing’ and professional accreditation
- Colleagues for discussion when reflecting on own practice or seeking testimonials
- To promote self e.g. job application process
Useful weblinks
Tips for a career portfolio
Job searching with a portfolio
Portfolio development for specialist and defined registration