Competency Category:
Competency Series:

15.3 – Work with Clients to Assemble Portfolios

Purpose & Context

Career Development Professionals (CDPs) guide clients to collect a portfolio of career development documents. Clients use this portfolio to present evidence of their qualifications for various applications, e.g. employment opportunities, educational credentials.CDPs review portfolios of evidence that may be compiled in paper or digital format to give constructive feedback on how to make improvements. Clients use these documents in different ways at different points during the career development and work search process to assist in self-management and self-promotion.

Effective Performance

Competent career development professionals must be able to:

  • P1. Explain benefits of creating a portfolio of evidence, for example:
    • Market qualifications
    • Provide recognition of prior learning, e.g. credit towards academic programs
    • Demonstrate competence in a specific skill area
    • Promote oneself online, e.g. social media, website
    • Ease the process of creating targeted communications
  • P2. Advise clients to collect types of evidence, for example:
    • Personal evidence, e.g. current résumé
    • Education evidence, e.g. certificates of completion, transcripts
    • Work evidence, e.g. job descriptions, performance reviews, committee membership listings
    • Endorsement evidence, e.g. reference letters, letters of recommendation, letters of commendation, LinkedIn
      endorsements
    • Work samples, e.g. minutes of meetings, external correspondence, project outlines, artwork, photographs
    • Related evidence, e.g. newspaper articles, blog posts, websites
  • P3. Work with client to review sufficiency, authenticity and relevance of evidence:
    • Sufficient evidence, e.g. enough evidence to support the portfolio’s purpose
    • Authentic evidence, e.g. substantiate works produced by the client
    • Relevant evidence, e.g. appropriate for the application, relates clearly to the client’s objective
  • P4. Describe how to assemble a portfolio of evidence:
    • Prepare list of documents or other evidence of prior experience
    • Exclude inappropriate items, e.g. confidential, proprietary, unsuitable
    • Organize the evidence, e.g. create categories, present in logical order
  • P5. Explain process for creating an online portfolio, for example:
    • Creating digital copies
    • Uploading evidence to an online platform, e.g. social media, website

Knowledge & Understanding

Competent career development professionals must know and understand:

  • K1. How to develop a digital portfolio, e.g. convert paper files to digital format

Contextual Variables

Competent career development professionals must be able to perform this competency in the following range of contexts:

CDPs may work with a broad range of clients or a specific demographic, e.g. new immigrants, women, and the application of the portfolio may differ based on client needs and application.

Glossary & Key References

Terms

Industry-specific terms contained in the standard defined here, where applicable.

Value Proposition: is a message that a client can use to consistently communicate his or her promise of value to potential employers. Note this term originated as a marketing strategy to sell products to buyers. In career development, the client is considered “the product” and the employer “the buyer”.

Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR): a process that educational and training institutions use to evaluate a candidate’s suitability for academic credit.

Portfolio of Evidence: a collection of material that helps to substantiate proof of qualifications related to career development and work search processes.

Information Sources and Resources for Consideration

Graham, Sharon. The Canadian Employment Strategist 2020 Edition: Certified Employment Strategist Study Guide. 3rd edition. Career Professionals of Canada, Milton, Ontario, 2020.

Context Rating Scales

Criticality

Q: What is the consequence of a professional being unable to perform this skill according to the standard?

Minimal risk: SOMEWHAT CRITICAL

Frequency

Q: How frequent and under what conditions is this skill performed?

Circumstantially, e.g. per project, when a specific event arises

Level of Difficulty

Q: Under routine circumstances, how would you rate the level of difficulty in performing this skill?

Moderate difficulty or complexity

Time Required to Gain Proficiency

Q: What is the average length of time or number of repeated events that are minimally necessary for an individual to become proficient in performing the skill to the standard?

A competent career development professional requires a minimum of one year of experience with at least 40 different clients, representing a broad range of individuals.

Autonomy

Practitioners typically perform this competency without supervision, and alone.

Automation

It is somewhat likely that this competency will automate.

Requisite Work Aids, Tools, Equipment or Materials

None