Your web portfolio, your future

There are many things you can do with your fast-approaching winter break. Many students will be travelling to get some much needed rest and relaxation. But there is a way you can jumpstart your career from wherever you are at over the upcoming holiday without having to get out of your pajamas: starting your web portfolio.

A web portfolio is your personal space to display your best work quickly and efficiently to your employers.  Web portfolios can be used, and may be needed, for any major, from film to journalism.

“In this digital and ever-connected world that we live in, web portfolios are almost prerequisite to entering your field,” said Katie Eigel, Portfolio Center communications coordinator. “Having a web portfolio to collect your best work before job seeking will also save you lots of time and last-minute scrambling to put your work together.”

For Columbia students, the Portfolio Center has made this seemingly daunting task much easier.  They have teamed up with the web platform Virb.com which provides a fully customizable web site for you for free, as long as you are a student.

“The Virb templates are completely customizable, so you can modify the design with your own CSS and HTML,” said Eigel. “It’s the best of both worlds for students who want to use a professional-looking existing template and for students who want to manipulate the designs based on their preferences.”

If you are looking to get started but don’t know where or how, the Portfolio Center offers weekly Virb workshops and support. Mark your calendars: the next “ Getting started with Virb” workshop is Tuesday at 4pm.

For more information visit http://www.colum.edu/portfoliocenter/articles/virb.php

Want to see some REALweb portfolios from REAL students, check these out:
http://jacobwatts.net/
http://neuner.virb.com/
http://mansfieldmartinez.virb.com/