Grow a business, get a job, or get promoted.

Ok here's my six step outline for getting your personal portfolio together:

1. Direction - Determine your objective and the direction you want to go in.
2. Materials - Get your materials together.
3. Outreach Plan - Develop and launch your outreach plan.
4. Network Implementation - Implementing your outreach plan in more depth.
5. Interviewing and Negotiating - Learning how to properly interview and negotiate.
6. Accountability - Building accountability into your life so you stay on track.

1. Direction: Take a personality test, a passion test, a gifts test. Determine who you are, what your emotions, attitudes, thinking styles, values, and skills are. Use these to determine possible directions. Choose one and develop an objective. Example objective for a technology consultant who develops solutions for companies might be: Business Technology Consultant. <-- you see this is an objective with direction. Think about what your personal brand is going to be. What's your slogan

2. Materials: Design and gather together a resume, cover letter, thank you letter, other letters as needed (such as recruiter letter for example), bio, career accomplishments list, recognitions and awards list, relevant publications (brochures, articles, product info you have been/are involved with, etc...), business cards (should communicate what you do), company profiles of companies you have worked with, and collateral (e.g. all the things you need to show you did what you did and are whom you are and also your references). Regarding collateral, you can for a small fee hire an employment screener to do a background check on yourself to ensure employers you have worked for are saying what they should be saying and that employment dates are correct.

3. Outreach Plan: Develop a 30 second commercial (title/what you do/what you are looking for) which you can share with people, build a target company list (learn how to exploit this list using the informational interview), develop a personal marketing and job search plan (overview, goals, target industries, target location, target companies).

4. Network Implementation: Learn how to meet people, join any professional and trade associations that will benefit you, learn how to network in groups and develop personal realtionships, and DO develop a network contact list for both your groups and individuals.

5. Interviewing and Negotiations: Develop interviewing skills, learn how to prepare for in person and phone interviews (questions to ask and how to answer interviewing questions), dress for success, and learn how to negotiate salaries.

6. Accountability: Time management, support partners, develop a weekly activity calendar, journal your weekly accomplishments and metrics as they occur and set new weekly events and target goals.

That's it. I do them in order and recommend that.

Oh and smile . Always smile.

Thank you so much LeftBehind, this will come in handy someday

My pleasure developing_success. You are going to be a success and make everyone proud. I know it. Peace.