The Foundry Portfolio Workshop

Some really great speakers here. One of the things that really scares us as students is of course, how are we going to get a job? I never thought of doing something as simple as asking “who do you know or suggest I reach out to?” Networking is so important (my mom wasn’t lying!!).

Sara Tack had some amazing tips on presenting yourself:

  • Dress 25% nicer than you normally would
  • ALWAYS bring 5-10 extra business cards/resumes (sort of a given now)

I’m not sure how I feel about this workshop. Obviously, I try to get the most out of any talk I go to. It never hurts. But I think what made this difficult was how long it was and the amount of the speakers. It sort of got to a point where how many times can you say the same thing. But, there were definitely a couple that I found useful.

Sara Tack

  • Dress 25%  nicer than you normally would (for an interview)
  • ALWAYS being 5-10 extra business cards/resumes (sort of a given by now)
  • Always have your portfolio turned to the person you’re presenting to (should be at a point where you don’t even have to look at the piece you’re presenting)

Derek Slayton

Very good presentation that focused on “The Art of Presentation.” He gave really good advice on how to follow up which was The Rule of 3:

– First follow up should be a thank you
– Second and third should be about updates to yourself

Benjamin Shown

His wasn’t too bad. Basically just have good typographic control over your resume.

Sean Hovendick

Seriously, this guy was a great presenter. But I think it’s of known that we need a site.

Doug

Can’t go wrong with him. Puts a lot of emphasis on knowing the proper uses of en and em-dashes, spelling mistakes, faux small caps, etc.

I don’t know, maybe I feel like this because our program is doing an excellent job at preparing us for the real world (which I truly believe).