RE: portfolio again - clarification

[kimber_miller -at- acs-inc -dot- com]

Roxanne:

Your idea of making your document samples is a good one. Prospective employers
will see on your resume where you've been; they don't need to see it in the
document samples in your portfolio. I've been a regular employee and a
contractor, and I've always used that method to show work that I've done.

The idea of not leaving material w/ prospective employers is also one that I
encourage. If they want more time with my sample, they can schedule a second
interview. Or, I now have some "lighter" samples that I would leave, but they
don't represent my most technical skills, so --as always--it depends. But
telling the prospect that material is not yours to distribute, but only to
display is a professional stance.

Contractors need to worry about this confidentiality issue because many of them
move relatively quickly from project to project. All may get their next project
from networking with/through current and former clients, and so must develop an
unimpeachable reputation, in addition to a killer portfolio. It is NOT true that
W-2 employees do not worry about the confidentiality issue, merely that--as a
general rule--W2 workers stay in one place for longer than contractors. 

Personally, I would not differentiate in my attitude toward treatment of
confidential material from a "permanent" or "transient" project. The copyright
is my client's.

"Genericize" your samples, make a portfolio, and have a happy hunt!  At your
next position, after you complete your first project, ask your supervisor about
the company's confidentiality policy, because, as you're sure they know, you
keep an extensive collection of work to exhibit as a portfolio. You'll get the
policy up front--maybe you can even introduce the question at the interview
while showing the portfolio that you have--question each company's policy then.

Anyway--hope something in here helps spark an idea.

Good luck!

--Kimber



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Be wiser than other people, if you can, but do not tell them so.
--Lord Chesterfield

Kimber Miller
kimber_miller -at- acs-inc -dot- com
Affiliated Computer Services
Dallas, Texas
214.887.7408

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-----Original Message-----
From:   R Greenberg <roxanne_98 -at- yahoo -dot- com> 
Sent:   Monday, March 13, 2000 2:53 PM
To:     "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Subject:        portfolio again - clarification 

Thanks, everyone who answered my questions about what
and how much to put in a portfolio. I have to clarify
a couple of things.