Creating a personal work portfolio
Creating a personal work portfolio
(OP)
Hi everyone!
TL;DR
My question is: What information and documentation do you keep to build a portfolio of work that can be used during job interviews and formal networking events? Below is some personal work history if you would be interested in customizing your response
My background
I graduated college with a bachelors of chemical engineering in 2014 and spent 2014 to 2015 working in operations as an operator and then shift supervisor. I will have worked as a project engineer from 2016 to 2017; 2017 employment plans are still up in the air.
My time working as an engineer has been at an aseptic vaccine filling and lyophilization site working as the process engineer on re-commissioning a skid that makes an oil-water emulsion product. My main accomplishment has been troubleshooting and resolving equipment issues and automation issues to a lesser degree (had an automation engineer colleague on the project) faster than projected in the project schedule. I also helped the validation engineers write their protocols and risk assessments by acting as one of the subject matter experts on the process.
I've certainly learned a lot about engineering standards and codes, different types of specialty equipment, basics of SCADA systems and PLCs, and about the "art" of aseptic manufacturing but I don't think I have any tangible examples of my performance for my time on the project. I would appreciate your thoughts on how I should be self-assessing my work to find opportunities for portfolio building.
Thanks for your time,
J
TL;DR
My question is: What information and documentation do you keep to build a portfolio of work that can be used during job interviews and formal networking events? Below is some personal work history if you would be interested in customizing your response
My background
I graduated college with a bachelors of chemical engineering in 2014 and spent 2014 to 2015 working in operations as an operator and then shift supervisor. I will have worked as a project engineer from 2016 to 2017; 2017 employment plans are still up in the air.
My time working as an engineer has been at an aseptic vaccine filling and lyophilization site working as the process engineer on re-commissioning a skid that makes an oil-water emulsion product. My main accomplishment has been troubleshooting and resolving equipment issues and automation issues to a lesser degree (had an automation engineer colleague on the project) faster than projected in the project schedule. I also helped the validation engineers write their protocols and risk assessments by acting as one of the subject matter experts on the process.
I've certainly learned a lot about engineering standards and codes, different types of specialty equipment, basics of SCADA systems and PLCs, and about the "art" of aseptic manufacturing but I don't think I have any tangible examples of my performance for my time on the project. I would appreciate your thoughts on how I should be self-assessing my work to find opportunities for portfolio building.
Thanks for your time,
J





RE: Creating a personal work portfolio
RE: Creating a personal work portfolio
Dan - Owner
http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com
RE: Creating a personal work portfolio
RE: Creating a personal work portfolio
I interviewed an engineer once that had drawings/photos from various major aerospace corp's. He didn't seem trustworthy to me.
Chris, CSWP
SolidWorks '16
ctophers home
SolidWorks Legion
RE: Creating a personal work portfolio
B.E.
You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.
RE: Creating a personal work portfolio
I tried to get around this by basically linking to information available on my former employers public website or similar but even that can be questionable.
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: Creating a personal work portfolio
When I was young and I worked on a drafting board, it was customary to bring examples of one's drawings, so that the interviewer could examine the line work and lettering. That long ago ceased to matter. Portfolios are for artists. Can you wave a page of engineering calculations under someone's nose for fifteen seconds?
On your resume, list the stuff that you did.
--
JHG