Using Pathbrite to Build Your Online Portfolio

By: Robert Vanisko
Part of the Career Toolbox Series 

While resumes are very crucial to getting a job, most of the time they do not tell the full story of who you are and what you can contribute to a particular job.  This is especially true for people with creative majors.  Don’t you wish there was a way for creative people to show off their writing and design samples without having to create an entire portfolio from scratch? Luckily for you, there is. 

Pathbrite is an online service that allows you to build an online portfolio in just a few quick and easy steps.  Pathbrite gives you different options for what type of portfolio you want, including Professional, Academic, and Freestyle.  When making a Pathbrite portfolio, you receive prompts that tell you exactly what to include in your portfolio.  For example, the first step in a professional portfolio is to upload your resume, followed by a prompt to upload something that represents your professional skills, which could include a writing sample, design sample, etc. 

Pathbrite takes you step by step until you have a completed portfolio full of diverse materials.  These materials should adequately represent the skill set that you want your potential employer to see.  As a Public Relations Major, my Pathbrite portfolio includes my resume, my design samples from Adobe InDesign and Illustrator, a Press Release, and a Backgrounder.  Therefore my own portfolio reflects my graphic design skills, writing skills, and work experience that shows that I have used those skills in a work setting before.

The portfolios are very easy to send to any employer and can go a long way in differentiating you from other candidates for a particular job.  This is also a very good networking tool as well.  If you are giving an elevator pitch to your dream employer and don’t have too much time to get all of your qualifications across, it is always good to have the URL to your Pathbrite portfolio ready to go so you can have all of best work available in an instant.

Overall, Pathbrite is a great tool to use and can be a key factor in separating yourself from the rest of the pack when applying for a job.  To view a sample Pathbrite, click here. For those of you looking for additional information on how a portfolio can help your job search, you can refer to this blog post.

Toppel Stars - Monica Page

Written by Oleg Ignatenko



   Monica Page has been recognized as one of the first Toppel Stars. She was chosen after she had received a full time position as with TE Connectivity in Marietta, Georgia. She is originally from Atlanta, Georgia. She graduated from the University of Miami in December 2011. Her majors were Public Relations and Psychology.
Through her work at the Toppel Career Center as a Peer Advisor, she had plenty of information about internships and had great opportunities to obtain them.  Monica certainly did not let those opportunities go to waste and as a result, she had held three different internships throughout her time at the University of Miami.  She was a Marketing and Concert Promotion Intern at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.  She held the position of Editorial Intern for the Back/Slash Magazine.  Her last internship was at the Career Eagle company where she worked in the position of Social Media and Community Relations.

After graduation, with the help of her present employer, she had sent out a resume to TE Connectivity and had a phone interview the same day.  She then had a second phone interview with the manager of the department and three days later she went in for a in-person interview with the same two people that she had spoken to previously on the phone.  Three weeks later, she was more than elated to find out that the company had accepted her and wanted her to start immediately as their Corporate Sourcing Specialist.  Monica had previously held a very high interest in the technology industry so this position would not only give her the opportunity to work in a field that she loves but also will allow her to experience the day to day job of a Corporate Sourcing Specialist.  Her advice to other students who are seeking jobs and planning for the future is to “Use your time wisely while you’re at college to figure out what you want to do, so when it is time to graduate, you will be prepared for the "real" world”.