CREATING YOUR CAREER DEVELOPMENT PORTFOLIO

Career development is a process, not a one-off decision. You will make career moves and decisions throughout your lifetime. Even if you know what you would like to do, you don’t always know how you will get there.

The Career Link team has career development resources to support you in becoming ready for your targeted career, including the Career Development Portfolio, a feature found in HireIvy consisting of a series of milestones and activities that make up a well-rounded career development foundation (see table below).

WHAT'S IN IT?

You will complete your Career Development Portfolio with your Career Coach by your side. We think you'll find it's the best way to showcase why an employer should hire you and illustrate how you can deliver on the job. 

Your Career Development Portfolio will include:

  • Your resume
  • Professional networking
  • Highlights of your work-and-learn experiences

CAREER DEVELOPMENT PORTFOLIO MILESTONES & ACTIVITIES

View/print the chart below as a PDF

Milestones

Activities

→ Build Career Awareness
  • Meet your Career Coach and identify steps that are right for setting you on your career path
  • Understand the Career Development Portfolio
  • Take a career assessment in Ivy Career Strong (contact your local Career Link career coach for access)
  • Login to MyIvy to schedule with your Career Coach.
→ Explore Careers
  • Engage with employers in ways that are meaningful to your career development
  • Job shadow
  • Classroom guest speaker
  • Internship or career fair
  • Employer Q+A panel
  • Jobsite tour
  • Employer-led workshop
  • Industry research
→ Prepare for Career Experience
  • Develop your resume
  • Begin to develop your Career Development Portfolio 
  • Submit your resume on HireIvy and have it reviewed by a Career Coach
  • Career Coach provides feedback
  • Compose elevator pitch
  • Work with your Career Coach to develop your "elevator pitch" which is a brief (think 30 seconds!) way of introducing yourself to an employer, getting across a key point or two, and making a connection with someone
  • Upload evidence of your elevator pitch to HireIvy
  • Prepare for interviewing
  • Interview preparation boosts your chances of succeeding in an interview and ultimately landing a job. You will become more comfortable and able to link the experiences listed on your resume to the questions asked by an employer.
  • Learn to use the STAR method to ace an interview
  • Attend a workshop or meet with your coach
  • Utilize HireIvy's Mock Interview module to practice interviewing
  • Create your professional networking profile
  • Build a presence on job platforms such as LinkedIn and HireIvy
  • LinkedIn is a social media networking platform that allows you to highlight your experiences and accomplishments to hiring managers and recruiters in a globally competitive market. You can also connect and learn from others with similar career interests.
→ Build Career Experience
  • Learn about employability skills
  • Career readiness is a foundation from which to demonstrate core competencies that broadly prepare you for success in the workplace and lifelong career management. These are skills employers deem critical to the workplace:

    Career & Self-Development
    Communication
    Critical Thinking
    Equity & Inclusion
    Leadership
    Professionalism
    Teamwork
    Technology

  • Workshop
  • WIN Career Readiness e-Learning
  • LinkedIn Learning
  • Conversations with your Career Coach
  • Complete a Work-and-Learn Experience
  • Work-and-Learn Experiences provide an opportunity to gain real-world work experience, develop industry-specific skills, establish professional connections, and ultimately an advantage over peers when seeking full-time employment.

  • Internship/Micro-Internship
  • Meet with your Career Coach to prepare
  • Complete relevant documentation
  • Identify and apply to several work-and-learn opportunities
  • At Ivy Tech you have a team ready to assist you in completing a work-and-learn experience. A Career Coach is available to work with you to develop a resume, employability skills, and interviewing techniques. Talent Connection Managers are working with employers to source internship opportunities aligned with your program of study. You can learn about these opportunities by logging into your HireIvy account. You will also receive notices about internship opportunities delivered to your Ivy Tech email account.

→ Launch Your Career Goals
  • Look for and apply for jobs
  • Leverage HireIvy to search for relevant opportunities from employers in your community and around the state
  • Reflect on your experiences while at Ivy Tech and update your resume and professional networking profile
  • Start your new career
  • Inform Ivy Tech of your post-graduation plans by completing the Launch Survey
  • Remain connected to Ivy Tech

CAREER DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES

  • Connecting Employers and Students

    What is HireIvy?

    HireIvy is a website created by Ivy Tech, powered by Symplicity®, to assist current students and Ivy Tech alumni with career development. It is a college-wide, online job and internship board for local, regional, and statewide opportunities. Plus, it is where you'll develop your Career Development Portfolio, manage your work-and-learn opportunities—like job fairs, job shadowing, employer panels, internships, and more—and access resume review feedback, mock interviewing, and career-related events. 

    Connecting Employers and Students. 

    Hireivy Student Homepage Screenshot

    Sample HireIvy Student Homepage

    How to Access HireIvy

    Current students can access HireIvy through MyIvy in the "Tools & Resources" section. You will be prompted to use single sign-in authentication to access the system.

    Alumni, faculty, and employers can create a free account:

    Create a HireIvy Account

  • Ivy Career Strong Career Assessment Platform

    Ivy Career Strong is a career assessment platform for current Ivy Tech students, powered by third-party partner, VitaNavis®. VitaNavis uses the SuperStrong® interest assessment to find educational and career pathways for you. For each pathway, we link your interests to careers, salaries, job outlooks, skills, and which Ivy Tech programs can help you meet your goals.

    The assessment takes 5-10 minutes and can help you begin planning the next steps in your life.

    Are you ready to start your journey? 

    Contact an Ivy Tech Career Coach for more information and to learn how to access the Ivy Career Strong career assessment platform.

    Find your local Career Coach

    Note: Ivy Career Strong is only for current Ivy Tech students who will be prompted to use single sign-in authentication to access the system.

  • Students, faculty, and staff also have free access to CareerSpots, an online library of career readiness videos that offer tips on finding jobs, and landing internships and co-ops. CareerSpots may be used in the classroom or viewed directly by students.

    Watch CareerSpots Videos

  • Indiana Career Explorer is an easy, online tool available to all Indiana residents to:

    • Explore their career interests
    • Complete career assessments based on interests and skills
    • Identify occupations that would be a good fit
    • Explore salary and job projections based on U.S. labor statistics
    • Establish educational strategies
    • Prepare for their job search and connect to employers.

    The Indiana Career Explorer website is powered by the State of Indiana's Department of Workforce Development.

    VISIT INDIANA CAREER EXPLORER WEBSITE

  • The STAR method is a structured manner of responding to a behavioral-based interview question by discussing the specific situation, (or task), action, and the result of the situation you are describing to showcase skills.

    Our coaches teach this method to students preparing to interview during one-to-one or group coaching sessions. Talk to your Career Coach to learn more.

    Find your local Career Coach

  • The WIN Career Readiness e-Learning program provides self-paced content and resources to teach core employability skills in a career context. Current students can gain access to this system through their career coach.

    Find your local Career Coach

  • Whether you’re exploring majors for two- or four-year college degrees or searching for information about your chosen field, "What Can I Do With This Major" can help! Learn typical career areas and types of employers that hire in these fields, as well as strategies to make you a more marketable candidate. This website is not managed by Ivy Tech but contains information you may find useful.

    VISIT WEBSITE

     

  • Work and Learn Indiana LogoWork and Learn Indiana is a FREE work-based learning matching marketplace connecting Indiana employers, anyone seeking a work-based learning experience, high schools, colleges, and universities. They help Indiana employers and community partners develop and retain Hoosier talent through relevant work-and-learn experiences that drive a highly skilled and equitable workforce.

    You can tap into this free service to connect with organizations across the state who are offering internships and other work-based learning experiences. Search the database to find internships that match your interests or create a candidate profile so employers can find you.

    FIND OPPORTUNITIES

Questions about Your Career Development Portfolio?

Contact Your Career Coach

Your Career Coach and the Career Link team are available to assist with exploring career paths, developing your resume, preparing for interviews, connecting you with employers, and more.

Find your Local Career Coach

24 hours a day, 7 days a week (se habla español)

Live Chat