EPCS - Educational Portfolios & Career Services

We have had hundreds of principals viewing portfolios! To make your portfolio useful in your job search integrate it into Cover Letters, WECAN, Interviewing, and follow up by doing the following:

Be ready to use your portfolio to illustrate how you teach and to answer questions about your teaching.
Choose sections focused on what you value most in your teaching.
Suggest specific locations in your portfolio that illustrate things that are important in your teaching. EPCS can help!

The Portfolio at UW Madison:

Education students, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, produce electronic portfolios as an integral part of their program to attain teacher certification.
The portfolio is first of all a tool for student learning and growth through reflection.
The portfolios may also be used to provide school district administrators with tangible evidence of the skills and understanding each teacher will bring into the classroom.

Portfolios are a powerful, new tool for the job search. Students who have been successful in using their portfolios have proactively promoted them.

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Some basic points about using the portfolio for your job search.
The portfolio:

Is not a screening tool. Don’t expect employers to view it unless they have decided that you meet their qualifications.
Will help you interview. One thing we hear consistently from students is that having completed the portfolio helped them interview.
Is very different from a paper portfolio because employers can view before, during, and after an interview. It is also rich information, providing indepth knowledge of your teaching abilities. This means you have to think about it differently and use it differently. Students who have had success using the e-portfolio understand how to use it and how to promote it.
Is just one tool of several that you have for your job search though a powerful one. School employers use different things for hiring. Some will use your e-portfolio some will not. (See tools for a listing of hiring practices).

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Promoting Your Portfolio

1. Put in on your Resume: Your account will be accessible to employers once activated. Notify employers they can access the portfolio by listing the EPCS web page on your resume including your EPCS file number and employer password. For example:

Electronic Portfolio Available at http://careers.education.wisc.edu
In the For Employers section in the far left panel, select View Candidates
Enter Email Address, File Number (Your EPCS File Number), Enter Password(Your Employer Access Password)

2. Discuss it in Cover Letters: In your letters, be sure to promote your portfolio by identifying key exhibits or examples of your work that you would like employers to view. Give directions on where to find these items within your portfolio. See an example cover letter under K-12 Job Search: Letters.

3. Get the word out with Promotional Cards: Include a sheet on instructions of how to access your portfolio to take to job interviews or job fairs. You can even include these promotional cards with your cover letter and resume! EPCS has prepared a promotional card to be used to distribute information about your portfolio. The cards were created in Microsoft Word. They are three to a page, and the document is available here for you to print for your use. See: Promotional Cards

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Using EPCS's electronic distribution system to release your Portfolio to Employers

An EPCS Job-Search Account provides direct secure, electronic distribution to employers of your portfolio in accordance with confidentiality and permissions agreements.

In order to release your portfolio to employers, you must have an active job search account with EPCS.

For information on opening a job search account, click here.

Click here to read about the portfolio service

Steps for releasing your portfolio
When using your portfolio in your job search, two main steps need to occur in order to allow employers to view your portfolio. First, the account has to be set to activated status, and second, an employer password must be assigned.

Activating your account:

Log in to EPCS On-Line
From the EPCS On-Line Services Menu, select

Job Search Account: e-portfolio activation panel

Job Search Menu

Select Activate Portfolio/ Set Employer Access Password
Select ACTIVATED next to 'Select Portfolio Status'
If you want Madison Metropolitan School District to have access to your portfolio, select YES
If your portfolio contains video clips, select .mov or .wmv for the type of video file (If selected, the employer will receive information about downloading software in order to view the video/audio)
Enter an employer password in the Set Employer Access Password box (Choose a password other than the one you use to access EPCS On-line)
Verify the password is correct
Select Submit Updated Status and Password

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WECAN: providing employers access to your Portfolio:

You must have a Candidate account on WECAN (To create a candidate account, go to careers.education.wisc.edu/wecan and create an account)

From the Activate Your On Line Portfolio and Credentials screen (the example screen above), under For WECAN Users: Use this URL for your Portfolio... highlight and copy the entire https:// address
Log in to your WECAN account
Go to Your Profile
Select Edit Your Profile
Scroll down to the bottom of the page to the Wisconsin Standards-Based ePortfolio box
Paste the entire URL in this box
Select Submit

Printing sections of the portfolio Click here to read about the printing options

EPCS consultants are available to offer assistance to employers in gaining access to your portfolio. If you need assistance or have any questions, please call EPCS at (608) 262-1755 or E-mail EPCS

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