Check out my latest article: You’re Hired! How to create a compelling and relevant AV Career Portfolio
You’re Hired! How to create a compelling (and relevant) AV Career Portfolio by Christopher Neto
Audiovisual
Being a technology manager you are faced many with challenges on a regular basis. Your day revolves around support, maintenance and scheduling just to name a few. A casualty with the daily workload is the up keep of one's technical knowledge. Technology changes quickly but also for a technology manager your technology is situated around a depreciation schedule set by your procurement department. Unless there exists a change in your company leadership it's likely that the cutting edge equipment you installed Several years ago will remain “cutting edge” until your organization tell you so. Terms like “Good Enough” and “If ain’t broke…” become popular when AV budgets are discussed. Slowly your ambitions to work on cutting edge audiovisual systems commence to fade. The harmful side effects of a long depreciation schedule will be your enthusiasm, knowledge and expertise.
A few years back while working onsite like a technology support person I used to be in a situation where I loved my job but I wanted to advance. The task was how to go forward at a non AV Company that was lacking an “AV Path” to follow. To make matters worse chances are your team maybe lumped into facilities & dinning or part of a large IT department that doesn't respect what you do as just a pushing AV Carts. If you’re an outsourced AV support technician from an AV company then you may be in luck. Or even then “Welcome to the AV squad!”
Walk into my time machine…
Back in the 90’s I had been a typical High School Student. Like other schools we watched films in a variety of classes. AV Equipment was delivered to each classroom from the AV Squad. They pushed round the squeaky wheeled carts with TVs and film projectors along the halls. Little did I understand that years later I'd be a fellow AV Guy currently talking about the Squad and appreciating their determination to provide technology to the end-user. In fact that in secondary school I did not have any fascination with AV mainly because I was an Art guy and looked to further pursue Art in college. Once I made my intentions recognized to my Art Teacher she began to assist me in compiling an Art Portfolio. She explained that my grades and SATs were two-thirds of my college application. Being a prospective Art Student I'd need to showcase my artwork to school professors by creating an Art portfolio. Ironically finding my old Art portfolio inspired me to recreate it a tool to showcase my work today in Audiovisual.
Like lots of people, I have a traditional resume which i print on nice heavy weight cotton paper with the matching envelopes to square out from the crowd. Fact is everyone has traditional resumes and plenty of people shop on the local Office Superstore where they also can purchase the nice cotton paper and it is matching gear. I started to think back to my Secondary school days and the notion of creating a Portfolio to exhibit my work & accomplishments begun to make sense. The portfolio would also help separate me from the crowd and give me documentation to backup my efforts.
Over the next few weeks I started assembling my paperwork and samples. I emailed business contacts, clients, coworkers, college professors and former employers and asked them for reference letters. These letters where to be used as the supporting cast to my work. I scanned through all of my emails and grouped all of the Thank You emails and awards which i had received. While working on my paperwork I pointed out that my AV training was not where I wanted so that it is.
As I mentioned earlier not working for an AV company had its disadvantages but my opportunity did support the Team’s request to be a part of Infocomm. Through our membership I had been able to take online training. Like a CTS holder I have to renew my license so training would have to be incorporated into my schedule. I started to enroll in AV courses which were offered by Infocomm and equipment manufacturers. While looking for AV classes online I would occasionally come across online seminars and webcasts that we began to participate during my lunch hour or in the evening. These online seminars served for me to keep current on trends within the AV industry. What I initially thought would be a simple collection of paperwork turned into an every week routine. This routine still takes place today and I credit it to some lesson learned in Art Class.
Creating an AV portfolio has been a great tool in interviews and year-end reviews. Your updates will help you build a case why you should be considered for promotion through providing documented proof of your accomplishments. Lots of other factors come into play when you’re trying to move up but having documented accomplishments is major plus on your side. Your Portfolio may help remind to keep your training, certifications and references current, but many of all it will make you stay focused on the goal you set out to accomplish. It’s your career and your drive will fuel how long you want to take it. Please not sit back and await something to happen. Look for opportunities to better yourself through training and hard work. It may not happen overnight but it will help you help establish credibility, distinguish from the masses and puts an exclamation point your Resume’s objective statement.
This is actually the Checklist to help you organize your AV Career Portfolio
. Start by organizing your documents. I got myself a binder at an art supply shop that photographers use to exhibit their 8×10 pictures.
. Created a goal or mission statement specific to your goal separate from your resume.
. Improve your traditional resume with solid descriptions of your responsibilities and achievements.
. Expand your resume with the help of new sections to your resume
. Associations: Infocomm, NSCA, CEA, PMI etc.
. Certifications: Manufactures, Association, Training etc.
. AV Training, Classes on the web & Seminars
. Relevant Coursework including IT training & College Classes.
. Produce a Skills section
. AV Skills - As an example soldering, ability to wire racks or worked on specialized systems
. Languages - List your languages as well as your fluency
. Computer skills. - List out PC programs or specialized training you will likely have.
. Certifications
. Scan your original certificates and Diplomas and add these phones your Portfolio
. References
. It is a key part of your portfolio and can give the interviewer something they would normally have to search for themselves
. Save All Thank you emails you receive and add them.
. Ask your coworkers, customers and past employers for reference letters that emphasize your strong points such as tech knowledge, organizational skills, Multi-tasking, etc.
. Work Samples
. Include pictures of one's work. Visuals certainly are a huge part of creating a portfolio and the big differentiator from a resume.
. Document any published work or interviews and will include copies of the articles.
. Make a list of Projects and your involvement in the projects.
. Optional
. Adding a Volunteer section will help show your involvement in the community along with additional leadership skills.
. Metrics - Companies love numbers & value add.
Audiovisual
Audiovisual
Being a technology manager you are faced many with challenges on a regular basis. Your day revolves around support, maintenance and scheduling just to name a few. A casualty with the daily workload is the up keep of one's technical knowledge. Technology changes quickly but also for a technology manager your technology is situated around a depreciation schedule set by your procurement department. Unless there exists a change in your company leadership it's likely that the cutting edge equipment you installed Several years ago will remain “cutting edge” until your organization tell you so. Terms like “Good Enough” and “If ain’t broke…” become popular when AV budgets are discussed. Slowly your ambitions to work on cutting edge audiovisual systems commence to fade. The harmful side effects of a long depreciation schedule will be your enthusiasm, knowledge and expertise.
A few years back while working onsite like a technology support person I used to be in a situation where I loved my job but I wanted to advance. The task was how to go forward at a non AV Company that was lacking an “AV Path” to follow. To make matters worse chances are your team maybe lumped into facilities & dinning or part of a large IT department that doesn't respect what you do as just a pushing AV Carts. If you’re an outsourced AV support technician from an AV company then you may be in luck. Or even then “Welcome to the AV squad!”
Walk into my time machine…
Back in the 90’s I had been a typical High School Student. Like other schools we watched films in a variety of classes. AV Equipment was delivered to each classroom from the AV Squad. They pushed round the squeaky wheeled carts with TVs and film projectors along the halls. Little did I understand that years later I'd be a fellow AV Guy currently talking about the Squad and appreciating their determination to provide technology to the end-user. In fact that in secondary school I did not have any fascination with AV mainly because I was an Art guy and looked to further pursue Art in college. Once I made my intentions recognized to my Art Teacher she began to assist me in compiling an Art Portfolio. She explained that my grades and SATs were two-thirds of my college application. Being a prospective Art Student I'd need to showcase my artwork to school professors by creating an Art portfolio. Ironically finding my old Art portfolio inspired me to recreate it a tool to showcase my work today in Audiovisual.
Like lots of people, I have a traditional resume which i print on nice heavy weight cotton paper with the matching envelopes to square out from the crowd. Fact is everyone has traditional resumes and plenty of people shop on the local Office Superstore where they also can purchase the nice cotton paper and it is matching gear. I started to think back to my Secondary school days and the notion of creating a Portfolio to exhibit my work & accomplishments begun to make sense. The portfolio would also help separate me from the crowd and give me documentation to backup my efforts.
Over the next few weeks I started assembling my paperwork and samples. I emailed business contacts, clients, coworkers, college professors and former employers and asked them for reference letters. These letters where to be used as the supporting cast to my work. I scanned through all of my emails and grouped all of the Thank You emails and awards which i had received. While working on my paperwork I pointed out that my AV training was not where I wanted so that it is.
As I mentioned earlier not working for an AV company had its disadvantages but my opportunity did support the Team’s request to be a part of Infocomm. Through our membership I had been able to take online training. Like a CTS holder I have to renew my license so training would have to be incorporated into my schedule. I started to enroll in AV courses which were offered by Infocomm and equipment manufacturers. While looking for AV classes online I would occasionally come across online seminars and webcasts that we began to participate during my lunch hour or in the evening. These online seminars served for me to keep current on trends within the AV industry. What I initially thought would be a simple collection of paperwork turned into an every week routine. This routine still takes place today and I credit it to some lesson learned in Art Class.
Creating an AV portfolio has been a great tool in interviews and year-end reviews. Your updates will help you build a case why you should be considered for promotion through providing documented proof of your accomplishments. Lots of other factors come into play when you’re trying to move up but having documented accomplishments is major plus on your side. Your Portfolio may help remind to keep your training, certifications and references current, but many of all it will make you stay focused on the goal you set out to accomplish. It’s your career and your drive will fuel how long you want to take it. Please not sit back and await something to happen. Look for opportunities to better yourself through training and hard work. It may not happen overnight but it will help you help establish credibility, distinguish from the masses and puts an exclamation point your Resume’s objective statement.
This is actually the Checklist to help you organize your AV Career Portfolio
. Start by organizing your documents. I got myself a binder at an art supply shop that photographers use to exhibit their 8×10 pictures.
. Created a goal or mission statement specific to your goal separate from your resume.
. Improve your traditional resume with solid descriptions of your responsibilities and achievements.
. Expand your resume with the help of new sections to your resume
. Associations: Infocomm, NSCA, CEA, PMI etc.
. Certifications: Manufactures, Association, Training etc.
. AV Training, Classes on the web & Seminars
. Relevant Coursework including IT training & College Classes.
. Produce a Skills section
. AV Skills - As an example soldering, ability to wire racks or worked on specialized systems
. Languages - List your languages as well as your fluency
. Computer skills. - List out PC programs or specialized training you will likely have.
. Certifications
. Scan your original certificates and Diplomas and add these phones your Portfolio
. References
. It is a key part of your portfolio and can give the interviewer something they would normally have to search for themselves
. Save All Thank you emails you receive and add them.
. Ask your coworkers, customers and past employers for reference letters that emphasize your strong points such as tech knowledge, organizational skills, Multi-tasking, etc.
. Work Samples
. Include pictures of one's work. Visuals certainly are a huge part of creating a portfolio and the big differentiator from a resume.
. Document any published work or interviews and will include copies of the articles.
. Make a list of Projects and your involvement in the projects.
. Optional
. Adding a Volunteer section will help show your involvement in the community along with additional leadership skills.
. Metrics - Companies love numbers & value add.
Audiovisual