Portfolio and what it should include?

Question

I would like to create a portfolio that I can allow parents to look at. I would really love to start babysitting and I would like to create a portfolio. What should it include? I mean I was going to put basic info, awards, Girl Scout certificates, babysitting classes (i have a certificate from that), ect. But I don't really know. Do people normally make a portfolio for that? and if they do, what should it include?

Answer 1

No, they do not.  First, it's etc., for et cetera, meaning and so forth, not ect. - and that sort of thing is important in any application, which is what your portfolio would be.

Get a clear or tinted envelope/cover/file to display your portfolio.  Include RELEVANT (childcare-related) awards/certificate(s). Definitely include references for any childcare experience.  (If these are original references, place each one in a separate clear plastic sleeve.)

Any resume has but one purpose on either side - for you, to be included, to gain the opportunity to talk with the potential employer; for the employer, it is to weed out those who would not fit their needs.

You would be using the portfolio as a novelty form of gaining an interview, an opportunity to ask for a job in person.  Be thoughtful by being brief but clear in your portfolio materials.  Include multiple copies of a one-page resume.  (Never give out your original, and never give out your portfolio materials, except the resume copies.)

Ask for an adult to review your resume - two concerns here are first to get your point across clearly but briefly, and second  your personal safety:  it isn't wise to spread personal information.  Review this part carefully.  I am presuming you are in your early-to-mid teens.  If so, the critical questions for potential employers are:

Do you have experience (especially with brothers or sisters).  Can we talk to the people you did childcare for?  How much did they pay you?  On this last one you need to do some research.