Portfolios

U California System Promotes Digital Portfolio to Grads and Students

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 08/20/15

A company that helps users link their achievements documented in their digital portfolios with firms that may be seeking those kinds of skills has inked a deal with the University of California System to make it available to current students and graduates. Portfolium could draw on the system's 239,000 current students as well as living alumni to document their work and make it visible to hiring managers.

The agreement comes after a year-long pilot at the University of California San Diego. There, the alumni department made the online service available as a benefit to graduates. The program allows users to upload work samples and make them visible in online profiles in LinkedIn and Facebook. Portfolium created a widget that allowed people to confirm their university status and set up their profile.

Now the service is being made available to all of the UC system campuses.

"The reception from our graduating class has been remarkable, and the product and service are top-notch," said John Valva, executive director of Alumni & Constituent Affairs at the UC Office of the President, in a prepared statement.

Access to the digital evidence of work provides a richer profile of a job candidate to employers, added Matt Hill, a staffing director at Qualcomm. "I often tell candidates that a resume is a kind of table of contents for stories they want to tell in an interview. What better than having actual content, real proof, to back up each of those stories?"

As part of the agreement, the company is also expected to set up private areas for students and alumni to connect with each other through the Portfolium platform.