Personal/Professional Outdoor Portfolio

We are beginning to look at professional portfolios in the Outdoor Leadership class and I wanted to take a minute to express some thoughts on the creation of a portfolio and its importance to the current and future outdoor professional. It is widely known that in the realm of outdoors, experience is everything. Experience is where you gain the knowledge to make accurate and qualified decisions regarding your group and ensuring adequate and proper risk management.

While more and more organizations are offering, and employers are requiring, relevant certifications, many time in order to take a certification course or exam you must show proof of your experience in the way of hours of involvement, total number of days, length of programs, etc. A portfolio is the best way to track that information. In a lot of cases, this will be a portfolio that is for you, kept by you, and not necessarily viewed by potential employers or certification boards, but will allow you to judge for yourself whether you meet the required criteria and are eligible for the certification or position. On the other hand, many places will require you to show proof of documented experience and will want to view your portfolio. In fact, it may make the difference between whether you or someone else is hired for a position.

So with that said, what should one put into their portfolio? The simple answer, everything. It will be used as a reference when creating a resume or outdoor resume as well, so record everything you do. Trainings, conferences, presentations, classes, certifications, personal experiences (days you go out and play) and professional experiences (days you work, paid or volunteer). There is no real set standard as to how you should record the information, but there are specific things you want to include. You can also find examples from organizations such as the Association for Challenge Course Technology, www.acctinfo.org. They have a template for the challenge course professional to record all relevant information.

An example of things you would want to include for various topics in a portfolio would include the follow. Keep in mind different activities require different skill sets, risk management assessments, and more. Document anything unique to any of the experiences you have, good and bad. Show that you have learned from bad experiences, we have all had them at some point or another.

1. Rock Climbing
a. Route name
b. Location
c. Grade/Rating
d. Lead/Top-Rope
e. # of pitches
f. Traditional or sport climbing
2. Kayaking/Rafting
a. River name
b. Class of river
c. Type of craft (kayak, raft, canoe, etc.)
d. Length of river section
e. Number of days (if applicable)
3. Mountaineering
a. Route name
b. Mountain
c. Range/Location
d. Snow, Ice, Rock, Combination
e. Rating/Grade
f. Length of climb/days/etc.
g. Unique characteristics such as avalanche danger, etc.
h. Any glacier travel
4. Challenge Course
a. High or low course
b. Number of hours of program
c. Group name
d. Lead or Assistant Facilitator
e. Static or Dynamic Course
f. Setup/Takedown?
g. Indoor/Outdoor

Your professional and personal experiences can be logged in the same format. Be sure in to include the dates of everything. If they are professional experiences, also add in the number of group members/clients you worked with and if applicable any specific things you taught such as belaying, rappelling, setting anchors, rolling a kayak, self arrest, glacier travel, and on.

The biggest thing to remember is the need to document all that you do. It will be much easier if you start now rather than try to remember everything you have done in the past 5, 10, 15 years. Just like any profession, your experience speaks highly for your qualifications. The more you can show the better off you will be. It will also help you to remember anything specific from past experiences that might be relevant for a position opening, or even to help you remember what you have done in the past and use for future programming.