As the world moves into an age of heightened technology, BYU-Idaho is no exception. Students are expected to be more computer savvy and up-to-date not only on campus, but in the workplace as well.

Electronic portfolios, or e-portfolios, are becoming more common as a way for employees to provide easy access to samples of their work. These portfolios are viewable either online or on CD.

“Electronic portfolios provide job seekers with a relatively easy way to transport their work,” said James Gordon, recruiting coordinator in Career Placement. “Additionally, they don’t take up very much space, and they can be manipulated easily. You can also burn your portfolio to a CD and hand it to a potential employer to keep and peruse at their leisure.”

According to personnel services on campus, some jobs lend themselves more to e-portfolios. Jobs in information technology or marketing are more suited for e-portfolios, while a printed résumé would be better with jobs like a purchasing agent. Personnel services warn against making e-portfolios for jobs where a printed one would suffice.

There are some other downsides to e-portfolios. They usually require high-quality scanners to show the work well in an electronic format, and different monitors may display colors differently, Gordon said.

Even so, e-portfolios are becoming so common they are to being taught in elementary and secondary schools.

They “can emphasize different portions of content by creating pertinent hyperlinks … a paper portfolio is static,” said Helen Barrett, an assistant professor and educational technology coordinator for the School of Education in Alaska.

With e-portfolios becoming more common in the job market, students must start finding new ways to make their portfolios easily accessible and attention grabbing.