Portfolio..?

[No Imagination]

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I know this was sort of covered in another thread, but i'm a bit unsure how to handle the portfolio aspect of my interviews. I still have a bit of time before I go, but I'm just stressed.

It's been mentioned that we should bring a (guess cheap leather) portfolio containing any important papers.

I was thinking, Pubs, Abstracts, Dissertation Proposal...

Now, my question(s):

1. Should I bring what I currently have written on my dissertation? About 3/4 of the way done. If they ask, should I give it to them - even though my committee hasn't signed off on it? Is it acceptable to give something incomplete? I assume its better then saying "Well, Im not comfortable with that". I personally don't care, except for the fact that its incomplete and doesn't seem very professional.

2. CV? They have my application package. Do you think they would want a CV as well?

3. Silly, but should I make 3-4 copies of everything? Starts getting heavy and cumbersome. But I'd hate to say "sorry, you 2 will have to share".

4. Finally, I guess I could bring it all, but I'd prefer if they didn't specifically ask for any of it, but if I walk into the interview with a big leather folder, someone is going to say "Hey, what do you have there".

Any thoughts on this one?

 

[VAgirl]

I know this was sort of covered in another thread, but i'm a bit unsure how to handle the portfolio aspect of my interviews. I still have a bit of time before I go, but I'm just stressed.

It's been mentioned that we should bring a (guess cheap leather) portfolio containing any important papers.

I was thinking, Pubs, Abstracts, Dissertation Proposal...

Now, my question(s):

1. Should I bring what I currently have written on my dissertation? About 3/4 of the way done. If they ask, should I give it to them - even though my committee hasn't signed off on it? Is it acceptable to give something incomplete? I assume its better then saying "Well, Im not comfortable with that". I personally don't care, except for the fact that its incomplete and doesn't seem very professional.

2. CV? They have my application package. Do you think they would want a CV as well?

3. Silly, but should I make 3-4 copies of everything? Starts getting heavy and cumbersome. But I'd hate to say "sorry, you 2 will have to share".

4. Finally, I guess I could bring it all, but I'd prefer if they didn't specifically ask for any of it, but if I walk into the interview with a big leather folder, someone is going to say "Hey, what do you have there".

Any thoughts on this one?

I haven't done a dissertation, so don't know if my experience applies, but I brought my portfolio for me. I brought it to have paper to write on, so I had my questions for them written down, and that's about it. I wouldn't bring a resume, they already have your application package, which should have anything relevant that would be on a resume anyway. I wouldn't bring your CV, either. Maybe it has cool publications listed on it. If they're that awesome, bring the article itself. But it seems a bit over the top to bring entire articles and dissertations. Maybe a few abstracts. Honestly, I can't imagine they're going to want to read entire papers/theses. They've been reading application packages since October. I think the idea that was brought up in the other thread was to have a bit more tangible info about your research in case it comes up and they're interested. But I don't think you need to have copies for everyone and I don't think you need lots of your research papers to show them. A short representative sample will do. They'll be duly impressed and you won't throw out your shoulder lugging around 50lbs of paper.

Plus, if anyone is crazy interested in your research and seems disappointed that you don't have full papers with you, you could always ask for their business card/email address and offer to send them the PDF of the paper/citation/link to it so they can read it in full later. The interview is short (30 min - 1 hour) so they won't really have time to read anything in the room, anyhow.

My 2 cents.

 

[Pandacinny]

I've only ever interviewed at VMRCVM, so maybe this won't apply at all, but I don't think there's time for any of that during an interview. You're so busy answering questions and talking that nobody would have a few minutes to read your paperwork. Also, if anything, they'll probably ask you questions about your research which you can then answer. I doubt they'll say anything like "We need a copy to verify what you've said" or anything. I agree with Vagirl - if you bring any paperwork, just bring a copy of your abstract(s) for reference.

 

[BodhiBird]

I just brought my well dressed body to the interview. I had completed a senior thesis which they asked about and we discussed for a bit. I wouldn't imagine they would want to read about your thesis when they could just ask the author, ya know? The interview on the whole was very laid back and it pertained mostly to my application. Some advice, think of some interesting things about yourself so when they say "so tell us about yourself" (even though you spilled your heart in your app) you'll have some original things to include with what they already know about you. And have fun! Good luck!!! 👍

 

[2BaVet]

I understand your concerns.. I feel the same way but I'm lucky because I've only written one paper and 2 abstracts so far 🙂 My paper isn't complete either but I'm planning to bring a copy because it has nice graphs which can help me explain my research better. I'm planning to use my paper as a guide while explaining my research but not planning to give it out since I don't want them to see the mistakes🙂 And I feel like 1 copy would be enough, they have so much infront of them already, I doubt that they will want more papers.. I'm going to include my resume in my portfolio even though I don't think they will need it at all. Other than that I can't think of anything else to put in the portfolio.. Any other ideas?

 

[No Imagination]

Thanks for this advice guys. Truth is i'd prefer to go into the interview carrying as little as possible, and the idea of a committee reviewing anything i've written, looking for little mistakes is just too troublesome.

I'm going to take your advice (well, the consensus), and go in with as little as possible, perhaps something for notes, but have copies ready to be emailed, delivered, whatever if they want.

Also been thinking about it, and I don't think I have a problem saying no about giving them something I haven't completed yet.

Thanks again.

EDIT: Yeah, I don't know why, but I could have sworn there were some threads a while back saying "Bring everything, don't look unprepared". But hell, it was probably my dumb ass that said 🙂

 

[starlene45]

I just brought my well dressed body to the interview.

I am finding this sentence SO hilarious. cheers bodhi!

Also, I just brought a small leather-bound portfolio w/pen and paper in it, it was useful for writing down notes during student Q&A sessions, jotting down stories I might want to tell as answers to interview questions (I reviewed them before my interview like it was some kind of exam or something, I am such a nerd), and I also wrote down my interviewer's names and the address for thank-you notes. Nothing big or fancy, but I did find it helpful to have and I will be using it again at my other interviews!

 

[Electrophile]

Oh no, you're right, that was me. One of my interviewers was like "oh, so do you have abstracts I could read?" I was like "uh...no...but I can talk about them!" 😀 I'd stick with just abstracts in your portfolio. 😉

 

[2BaVet]

I had my interview yesterday and when they saw my portfolio they asked right away: "Oh, so do you have anything for us in there?" I'm so glad I brought all of my stuff! (my 2 abstracts, my paper and my cv).. I told them that the paper isn't complete yet and that I still need to make changes and they were totally cool with it. While one of the interviewers was asking me questions, the other one was just going through the papers and taking notes. He didn't seem to look too closely though, just skim through.. I feel it helped but if you aren't sure about your papers, abstracts will be fine.. he gave the papers back after couple minutes.. and I feel like I looked cool🙂