• Portfolio

• Cover Letters

• Resume

• Business Cards

• Self Promotion Piece

• "Leave Behind" Piece

• The Photographer's Assistant, Pages 17-24.

  The Photographer's Assistant Handbook, Pages 5-8.

A good portfolio successfully demonstrates the skills and abilities described in your resume. On line portfolios are also becoming popular.

Here are some steps that can help you get started on creating your portfolio:

You have to look at your skills, abilities and past experiences to determine what you have to offer an employer or client. How do your skills relate to their possible needs?

Determine what skills are in demand. Once you know what skills and abilities you need to show prospective employers, you are ready to find samples that will illustrate your capabilities.

Choose an organizational method that best illustrates your skills, abilities and accomplishments. One idea might be to prioritize your portfolio to the skills and experiences that are most directly related to your specialty.

What you include in your portfolio is up to you. Constantly review and update. Customize your portfolio to your audience.

• Portfolios 101

• RIT - Portfolio

• "What Makes A Good Portfolio"

• Building Your Portfolio

Your cover letter is often the first key to unlock the door to a job interview, which will affect your career and your paycheck. With a great resume and cover letter, you go out on a first-class public relations campaign.

In many ways the letter is more important than the resume. In a photographer's studio a resume goes straight from the envelope to the filing cabinet. It may never come out. The letter, if you do it right, will be read.

Your cover letter should get the reader's attention, introduce you, expand on some of the qualifications listed in your resume and possibly ask for an interview or...what ever it is that you want, all without seeming egotistical. Every assistant wannabee who ever communicated with this person wrote something like, "I like your work." Is there something more meaningful that you can say? It's not an easy task and that's why it's an assignment here.

1. Research your subject; know who you are writing to and what issues are important to him/her. For instance: if he/she is an AIFL graduate find out when they were here. There may be some faculty or staff person who remembers this person and can give you a bit of history. It is very likely they remember shooting the cube in Lighting 1 or Studio.

2. State your message in that first sentence. Use the rest of the letter to back up and explain your position. Make your objective clear! What is it you want: a job, an internship, just an interview, portfolio advice?

3. Send your letter via the Post Office's Expedited or Express mail or by Federal Express or other carrier. It will then be delivered in a large colorful envelope and will rise above everything on the desk.

Writting a good cover letter is tough, and you are not alone in fretting over it. The following is to help make this task easier:

Download and study the following:

• RIT - Cover Letters

• Cover Letter "Myths"

Complete the following tutorial:

• Cover Letters Tutorial (EXCELLENT! Be patient)

A Resume is a self-promotional tool that presents you in the best possible light, that outlines your skills and experiences so a photographer or employer can see, at a glance, how you can contribute to their business.

As you know, some photographers are not interested in seeing a resume but are more interested in "Who have you worked for?" But you'll still need the resume as part of your marketing package for those photographers who respond to your calls by requesting you to "Fax me your resume".

Also don't overlook the fact that a long list of assisting jobs on a resume is usually more impressive to a visual person than a few names repeated over the phone.

Chronological Resume:
A resume that lists the things you have done. Your accomplishments and honors received. In chronological order. It is especially appropriate for people who have been in the workforce for years and, typically, have many accomplishments. It is also the expected resume most places, especially at a large corporation.

Functional Resume:
It lists what you can do, not what you have done. It is, however, permissible (smart) to list a few accomplishments such as a university degree or awards, scholarships; anything special. The functional resume is the resume of choice for persons entering the workforce from college (they are not likely to have a long list of accomplishments) and/or the resume of choice for a creative person seeking work in a creative business. The functional resume is as much a piece of advertising as it is a resume.

For more information on resume formats see RIT-Resumes

• Think of your resume as an advertisement with you as the product. Your audience will be a creative person or persons with many of the same attributes you enjoy.

• Get some help from a design student. It's not cheating, it's smart!

• You can use the functional resume when applying to a major corporation, just don't send it to personnel.

Download and study the following:

• RIT - Resumes 101

Complete the following tutorial:

• Resume Tutorial

Complete the Skill & Project Sheet (See class handout)

This is due NEXT WEEK (Week 6)

Using the information from the Internet and class handouts, create a "cold call" cover letter. (COVER LETTER & RESUME ASSIGNMENT)

Using the Create a finalized Cross Functional resume utilizing the Required Resume Format. An Example

The resume is due with your cover letters Week 7