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The idea of using a portfolio to promote one's self to potential employers is fairly new for the typical job seeker although it has been used for many years by the likes of models, photographers, artists and aspiring actors. In light of today's extremely competitive job market, however, creating a portfolio showcasing your personal accomplishments is one of the best things you can do to differentiate yourself from the hordes of other job applicants applying for the same job. 

Typically, most people go into the interview with a copy of their resume and perhaps a list of their references and proceed to expound on what they have done or can do for the prospective employer. If you bring a portfolio, you have concrete, solid evidence of what you have done. Even if it is never used in the interview and just sits on your lap, of lays on the desk, the fact that you physically have one will forge a positive impression in the interviewer's mind that may give you that all important edge over another who has nothing to flaunt but their resume. 

So, just what is a portfolio? A portfolio is an organized compilation of your work. The word portfolio has its early roots in the wonderful French language as porte folio which means page carrier. The word folio refers to a large sheet of paper typically the size of a full newspaper page. Porte means to carry. As we Americans have the habit of doing so many times with our English language, we have taken the elegant words porte folio into our lexicon and shortened them to portfolio.