Competency

Portfolios
Connecting Life, Learning and
Work
Were on
LinkedIN!
CPCA

Competency Portfolio Development

Phase I

Competency Portfolio Development

Phase I

o Red River College RPL Fundamentals Course

o Red River College Train the Trainer Portfolio Course Completed
o Creation of Resource Manual for Competency Portfolio Development

Connecting Life, Learning and Work

Intgrer la vie, lapprentissage et le travail

Resource Manual
Development

Competency Portfolio Development

Phase II

o Create a Facilitators Guide as a companion to the previous Resource

Manual
o Development of Portfolio Specific Tools and on-line resources for
electronic portfolio development
o Test resources with literacy and employment clients
o Training of area employment and literacy practitioners

Connecting Life, Learning and Work

Intgrer la vie, lapprentissage et le travail

Competency Portfolio Development

Phase III

o Form Employer Advisory Group

o Local employers meet quarterly to review the use of competency
portfolios in their recruitment strategy
o Meet with Literacy and Basic Skills and Employment Services
agencies to complete competency portfolio workshops with older
workers, Ontario Works recipients and youth
o Develop surveys to be used with participants to determine how well
the materials work and implement best practices
o Develop 3 videos to be used for future competency portfolio
development

Portfolio Tools
o Identify Learning
o Characteristics and Attributes
o Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
o Learning to tell the stories of experiences
o Gather Documents
o Prove Learning with documentation
o Valid and Targeted Documentation (Direct and Indirect
sources)
o Implementing the Plan
o Goal Setting, Pathways to Employment and Training, Linking with
Community Partners
Connecting Life, Learning and Work
Intgrer la vie, lapprentissage et le travail

Best Practices in Recruitment

o Clearly matching skills with the equivalency qualification

requirement
o Avoid costly hiring decisions
o Focus on retention
o Save money on duplicate training practices
o Make the best hiring decision the first time
o See proof of what a person can actually do, and what they know
o Enjoy an interview with a top quality candidate, able to provide
examples and stories representing knowledge, skills and abilities
Connecting Life, Learning and Work
Intgrer la vie, lapprentissage et le travail

Linking Employment and Adult

Literacy Programs
o Activities and portfolio development link to both academic and
employment goals
o All activities related are to the Ontario Adult Literacy Curriculum
Framework
o Discover hidden abilities, identify gaps in learning, identify
learning styles, includes learners in decisions that affect them
o Goals for pathways can be employment, apprenticeship, secondary
school, post-secondary or independent

Connecting Life, Learning and Work

Intgrer la vie, lapprentissage et le travail

Learner Benefits
o Better able to compete in the employment market
o Increased confidence in what they know!
o Able to better speak about knowledge, skills and experiences
o Able to represent themselves better in a situational based
interview
o Understanding of the portfolio as a secret weapon in the interview,
a work of continual progress
o Awareness of career and educational goals
o Skill gaps and training options
Connecting Life, Learning and Work
Intgrer la vie, lapprentissage et le travail

Project Challenges
o Negative connotation with the word Portfolio
o Innovating a new recruitment practice
o Credential guarding
o Attracting rural participants

Connecting Life, Learning and Work

Intgrer la vie, lapprentissage et le travail

Project Response
o 53 learners have taken the portfolio workshop training to date
o 2 day train the trainer session delivered : 14 practitioners in
attendance
o 6 workshops completed, 3 more workshops scheduled
o Key marketing tools have been established to represent the CPCA
o See what one learner had to say: http
://careerservices.org/virtual-services/audiovisual-library/ CHEX Career
Hunter Clip
o Service Coordination between literacy, employment, secondary and
Connecting Life, Learning and Work
post-secondary partners
Intgrer la vie, lapprentissage et le travail