My name is Hemalatha Sellvakumaran (alias Hema) and this is my Portfolio. I believe that a person's portfolio is important as it allows potential employees to get a better insight into the candidate's career goals and achievements. However, this does not just end here as they are further brought into the background of the candidate as well as experiences, academic participation, skills and potential not just in the current or past year but throughout their learning journey, as deemed. Yet another interesting aspect of a portfolio is that, every individual's portfolio is different from another thus, stressing on the factor of individuality. This could be an added advantage for potential candidates with an excellent portfolio.
Being a staunch Hindu, I hold great pride and responsibility in upholding my heritage, culture, religion, virtues and values. Teachings by our ancesters are very much respected as they provide a guideline to enable growth in a person's development. You learn till your last breath and keeping two Tamil proverbs in mind, "Known is a drop. Unknown is an ocean" and "Your habits and what is learnt from birth goes till your grave", I have created this Portfolio. My main aim in creating this Portfolio is to testify my achievements, work experiences, growth and development in my academic path as well as my career path and providing more opportunities for me to portray myself as an eligible candidate, and my reflection on what can and has to be done to achieve my goals, both career-directed and personally-directed.
I have worked in the customer service line and had experience working in tough situations. I have also worked as a relief teacher at a childcare centre with children aged from 2 months to 6 years old as well as a Corporate Support Officer at a local primary school. I have learnt many things from both aspects of field and the skills (i.e. to be extremely patient) in helping me to develop my skills and personal values. However, I enjoyed working as a relief teacher & Corporate Support Officer as it gave me an insight of working with children and the experience gained was indeed invaluable. I aim to be a clinical or counselling psychologist (though very honestly, I would love to pave my way to be a criminologist in the near future if the opportunity permits me in clinching that position in Singapore itself since I have always had a passion in the crime field since a tender age of 9). In working to complete my studies, I have been exposed to a variety of aspects in the field of psychology and I am definitely more enlightened on the various components of psychology and I feel that I have learnt quite a lot from my university course.
As you can see from the tab above, I have actually organised the various components so that the viewer could have easier access in navigating through my portfolio. This could avoid jeopardising the reader’s interest in any way. The makeup of this portfolio has been separated into various components; into 5 main sections as well as 5 sub-sections, to be exact. The components are, Home, Prelude, Academic Aspect, Personal Development Plan (PDP) and Conclusion. Under ‘Prelude’, there is the ‘an insight; about me’ sub-section. Beneath the ‘Academic Aspect’, I have included 3 sub-sections: Transcripts and Testimonials, ECU Graduate Attributes, and Resume. The ‘Conclusion’ component has two sub-sections beneath it: Personal Reflection and, Contact. Through these components, I hope that the person who is viewing and/or accessing my portfolio would be able to see the developmental and reflective side of me as well as to come into view of my achievements, skills and experiences as well, as all these elements are crucial for me in my advancement path as well as to create a possible niche for me in the area which is my ultimate career goal in future for now: to become a clinical or counselling psychologist. I have stated a brief explanation on each of these components for an introductory glance and have also stated on why I consider these parts important, below.
1) Home -> You may be wondering on why I actually chose a photo of a walkway as well as that particular quote by Conrad Hilton. However, I personally feel that there is a link between both the photo and quote. Successful people are always moving and I felt a walkway would be apt for this. Furthermore, learning is forever and I liked how the walkway blends into the distance. To me, I feel that it depicts the word ‘forever’ to a certain extent. Though this section is not an important section, I still feel that it gives a closure to the portfolio as a whole and it reflects an quote that is inspirational, something which relates to me as I have a special liking for meaningful, humorous and inspirational quotes.
2) Prelude -> This is, indeed, the Prelude. I added this component as a summary and integration of my portfolio. It describes how and why I have chosen to organise my portfolio in this manner, what the various components are and my reason for doing as such. Besides this, this section also states the areas that I wish to highlight which I feel is most important and why I feel as such. More or less, it can be somewhat related to an ‘Introduction’ section. This section is important as it allows a reader to know what is in store for them and what are they reading.
3) An insight; about me -> This informal section is like a sort of mini biography about me. This allows the reader to actually get a slightly closer and broader exposure to the background of the portfolio’s owner.
4) Transcript and Testimonials -> I have collated and placed my testimonials and transcripts, ranging from certificates from the primary level right up till my Degree level. It also includes certificates of my co-curricular activities outside of my academic life.
5) Graduate Attributess -> I have included the 5 ECU attributes under this component To add on, I have also stated on how these attributes have an influence on me and how they have been delivered to me in my life. This would give readers and potential employers the confidence to consider accessing me further.
6) Resume -> I believe that this is a very important aspect of the portfolio as it gives a brief overview on what I have done and achieved in my life thus far, especially when it aids a potential employer to take the step forward in deciding if I should be considered for an interview.
7) Personal Development Plan (PDP) -> Yet another crucial component of the portfolio would be the PDP. This provides a highlight to the readers on my future goals (both career and personal) for the next two years. A PDP with realistic goals shows sincerity as well as a slight insight indirectly of the person's character (i.e. focused, goal-directed, etc.)
8) Conclusion -> In this section, I have included two sub-sections: Personal Reflection and Contact. However, the 'Personal Reflection' section, which is a much more important component than the 'Contact' section, is a reflection of my experience of creating this portfolio, what I have learnt while doing so, and what I might have done differently or the challenges that I might have faced while doing this portfolio, whatsoever.
With this overview, I hope that the reader would be able to have a clearer picture on what exactly they are looking at. So now that you have had the introductory commentary, there you go as the ePortfolio begins!