Week 6 of NOTY Portfolio Process
By Marcia Hall, 2011 INA NOTY
You have made it this far! Your portfolio is almost complete! Hopefully you are feeling a little less stressed about the NOTY portfolio process. This is the big week for EDITING, EDITING and more EDITING. I cannot stress enough how important editing is to the application process. You have until now spent hours writing, rewriting and then editing these documents.
This is what has been completed so far:
- Essay questions from the 2015 Nanny of the Year Award Packet
- Candidates’s Certification Form
- Your cover letter
- Work history
- Gathered Certificates and Documents
- Explanations of publications, presentations, media appearances & awards.
Many words have been written, erased, edited and spell checked. These words have been “seen” by you numerous times. Your brain might be completing sentences without even reading them on the paper or screen. This happens a lot with all the writing one does for the application process. There are probably things that have been missed, as you have been working on this for the past 5 weeks. This is where you want someone else that you trust is good at editing take a look at your paperwork.
Having others edit and review your portfolio is important as it could make or break your portfolio if you miss this small but important step of reviewing and editing. Ask them to have it back to you within a few days.
Now for something a little easier for most people. Your Photo Journal. This is not a requirement but can be a fun part of the application process. Everyone loves to look at pictures. You can’t go too crazy because this section is limited to 3 pages. Try to get a few pictures of you with your charges. You will need to make sure that you have written permission from the parents of any children in the pictures before you include them in your portfolio.
By this point in the process you should have in your possession:
- All the letters from your former employers or others for the “Letters of Recommendation” section
- A completed “Nomination Form” from the person that is nominating you along with the nominator essay questions.
- A fully signed “Nominator’s Certification Form”
- All of your edited documents listed above
- Your photo journal (if you wish)
Make sure to review them and be sure they fit the limits on word counts and that everything is answered.
Quick Links to the previous weeks of the NOTY Portfolio Process