Dr. Michael Yakubov
WilmU Alumnus Dr. Michael Yakubov believes a free product his company produces can give students the professional advantages they need.
For many students, the thought of graduating is both exciting and daunting. There’s a relief in knowing that assignment deadlines and hours poured into academic work will end, though the uncertainty of the next career step looms. It’s common for students to worry about the competitive job market and whether they are qualified for the positions they want. Given numerous job platforms and career-oriented resources, deciding the best resources to use can be challenging.
Dr. Yakubov earned his Ed.D. at Wilmington University in April of 2021. He looked for an online doctoral program that provided open educational resources and chose WilmU for its “culture of student engagement, challenging curriculum, and strong networking base,” he says. He happened to work as an account executive for Instructure, an education technology company that owns Canvas and Portfolium. At WilmU, he used Portfolium because of its focus on professional development. Even though he’s connected to the product professionally, he wanted students to know that it’s free at WilmU and that they can benefit from it.
Portfolium is a cloud-based student e-portfolio platform that lets students display class projects, achievements, work samples, certificates, and video content instrumental to their personal and professional development. Portfolium is user-friendly and makes it easy to upload and share projects. Its target audience, extensive content, and distinctive collaborative feature are perfect for students. Unlike LinkedIn and other job-seeking platforms, Portfolium is designed mainly for college students and their career needs. “It provides access to an external network with like-minded peers, as opposed to a more scattered approach on LinkedIn,” says Dr. Yakubov.
[Portfolium] provides access to an external network with like-minded peers, as opposed to a more scattered approach on LinkedIn.” — Dr. Yakubov
According to the American Psychological Association, “When progress is recorded or documented physically or publicly, the higher the likelihood of success.” Portfolium offers unlimited access to uploading artifacts, so students can keep track of their skills and accomplishments while identifying areas of improvement. Plus, it fosters professional growth, which could make students more confident about their career journeys. The traditional résumé is replaced with curated videos that students can embed or add as links, allowing recruiters to get more insight into their personalities and skills. For college students who don’t have lots of work experience, visual projects portray their digital literacy, critical thinking skills, and problem-solving abilities.
Graduates continue using Portfolium because it allows them to keep track of their peers and connect with academic professionals. “It can be used on a greater level for career development, sharing of ideas, and as a place for collaboration,” says Dr. Yakubov. “I can see this being a great tool for sharing during application candidacy for career-minded professionals, and the badging feature helps elevate the experience. It can also be connected to LinkedIn.”
Dr. Yakubov recently founded TheResumaniacs.com, a development and training company focused on employee retention. Also, he credits his WilmU dissertation for helping him start TheCorporateScorecard, a business dedicated to employee retention, company succession planning, and fiscal alignment for resources.
—Ray Brookman