The most stressed-over 20 minutes of my academic career weren’t even graded—but I’m pretty sure there was far more at stake than a grade.

The portfolio review is a key rite of passage for every public relations student at the SOJC, and it’s one of the things that make our PR program unique. At the end of the major’s capstone class, each student presents a portfolio of their work to a panel of industry professionals, who critique the content and presentation. It’s basically a job interview for your field, but instead of a job you get meaningful and actionable advice.

Speaking of advice, here are my tips for getting the most out of this experience.

1. Do the work

Before you step foot into the Public Relations Campaigns capstone class, you’ll probably have already done most of the work you’re going to showcase. You’ll need four to six pieces for your portfolio. Classwork is acceptable, although ideally you would include work done outside class. Internships, student groups, volunteer work—these are all viable.

If you don’t have enough work samples yet, there’s still time to round out your portfolio. I recommend looking for opportunities to use the skills you gained from the program by joining a student group such as Allen Hall PR, IR Futures or PRSSA. Organizations outside the SOJC—or even outside the university altogether—can also make use of your PR skills, plus they can make good stepping stones to a future job. Keep track of everything, from the materials you make to events you plan to pieces you write.

Last of all, the capstone course itself is a great opportunity to add a new piece of work to your portfolio. You’ll be doing client work, but your team will have a great deal of leeway in how you complete that work. Professor Kathryn Kuttis advised our class to focus our projects on the skills we wanted to emphasize in our portfolios, so I made sure my slice of the pie focused on writing and media relations.

2. Assemble the portfolio

Assembling and designing the portfolio can be the most intimidating part of the process. It was for me! Luckily, there are tools that can help make this part go smoothly. Canva is a great resource for making a solid-looking digital or physical portfolio. It’s not as robust as InDesign, but it has less of a learning curve. When I used it, I looked through until I found a template with design elements I liked, which I used as a jumping-off point.

Then I chose my best work samples and put some thought into how to present them. Since the portfolio is a heavily visual piece and my work was more focused on writing, I needed to find a visually appealing way to show off both my skills and the results of my work. I chose a combination of carefully cropped screenshots, digital files and some outreach materials for a crowdfunding campaign, among other things. I also made sure to highlight the internships I’d had since they reflected my professional experience. I ended up with some unused space in the back of my portfolio, so I added hard copies of some materials in case reviewers wanted to take a closer look.

3. Know your audience

At the end of the public relations sequence, you should know all about how to appeal to a target audience. I consider my portfolio one of the most important strategic communications materials I ever made. Since I was pitching to industry insiders, I knew that this was my best opportunity to practice my interviewing skills.

Did you know that some students have been offered jobs at their portfolio review? While I didn’t expect that was going to be the case for me, I prepared myself as though I were interviewing for my dream job. I did my research. I knew what industries they represented, what their work consisted of and what their credentials were. Once you know what matters to someone, you will know how to present yourself.

4. Practice pitching

Before you walk in the room, know what you’re going to say. You’re selling yourself and your experience, which is exactly what you’ll be doing in a job interview. It should go without saying that you know who you are—but can you tell someone else succinctly? This is what I asked myself, and it led me to create a personal branding statement to set the stage for the rest of my presentation.

Perhaps the most important part of this step is to say it out loud. Say it to a mirror, a loved one, a roommate—it doesn’t matter! Just say it out loud. Several times. Once you feel solid, try to anticipate what questions someone hearing your pitch would ask, and practice answering those too.

5. Breathe!

I get nervous doing these things. I suspect we all do. Just breathe. When your time rolls around, you’re going to be sitting across from a panel of people whose purpose for being there is to help you succeed.

The people I spoke to helped me a great deal. They pointed out what they liked and then offered some suggestions on how I could improve. It was a very positive experience. And then it was over.

That was my portfolio review in a nutshell. It was stressful. It was empowering. And now I feel ready for whatever the field has to offer.

Randy Newnham, a recent public relations grad, would rather be pulling espresso shots and playing board games. But the world needs at least one more strategic communicator, and Randy has risen to the challenge. Together, with the plucky band of underdogs that is his family, Randy fights dirty for social justice. Randy can be found on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and in various coffee shops around Eugene.