The idea for our Personal Career Portfolio came when Mike was laid off from one of his employers.

He needed a system to document and organize all of his previous work experiences and skills. 

Most of his employment history was spread out in different location, file, and briefcases around the house rather than in a single location. 

It had to be portable since he would be taking it on interviews and it had to be able to answer 95% of the questions asked on most employment applications.

It also had to address questions asked about our family, places he had been, and his citizenship in the event that he had to apply for a security clearance again.

He also needed a tool to speed up the time it took for him to fill out employment applications. 

He wanted to be consistent in what he was saying in the event that an employer was cross-checking the information with other employers and he didn’t trust his memory when it came to important facts, figures, and dates. 

The book also had to enable him to keep track of co-workers and friends in the event that he was laid off again. 

This would allow him to network with them as most jobs are found through these important leads.

And last, he needed a document that would help him fill out the endless forms associated with being a new employee, like medical, dental, vision, and various insurance plans.

A lot of them did not know where their significant others had kept vital information pertaining to their households. 

Since the War on Terrorism could claim Janene or me as a victim, I did not want my wife and children to experience the same hardships so I got busy…

This book had to address questions asked about myself, my family, my bank and credit card accounts, loan information, and the whereabouts of other critical documents such as deeds, wills, and birth certificates.

I also needed a tool to keep track of my medical information, so that in the event I needed treatment, doctors would have access to my medical history and medications that I had taken in the past as well as any allergies that I might have.

The book would also allow me to keep track of my personal property, vehicles, and other miscellaneous information.

And last, I needed a document that would help me recall what I was carrying in my wallet as I have lost it on more than one occasion. 

A must in preventing my identity from being stolen or having my credit history ruined. 

It would also make it easier for me to contact my credit card companies to cancel current cards and to get new ones.

I remember my son playing little league baseball and after the game we would all go out for pizza.

Since we were all hungry, I wanted to call ahead to order the pizzas.  I grabbed for my cell phone to call in my order but the cell phone was dead.

Another player’s mother offered to let us use her phone but I didn’t have the phone number as it was located in my address book located in my dead cell phone. 

It was then that the idea struck me as to why I didn’t have a backup phone list in my car’s glove box.  

So I went home, designed the Vehicle Phone List and felt that it should include my car dealer’s phone numbers in the event that my car broke down or if I had to get it serviced.

I also felt that if I got into an auto accident my family’s medical record numbers and my auto insurance agent’s phone number and auto policy number would be a good thing to have. 

I also wanted to record the other restaurants that we frequented so that if we were hungry we could place our order or make a reservation.

I did not know who my parent’s doctors were, what medications they were taking, and what bills needed paying.  

I knew nothing of their bank accounts, their social security accounts, and their retirement plans. 

I had no ideas as to where their important documents were located such as their birth certificates, passports, house deeds, insurance papers, wills, or trusts. 

Since my Father’s memory was all but gone a lot of this burden fell on my Mother and she needed help. 

Our Personal Information Portfolio gave her guidance in organizing their lives while helping us sort out some of these details during a very difficult period of time.