Career portfolios contain evidence of individuals' knowledge and skills and are useful tools in job search and career change, especially now that employers want generalizable workplace skills not well portrayed by traditional means and students are often inept at communicating their skills and knowledge to employers. Career portfolios contain and structure information about the workplace, careers, education, personal knowledge, skills, and experiences. The reflection and analysis involved in selecting items for a portfolio provide opportunities to discover and understand the connection between, and relevance of, personal knowledge, skills, and experiences and employers' needs. As a job search tool, portfolios communicate connections and relevance clearly and effectively to employers. To implement a career portfolio program, roles of these actors must be defined: coordinator, vocational and academic teachers, counselors, parents, and local employers. These specific issues of portfolio design must be addressed: how the purpose of the portfolio affects its structure and content, and advantages and disadvantages of the medium (paper and cardboard, diskettes, CD-ROMs, and Web pages). The process of student portfolio development requires careful attention. To derive the educational benefit of building a portfolio, students must do the self-assessment, reflection, and analysis themselves. Teachers and counselors must play the roles of facilitator, guide, mentor, and collaborator and lead the students, through the process not do the work for them. (Contains 20 references.) (YLB)