From OnBoard - Newsletter of the BCG

Kay Haviland Freilich , "Packaging Your Application," OnBoard 8 (May 2002): 10-11.

The work is done! You've prepared all the materials needed for your BCG application. The papers for each requirement are sitting in neat stacks around your work area. But now what? How do you assemble those papers to submit to the judges? What can you do to speed the review process? After all the time you've spent preparing your portfolio, you need to consider just a few more points before sending your application to the BCG office.

Two pounds—Why?
An application to BCG is expected to be a collection of quality work. Quantity is not one of the criteria. One reason the two-pound weight was suggested for a portfolio was to encourage applicants to focus on the quality of their work. Sheer numbers of photocopied documents accompanying a report do not necessarily define the report as one of quality. A brief report that solves a problem, uses a variety of sources, and is well-written can show far more skills than the report that simply traces a family through the census, with appropriate copies, or includes many photocopies from a published work or pension. By carefully selecting the components of a portfolio most if not all submissions can meet the suggested size and demostrate the research skills of the applicant at the same time.

At the other end of the process, the two-pound size also allows the judges to devote quality time to reviewing an application. Judges remember their own application and want to offer new candidates a review that is both thorough and thoughtful. Obviously it takes longer to review an application that weighs six pounds than one that weighs two pounds. Like everyone else, judges can only find twenty-four hours in a day, and all are busy. Remember, too, that judges are not compensated for the time they spend reviewing a portfolio.

Judges do recognize that in a few instances a portfolio needs to exceed the two-pound size. But making considered choices of the materials to submit can make these applications the exception rather than the rule. As just one example, the family for a compiled genealogy need not include one hundred or more descendants to be traced.

Suggestions from the Judges
As part of gathering information for this article, all current judges were asked for any comments about packaging applications. Their comments should be of help to all applicants, whether they are preparing a new portfolio or a renewal.

• Read the directions. Always good advice in any endeavor, judges recommended carefully reviewing the directions for assembling and mailing a portfolio that appear in the BCG Application Guide.
• Choose a notebook or binder carefully. The notebook or binder that holds your portfolio should hold it securely while allowing three judges to look carefully at every page. Very often pages slip out of a clamp binder and the judge is faced with returning everything to the binder—hopefully in order. Clamps, whether at the top or side, often cover material the judges want to read. If pages have to be released from the clamp, the danger again exists that pages will be misfiled when returned to the clamp. Flexible vinyl notebooks, which should be used with dividers for each part of the application, were recommended.
• Make double-sided copies. Most judges felt it was acceptable to use double-sided copies for many parts of the application, especially the biographical sections. Some felt that client reports should be submitted exactly as they were sent to the client. Others noted it was certainly appropriate to use double-sided copies for material that first appeared that way, such as excerpts from a book or journal.
• Reduce the size of copies. Most judges felt it was acceptable to use letter-size rather than legal-size paper for copies included in a portfolio, even if the orignal copy was the larger size. Since this change is a departure from the instructions to send an exact copy of client reports, judges suggested adding an expanatory note at the beginning of the report. Among the times the smaller copy size is especially appropriate are when those several pages of a military pension are part of a report. Folding up the extra three inches of paper on those larger adds unneccesary bulk to a portfolio.
• Use plastic sleeves for documents. Opinions were divided on the plastic sleeves that many applicants use. Those who favored the use of sleeves felt clients would much prefer to receive documents in the sleeve as opposed to documents that had been three-hole punched for a notebook. The opposition mentioned the tendency of many applicants to include more then one piece of paper in each sleeve. Having to remove the pages, read them, and then return them to the sleeve in correct order negates the value of protecting the documents.

The Ideal Package
The ideal portfolio is placed in a flexible three-ring notebook with tab dividers for each section. It will fit into a single standard (12x15 1/2 inches) Tyvek envelope available from the Postal Service for priority mail and requires only the standard two-pound Priority Mail postage charge. Such a package can include a good sampling of the candidate's work and not require excessive review time. It is easy to mail to and from the BCG office and the various judges. It is easy to see all the pages and keep them in order. Such a package may make you look like a stronger applicant and will facilitate each judge's review of your application.

Kay Haviland Freilich, CG

This article was originally published in OnBoard, BCG's educational newsletter and is protected by copyright. Individuals may download and print copies for their personal study. Educators are granted permission to provide copies to their students as long as BCG, OnBoard, and the appropriate author are credited as the source of the material. Republication elsewhere is not permitted.