Intelligent job seekers search for any advantages they can to show that they are a great fit for a company in contrast to their competitors. It all starts off course with your resume, which should be written in a way that recognizes your distinctive strengths. It is complemented by things such as cover letters, LinkedIn, portfolios and social media profiles, and much more – all of which are made to paint a picture of a great possible worker.
Few job seekers sustain to find new ways to complement their resume, and one of the most usual is with a personal website – a website about you that you develop, manage, and more. These personal websites are significantly extended resumes, and might have features like:
- Long form resumes (more than 1 page)
- Links to relevant work.
- Blog posts about your industry, and more.
- Areas of interest
However advertised as a “personal website,” it should actually be known as “personal professional website.” It should rarely, if ever, have any data about your personal life, and should be almost completely about your work history and industry.
Are Personal Websites Effective?
Studies over the value of personal websites have been mixed, but most seem to demonstrate that having a personal website should be seen as a largely valuable tool for finding a job. While not everyone agrees with this assessment, most experts discuss that there is important value to creating a personal professional website, with benefits that involve:
- Greater Web Presence – The more professional information a hiring manager can find about you online, the more they build a level of trust in you as a job applicant. As long as everything is professional, this can increase their positive feelings towards your overall candidacy.
- More Possibilities to Give Information – Resumes are short and LinkedIn information can be restricted in scope with cover letters offering little in the way of extra data. Personal websites, on the other hand, can be filled with considerable data about you with no length limit, which in turn provides you more opportunities to impress the hiring manager.
- Commitment to Professionalism – By default, a person that has a personal website is someone who cares about making an affect professionally. This is a positive quality for hiring managers, even if they do not specifically care about the information on the site.
Very little brands your capabilities quite like a personal website – something that you are in control of, and something that shows you are a thought leader in your industry.
Qualities of a Great Personal Website
It all sounds actually positive but there is a catch. Your personal website has to be impressive. It has to be something that makes a hiring manager say “wow.” That means it might require some work, involving:
- Strict Professionalism – You’ve to make certain that you are never tempted to post anything too personal on the site. You do not need to introduce potential biases that could influence how the hiring manager sees you, and it is something that you’ve to consider any time you post something.
- Have Something to Say – You should not have a personal site if it is not going to assist your candidacy. For instance, if you don’t have a long work history, or you have not had several achievements, a personal site might show what you DON’T have, instead to highlight your strengths.
Additionally, you’ve to remember to keep it updated frequently, and tailored to the job you need at the time. A “dead site” isn’t very impressive to hiring managers, nor is a site that talks about one industry when you are applying to a completely different industry.
How Do I Establish A Great Personal Website
If you’re struggling to make your site look good, you might require considering a website design company, and possibly certain content writing. Unless you know how to design a beautiful website and you consider yourself a great writer, you are going to need to make sure that your site has that wow factor that makes someone interested in you. Low quality sites might not have that.
Should You Have a Personal Site?
Overall, personal professional websites can have important value. The mere caveat is that you have to do it right. If you’re going to develop a personal site for jobs, make smart decisions and always keep what you consider the hiring manager is looking for in mind.