Creating your own website can bring many benefits for your job search. A personal website gives you a customizable space, which you can use to show off your skills and experience to their full potential. Creating a website also gives you more control over what potential employers see when they search for your name online.
Cramming details of everything you have achieved in your career into a resume and cover letter can be difficult, or even impossible, for some people. A personal website gives you as much space as you need to tell the full story of your professional life. You can present a long employment history that includes much more detail than you could hope to fit onto one or two sides of paper. You can also use multimedia aspects, such as videos and photographs, to provide further evidence of some of your experiences.
Creating a personal website is particularly important for people looking for work in the creative industries. Whether you are a photographer, a writer or a graphic designer, you can use your website to host an online portfolio of your work. Rather than simply telling potential employers about your talent in a resume or cover letter, you can give them a link to your site so that they can see for themselves what you can do.
Web designers in particular need a personal website to support their job applications. Personal websites a provide platform for showing off Web design skills and technical expertise. If you are applying for work in a technical field, you need to go over your personal website with a fine-toothed comb to make sure that every feature works exactly as it should on all browsers and devices.
Even if you do not have advanced technical skills, making a personal website does not have to be difficult. Web-based tools such as Wordpress can help you to set up a simple site that looks smart and professional.
You also do not have to shell out big bucks for Web hosting. You can expect to pay less than $100 to purchase a domain name and host your site for a full year. Steer away from sites that offer free hosting in exchange for accepting advertisements on your site. Ads can make your personal website look unprofessional, which does not help you to impress potential employers.
When purchasing a domain name, try to get one that is as close to your real full name as possible. That way, when employers search for your name in Google, your personal site is likely to be one of the top results.
A personal website gives you the space you need to show off your creative talent or tell the full story of your career. Setting up a personal website is easy, but the effect on your job search could be dramatic.
Photo courtesy of Goldy at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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