Boost Your Job Search with a Personal Website

Boost Your Job Search with a Personal WebsiteBoost Your Job Search with a Personal Website0Youve taken the time to write an award-winning resume and cover letter. Your social media profiles are looking snazzy and up to date Youve even prepped your home office (i.e., cleared away all the clutter) should you have a Skype interview with a potential employer from a remote company. In short, you feel you pretty much have this job search thing down pat. But what about a personal website? This is an often forgotten element that could boost your job search success.In todays competitive job market, job seekers need to do anything and everything in order to set themselves apart from the competition, and having a personal website is one of the best ways to do just that. Thing is, having a personal website isnt industry-specific anyone from any career field can (and should) have a site that helps give potential employers a better glimpse into who they are as potential job candidates- and why the y are the ones who should be hired.Here are just a few reasons why you should boost your job search with a personal website1. It helps control the information thats out there about you. Although youve made every effort to ensure that your online presence is squeaky clean, theres always that one party photo thats lurking in every job seekers background that you dont want to come to light. Although there are some things you can do to get rid of black smudges online (i.e., contact the person or company with the bad information/photo/etc.), sometimes theres not much you can do about it. That is, unless you have a personal website. While a website wont wipe your online history clean, it will come up much higher in the search results, providing a potential employer with positive, professional information about you- and hopefully bury any bad info thats lurking about you online.2. It gives an employer an idea of who you really are. Yes, your resume and CV cover all the major aspects of you r career, but theres only so much space on those precious pages to get across who you really are. A personal website gives you all the space you need (and then some) to wax on about your professional accomplishments without worrying about going over the one-page maximum for both a cover letter and resume You can provide more details about your accomplishments and also give each award and accolade the spotlight they deserve. Plus, it also gives you the opportunity to show off some of your personality, too, which can be a hard thing to achieve on a job application.3. It shows that you take you care about your career. A lot. Yes, anybody can click and apply for a position, but not many are going to take the time to whip up a website that looks both professional and polished. By having a personal website, the image you are projecting to hiring managers is that you are a hard worker who is taking the time to invest money and effort into his career- and that dedication can be enticing to a potential employer.4. How to Make it HappenSo lets say youre interested in crafting a personal website, but your background is in banking, not hypertext markup language coding. There are a variety of ways you can get your info online that wont take a ton of time- and wont break the bank, either. You can use sites like WordPress, which will allow you to create a cool website quickly, or use a hosting company (like GoDaddy), which offers customizable templates that can allow you to make your site. Squarespace is another service that allows you to build a website with drag-and-drop pieces. You can also find website building companies to do the work for you.But no matter which route you take to get your personal website off the ground, it should have the following informationA professional headline that welcomes the user.Contact information.An About Me page.Your resume.Samples of your work.Videos and photos of your work.Testimonials.A blog.Being able to boost your job search with a pe rsonal website is a very smart investment in not only your job search, but your career. So take the time to make a website that represents you (both professionally and personally) and keep it up to date, and youll be one step ahead of other job seekers.Want tips straight to your inbox? Sign up for the E-Newsletter You can unsubscribe at any time.Readers, do you have a personal website to boost your job search? What is yours like? Let us know in the comments below