Start a Personal Website. Show the world the new you.
You’re making ends meet right now, but it’s not what you dreamt you’d be doing when you were younger.
Or maybe you’re a recent grad just grateful to be employed at all, but who dreams of something bigger.
With a new year and new possibilities, it’s the perfect time to stop looking for a job, and start looking for a career. After all, you deserve more than just a paycheck.
The job search can be disheartening---sending out application after application, and hearing nothing back. There are a reported 250 applications for every open job. Only four or five out of those 250 will get called in for an interview, and only one gets the job.
You could sit around feeling discouraged. Or you could do something to make yourself stand out from the crowd.
You could make a first-class personal website with WebsiteBuilder.
Why is a website a key part of any job search? Let me tell you!
It lets you stand out from the standardized hordes
Everyone’s on LinkedIn these days. But it can be hard to make your profile really stand out amid the cookie-cutter layout and rigid formatting.
A study by The Ladders showed the recruiters actually found LinkedIn pages to be too cluttered---they were so distracted by advertisements and calls-to-action they didn’t give their full attention to the applicant’s qualifications.
A personal website, on the other hand, lets you call the shots. At WebsiteBuilder, you can use one of our existing templates to get started, but the ultimate look of your site is entirely up to you.
It shows you are web-savvy and design-curious
Demonstrable tech skills---as well as an appreciation for good design---are going to be assets even if your dream job isn’t in tech.
In a competitive market where the choice between two candidates comes down to minor differences, a demonstrated knack for creating an easy-to-navigate, nice-to-look-at website could well be the deciding factor.
For smaller companies with limited resources, it’s all the more important for employees to be versatile and willing to take on work outside their job description.
For young grads, the site itself can serve as a credential---it says to a potential employer: "Here’s an example of a project well done."
You can better control what an employer sees on Google
It varies from study to study, but surveys suggest that anywhere from 45 to 77 percent of employers now do a Google search on potential candidates as a part of the hiring process.
And what they find there may be disqualifying: An indiscreet photo on Facebook or a tossed off comment on Twitter could be enough to derail your application.
But not being on social media can also hurt you. Careerbuilder reported that 35 percent of hiring managers were less likely to interview a candidate they were unable to find on the web.
And many employers in that same survey said they went searching on social media to find positive information that would help bolster a candidate’s application.
In short, they went looking for more reasons to hire them.
With a personal website, you can give them all the reasons in the world.
Instead of that half-abandoned Twitter account, or the Instagram full of photos of your friends at the beach, the first thing they see will be a professional-looking website designed by yours truly.
Employers get to see a wider sample of your work
Employers---especially in a creative field---want to see samples of an applicant’s work, to get a sense of what they’re capable of, and to see beyond a resume.
But often the samples need to be submitted via clunky online systems that don’t display them to their best advantage. And usually there’s a limit on how many you should submit.
This is where having a personal website comes in handy. In your own personal Internet domain, you can show as much of your work as you want. In your job application, you include a link to the website, and the hiring manager can peruse it at their leisure.
If they don’t click the link, you’ve lost nothing. If they do, it’s possible they’ll get a fuller picture of your skills and experience.
Beyond that, it’s also a place where you can talk about your work samples. How did you get the idea for this design? Did you start with one approach and realize later it wasn’t going to work? Talking about your process can give potential employers insight into your personality and a sense of your working style.
A website lets you show a little humanity
Resumes are dry and boring by design. You struggle to fit all your relevant experience and work history into a single page, and it’d be too risky to try to wedge in a joke or something that shows a little personality.
A website isn’t constrained by the same conventions. There’s room for jokes, and showing off what you’re like outside of work. You can mention your cat, or your love of The Simpsons, or talk about how much you love soup. (Keep it PG, obvs.)
This helps an employer get a sense of how you’d fit in with the culture of the company. After all, they don’t just want somebody who can do the job---they want someone they can stand to be around for eight hours a day.
You can show off your writing skills
Seventy-three percent of employers say they want candidates with strong writing skills.
A blog on your personal website is a great way to show off those writing chops. Your cover letter may show you can put a sentence together, but your blog can display your critical thinking skills, razor-sharp wit, and sense of humor.
It’s also great for younger applicants who don’t yet have a robust portfolio. You can create projects for yourself, and document your progress online.
It’s unbelievably easy---and cheap
With WebsiteBuilder, you get a domain, easy web hosting, and access to hundreds of templates for as little as $6.99 a month. With its easy site-builder, you could have your own site up and running in less than an hour.
So, what are you waiting for?