Besides your resume what else should every job seeker have?
I found this fascinating and now have added personal websites training for my coaching clients.
According to Workfolio, a newly launched company that develops applications for professional visibility, 56% of all hiring managers are more impressed by a candidate’s personal website than any other personal branding tool—however, only 7% of job seekers actually have a personal website.
Workfolio’s founder and chief executive Charles Pooley says: “The employment market is an incredibly scary place to be right now as a job seeker—but a personal website offers several important things to improve your odds.”
I agree looking for a job now is hard; you have to pull all of your tools out of your toolbox just to get the first interview.
A personal website gives hiring managers a glimpse into your personality, “A website gives you creative freedom to express your personality in ways that are not possible through your resume. Everything from the bio paragraph you write to the design options you choose for your website says something about you and gives recruiters more chances to decide if they want to bring you in for an interview.
Having an informative, well-designed website also sends a message that you take your career seriously—and employers will take note of that.
Lastly, it offers visibility, showing up is half the battle. We know that an ever-increasing number of employers are researching job applicants online and owning your own website with your name in the domain gives you a great shot at showing up when someone searches for you.
More often, we hear that employers are Googling candidates to learn more about them. When you have your own website, you have an opportunity to demonstrate a portfolio of information about you and to provide further insight of your accomplishments via links.
Please note, it’s important to know that websites take time to develop and need to be done well in order to be effective.
If your website contains a lot of grammatical errors, misspellings, or outdated information, it may detract from your reputation rather than enhance it.”
Like anything online, if a site is unprofessional or contains content an employer will not appreciate, it can be detrimental.
It’s not helpful to post an underdeveloped website, and especially in the midst of a job search, it should be up-to-date and not look like a project you started but left undone. That may tell the employer that you aren’t willing or able to finish what you started.
Think of the personal website as an extension of your resume and review it with the same level of scrutiny before submitting.
Allow me to help you create a dynamic personal website to accompany your resume.
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