This a guest post by Kelli Brown. If you’d also like to guest post here on JobMob, follow these guest post guidelines.
Imagine the scene: A talented, young college graduate is ready to enter today’s job market.
He’s armed to the teeth with a CV chock full of great internships, excellent grades and collegiate honors, and three solid references certain to impress. Tucked under his arm is an impressive portfolio of work demonstrating that he isn’t only well-studied, but capable, too.
For so many of today’s job seekers, that’s where the preparation ends. Ten years ago, it would have been enough. Today, you need a Resume 2.0. You need a web site – and specifically, you need a blog.
Lucky for you, it’s never been easier to build a strong, professional site to showcase your talents for prospective employers.
Personal branding and your job search website
Before you start sending out CVs, build yourself a simple site. Purchase a domain name and hosting (yourname.com is a good bet if it’s still available) and install a simple content management system to build your site (I’m a big fan of WordPress).
Your site needs:
- A page with your up-to-date resume/CV
- An “about” page that summarizes who you are
- Contact information
- An updated blog – posting once a week should get it done
Why blog?
A blog gives you the opportunity to show potential employers why you’re a good fit for them.
Instead of boiling down a career’s worth of achievements into bullet points on a single page, a blog provides a podium to expand on your skills.
Updating regularly shows consistency. Writing professionally shows communication skills. Giving a quick tutorial shows an ability to teach others. And well-crafted analysis of industry news shows that you’re following the market and understand what’s going on.
In short, you can use your blog to convey what you can’t distill into a resume. How would you sell yourself to an employer if you were offered an interview? That’s what belongs in your blog.
Possible posts include:
- What career you’re aiming at and why
- “Case studies” of projects you contributed to or managed
- Synopses of your key skills and how they served previous employers
- Hidden talents – the ability to manage, multitask, work independently, work as part of a team, work with difficult clients and so on…
Going public
When your site is set and your blog paints a pretty picture of your skills, it’s time to promote yourself. Send your RSS feed to your social networks – LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter – and encourage your connections to share any articles that might interest a potential employer.
While Facebook and Twitter may not strike you as crucial to a job search, they’re quite likely to show up in a Google search if a potential employer looks for you – having professional content available can’t hurt (and it will likely help).
Success!
Personal branding doesn’t end when you get hired. Keep up the good work and you’ll be better prepared for your next job search.
About the Author
This article is part of the 4th Annual JobMob Guest Blogging Contest, which was made possible thanks in large part to our Gold Sponsor, Jason Alba of JibberJobber. If you want Kelli Brown to win, share this article with your friends.
If you like this article, you’ll also enjoy How To Use Blogging To Attract Job Offers and Other Benefits.
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--Jacob Share
