Is Your Personal Website Helping Your Prospects?

Having a personal website has never been more important. Whatever stage of your career you’re at, creating the perfect digital manifestation of yourself is the first thing that you should be doing to stand out and represent yourself online. The simple fact is that prospective employers will always do an online search for your name, and if you want to have more control over what they see, then taking charge and managing your digital footprint is the best way to ensure that you can maximize your impact and exposure. No matter your career field, in the internet age you are going to need to get the most from every digital asset available and having a personal website can do a lot more for you than you think.

New Skills

One of the basic advantages of having your website is that even merely setting it up can provide you with learning opportunities that add considerable value to your skill set. After all, every business now has an inevitable online presence that has to work for them. If you can prove that you are internet aware and have taken the time to build a website, then your chances of a positive reaction to that latest job application increase considerably. You don’t have to learn about HTML either, as there are plenty of options when it comes to website building, with the majority offering helpful design templates and suggestions to guide you along the way.

Branding yourself

It may seem like a business buzzword, but your personal branding is as important to your prospects as company branding is to a business. One of the key benefits of building your personal website is that it gives you the opportunity to reflect on yourself and strip your key skills and ambitions down to the basics. This ability to view yourself as a product is increasingly important, as it makes it easier for potential employers to know the core of you. You probably already have a personal brand, whether you have recognized that fact or not. Your Instagram posts and Facebook updates alone are enough to parse your personality down to its core basics, and that’s what employees are going to see when they search for you. Taking control of your branding is essential. You simply need to decide on how that translates externally.

Make money

Your personal website doesn’t have to be a simple online version of your resume. Instead, you can bring it to life and keep it updated on a regular basis, and that’s when you need to start looking at ways to monetize your content. Even if you feel that your blog posts are of little interest to anyone but you, the chances are that you are sharing your content with your contacts, and slowly racking up those views. There are some ways that you can monetize your website and make money blogging so look at the potentials, and you may even find that you can earn money while you search for that full-time position with your dream company. Look at the money-making opportunities available and decide which best suits you.

Better than a resume

If an employer has two resumes in front of them and one is a simple sheet of paper while the other has a link to an online portfolio of work, then the chances are that the person with the better online presence is going to get the job. Businesses are more aware than ever when it comes to the importance of being online, and by showing that you too are aware of the need for a digital presence, then you are better able to stand out from the crowd. In an increasingly tough job market, you need to take every opportunity to stand out, and having your personal website up and running is the best way to do that. This isn’t restricted to your intended industry sector, although the more technology-based your career field is, the more essential a personal website becomes. For creatives, having a place where you can showcase your work and allow prospective employers to see your skills is vital.

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