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Career Advice for Job Seekers

The Time is Now: Why You Need to Start Building a Professional Portfolio

William Frierson AvatarWilliam Frierson
September 25, 2013


An example of a personal website

An example of a personal website. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

The moment you graduate, you may feel a slight lump in your stomach. You realize school is over and it’s time to move into the real-world. Financial obligations will become the first of your priorities which will lead you to begin the long (sometimes tedious) search for a job (or career).

Today, completion of college generally entails a diploma and a few years of work experience under your belt if you have happened to hold a few jobs during your time in school. This experience and certification will become the basis for your resume. Unfortunately, what these two don’t provide is an understanding of your reputation.

The Changing Landscape of Job Hunting

Many businesses, small and large, have taken to the Web as a tool for recruiting individuals for their organization. Websites such as LinkedIn and Facebook have become a hunting ground due to their role as professional and personal networks. Businesses may use your online profile as a factor in the hiring process. An online profile riddled with unprofessional behavior may drive the business away.

A lack of professional presence has an adverse effect on your ability to source jobs. Relying solely on the limited work experience and a graduate certificate may turn finding a job into a very difficult task due to heightened competition by your peers who display their accomplishments through online portfolios.

Peers who display great feats and condense years of experience and projects into an online portfolio allow others to see their work through a dynamic range of media and interaction. An addition of a blog, to the portfolio, will allow companies to peer into how the individual has evolved throughout the time they have been active in college. This greater amount of insight could become the deciding factor as to which applicant is chosen for the position.

Adding a Portfolio “Edge” on the Competition

There are many choices you will find when building an online portfolio:

·  A personal website

·  Social media

·  Profile hubs

Personal websites, which act as portfolios, are one of the strongest assets from the list. A website can become the vehicle for sharing your experience, skills, and expertise to those willing to listen. The website can also work as a lead generation funnel that pulls interested parties (such as recruiters) into your message and puts them in contact.

Second, social media plays a vital role because it will reveal how you interact and participate in your industry. Platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn give you access to other professionals; connections with these types of users could turn into a lead on job offers.

Finally, profile websites act as hub for your personal brand. These websites are stand-alone assets that aid in building your online reputation. For example, Michael Zammuto, President of Brand.com, summarizes the benefits of being active on these platforms:

“Completed.com [a profile site] allows businesses (and individuals) to showcase all of their achievements — whether it’s the hire of new employees, the opening of a new office, or the close of a big business deal — and then broadcast those achievements to the world.”

Your accomplishments may not be within these set examples but it goes to show that achievements shared on profile platforms can work as a timeline of your success. A college recruiter coming to the profile page could discover a quick overview of who you are, hop over to your website to verify your expertise, and take a look at your social profile to see how you interact. The combination of these three may be the needed push that gets the company or recruiter to contact for a follow up.

Conclusion

The requirements demanded by businesses and companies are increasing in difficulty. A diploma and few years of job history are extremely common. Going the extra mile to build a robust portfolio which shares your expertise will set you on a forward trajectory to a reputable online reputation. Through a great Web presence you may find your chances of landing the job to decrease in difficulty.

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