In today’s competitive world, job seekers need every advantage that they can get. Very often, people focus on the classic type of resume, and there’s good reason for that: it’s widely recognized and accepted. But it isn’t the only way to show off your skills and accomplishments. A more modern method is to build a blog site and use it as an online portfolio of your work to demonstrate the value you provide (or adapt an existing blog for the same purpose).
This approach is particularly effective because job seekers have been surprisingly slow to change with the times. Despite the rate at which nearly everything else in our lives has shifted online in recent years, there are still plenty of people who wouldn’t even think of trying to establish their skills through digital resumes. As such, the people who do adapt are the ones who position themselves to land interviews, and, eventually, job offers.
If you’re looking for work, then you can’t afford to overlook this extraordinary opportunity to stand out to potential employers. Let’s take a look at the steps you can follow to turn your blog into an excellent portfolio.
Include your best work highlighting your most marketable skills
It goes without saying that the content you feature in your portfolio needs to be of the highest quality. While a traditional resume describes the work you’ve done in the past, the entire point of doing an online portfolio is to let potential employers see for themselves the kind of work you’re capable of. You can’t afford to show anything less than your best.
That said, you also want to be careful to avoid overwhelming visitors with too much content. You may feel an understandable inclination to post as much quality work as you can manage, especially if you want to demonstrate that this level of work is your standard, but it’s better to focus on a smaller sample of your highest-quality work.
Take a multimedia approach
Increasingly, people are using their online portfolios as much more than mere display cases containing images and text describing their past accomplishments. The inclusion of video content adds a valuable extra dimension to online resumes and gives hiring managers greater insight into job candidates than ever before.
One of the things hiring managers struggle with the most is the prospect of a candidate looking good on paper but failing to live up to expectations at the interview stage. Recording videos discussing professional topics will not only demonstrate your expertise but also show hiring managers how you communicate, whether you look the part, how much confidence you carry yourself with, and other intangibles that can make or break your candidacy for a job.
Keep adding new content
One of the most significant advantages that a blog-based portfolio has over a traditional resume is that, rather than being a static document focusing strictly on your work history and skills, a professional blog offers you more freedom to change and update its content. Take advantage of this capability, and use it to establish yourself as a thought leader in your field.
Regularly posting blogs discussing industry developments, strategies for dealing with everyday challenges in your line of work, and stories of lessons you’ve learned on the job can not only demonstrate your knowledge and experience but also allow potential hiring managers to see something of your personality in a way that the “professional speak” used in traditional resumes typically won’t allow.
Make sure you use your blog to demonstrate up-to-date knowledge of the standards, technologies, and skills required in your field. One of the things that makes a person most difficult to hire (and easiest to lay off) is an out-of-date skillset. Showing that you’ve kept your skills updated and learned new things will not only help you get hired here and now but also show that you’re someone who’s willing and able to learn and grow over time.
If you can’t think of what to add, direct your writing by thinking about what you can do to make yourself more valuable. Even if you’re pressed for time or resources, there are viable ways to boost your skills online:
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Take a course (Udemy has thousands of them).
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Dabble in ecommerce (Exchange can help you buy a business).
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Learn to network (LinkedIn is perfect for experimenting with professional outreach).
Whatever course of action you take, document it. Write about what you’re doing, what you’re learning from it, and what you hope to achieve. At the interview stage, that material is going to be a great conversation-starter.
Use sharing to facilitate word of mouth
Social media has made it easier to share content than ever before. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn (as noted), and other social platforms provide excellent avenues for savvy marketers to quickly and effectively get the word out about everything from personal events and social movements to business promotions.
Through leveraging their extensive networks of connections, they can ensure that messages that would otherwise have taken days, weeks, or even months to distribute will spread widely within hours. You should take the same approach to your online presence to maximize your reach and spread your personal brand.
Whenever you write a new blog post, share it on all your social media pages, and encourage your connections to do the same. Also, make sure you include share buttons on the blog post itself so that your content can also reach those who are not part of your social media circle.
Make sure you demonstrate value to hiring managers
One of the most important yet commonly-overlooked things to keep in mind when crafting a resume is that you it shouldn’t really be about how good you are in general — it should be about how good a fit you are for the specific position you’re applying for.
The same goes when you’re developing an online resume portfolio: you want to feature projects that show hiring managers how skilled and creative you are, but avoid cluttering the picture with anything they won’t find relevant to the position they’re hiring for.
As impressive as some of your past accomplishments may be, anything that isn’t pertinent to the role you’re seeking should be omitted. Instead, shine the spotlight on projects that will demonstrate to a hiring manager that you can do the specific work they need you to do.
An online portfolio is essential to standing out from the crowd, showing yourself to be an expert in your field, and demonstrating the personal and professional skills hiring managers want the most. By following these tips, you’ll give yourself a tremendous advantage over the competition, and put yourself that much closer to the job you seek.
Kayleigh Alexandra is a content writer for Micro Startups. She likes to view her blogging activity as an investment in her professional future. Visit the blog for the latest entrepreneurial news, and follow along on Twitter @getmicrostarted.
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