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Control Your Professional Perception With Your Own Website

The good news is, IT hiring is as hot as ever. The bad news is, there are a lot of IT professionals out there. So if you’re looking for a job, or wish you’d be headhunted for a better job, how can make yourself stand out and impress professional employers?

Why Should You Do It?

Of course you’re on social media, right? You have a profile on both LinkedIn and Twitter and you participate in professional forums. So when employers Google you, they should find some good information. But to show that you’re a serious contender, that you are career-minded and have great skills and that you’re someone who always puts your best foot forward, you should have your own professional website.

How Should You Do It?

Even if you’re not a UX/UI designer, a website isn’t that difficult to build. You can use a blog template, such as WordPress or find a hosting service that offers an easy site building program. There are even sites out there, like Strikingly, that will build a website for you, based on your LinkedIn profile, with one click. But you’ll want to be able to personalize such products so as to strengthen your personal brand and not look too cookie cutter.

Having a personal website will help you highlight your skills and bring your web presence to a single location. You can link to your resume and your social media profile, your blog if you have one, and most importantly present an online portfolio with work samples.

Just make sure it looks professional and doesn’t contain a lot of grammatical errors, misspellings, or outdated information—that will detract from your reputation rather than enhance it. And make sure it’s finished! If an employer sees that your site is underdeveloped, it’s going to look like you’re the type of person who can’t commit to a project or finish what you started.

According to Forbes magazine, 56 percent of employers consider personal websites to be the most powerful branding tool for prospective employees—yet only 7% of job seekers actually have one. You can put yourself ahead of 93% of the pack by setting one up.

You know potential employers are going to Google you. A site will help you take control of your online image, and also make it easier for those employers to see exactly what you can do.

Another great way to put your best foot forward with leading IT employers is by working with Triumph. Check out our website, then give us a call to see what we can do for you.

By Logan Bragg: Partner, Triumph Services. As head of the Recruiting Division of Triumph, he has helped thousands of candidates find rewarding positions.