New grads, we understand your worry. If the uncertainty of graduating normally isn’t enough, you’re all too aware of the current circumstances we find ourselves

in—a pandemic set to shrink the global economy by 5.2% in 2020.

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Now more than ever, you need a way to stand out from the crowd and convince your future employees of your passion, talent and value. What better way to highlight these traits of yours than by going the extra mile and becoming interactive? Indeed, the regular resume, while an industry staple and brimming with positives, can become static and repetitive for recruitment teams to go through. What if we told you that the secret to overcoming that is to have a personal website—and it can become the thing separating you from someone equally qualified for a position. Curious? Eager to learn more! We bet you are! Here are some of the many ways a personal website can help you bag your first internship or job.

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1. Showoff your personal brand

Especially important if you’re looking for work in a creative field, your personal website can be undeniably you. Play with the layout, colour scheme and font to create a unique website with a longer lasting impact than a text document. Not only can these aesthetic choices reflect something about you, but everything on your website is an extension of your personal brand. Create a strong personal statement and message to show off what exactly makes you, you. This can help you better position yourself in the mind of the recruiter—they’ll certainly remember you!

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2. Your experience can be highlighted

“Consider your website an online portfolio — it’s your place to showcase your resume, previous work, blog, or even create an aesthetically pleasing space for photos, articles, media, and work that represents you,” says Nathan Parcells, co-founder and CMO of Looksharp. Try using a gallery to create a dynamic slideshow of your experience, like photographs of you at extra-curricular events, previous internships and of course, your published works. This way, a recruiter gets to see through your eyes a very first-hand account of everything you’ve accomplished, and it can also provide evidence to back up your resume.

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3. Build an audience and a network

A website provides a great landing page not only for recruiters but also for people looking to network or learn more information about a topic that you specialize in. By making your thoughts on your industry public through blogging on your website, you can garner attention on the area you want most to focus in. People interested in your opinions and work can use the website as a point of contact, and comment sections can open up greater avenues for discussion. Also, recruiters or industry professionals who agree with you will be able to see that you would fit into their company culture or future vision. Excitingly, this might even open you up to passive job offers!

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4. Appear in search engines

If the type of work you do can be contracted or if you could work freelance, having a personal website means that you could have a much wider reach than if you stuck to solely professional platforms. Make sure your website is optimized for search engines so that you can appear if someone looks up your line of work! Not only do you potentially garner a consumer base, but you once again open yourself up to passive job opportunities. We’ve shown you just how cool having your own personal website can be, and it is not at all difficult to start one up! Miriam Salpeter, social media strategist and owner of Keppie Careers attests, “it’s a great idea to create an online presence now that you own and maintain yourself so you’ll be ahead of the curve when everyone else is rushing to catch up with this trend.”

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What are you waiting for?

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