Creating a digital portfolio during your job search
Job seekers need methods for standing out from the increasingly-fierce competition. As it turns out, employers are impressed by something that you may already have – a website. A recent from Forbes noted that 56 percent of employers are more impressed by job seekers’ websites than by any other application material.
Not all job seekers have websites, and of those, not all websites are created equal. To ensure your website has the most significant impact, create a digital portfolio that demonstrates your hireability. Here are the four features of the most effective digital portfolios.
- Include relevant information and sort unique information onto unique pages.
There are many features that are common to digital portfolios.
One is an “About Me” that describes who you are, usually in paragraph form. You’ll also want a “Contact Me” form so that users can get in touch with you. Further, you want another page for your resume.
The part of the digital portfolio that makes it unique is its accomplishments page, on which you can offer a more specific, detailed, and visual representations of your wins that you just can’t on your resume.
Each of these sections should receive their unique tabs on your website. Different recruiters will have different objectives when navigating your website.
- Create a list of your accomplishments.
Your digital portfolio should tell a story about who you are in the industry. So, it should include the most important wins of your careers. Only include your most impactful achievements.
- Incorporate tangible markers of your achievements.
Like on your resume, you don’t want to simply list the duties that you performed in a previous position. Instead, you want to demonstrate your success using quantifiable figures. You could say, for example, that you grew your client base by 30% over three years or saved $100,000 on a major project.
- Check to make sure your digital portfolio functions as expected.
The best digital portfolio in the world is worthless if it doesn’t work. Perform your due diligence in beta-testing. Make sure links aren’t broken and that each tab includes the information you expected it would.
Best practices for landing a job are always changing, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t differentiate yourself from the crowd. For over 15 years, Career Moves has been keeping up with the trends that recruiters expect and passing on that information to you. From analyzing your digital portfolio to critiquing your cover letter, we’re here to help.