Career job information for job seekers and find good jobs employment
by: Claudia Loens
Sometimes submitting a resume and cover letter to a company just isn't enough. I know that as a recruiter, when someone lists a blog or website on their resume, I'll get on the internet and go check them out. Usually there is interesting information that you wouldn't find on a resume and it will often tell me more about the applicant.
If you are looking for a way to add some meat to your online resume, consider a free blog. It's quite easy to do and in fact, I set one up for my sister in under five minutes!
Pick A Blog Site - There are two free blogging websites that I'm aware of; Blogger and WordPress. Personally, I use Blogger because I already have a Google email and I can log in with that. It's also very user friendly.
Pick A Blog URL - Once you pick your blogging venue you can proceed to creating your blog. You will be asked to name your blog. If it's available, I suggest naming it with your first and last name and "resume" in the URL. For example, it might be joesmithresume or bettyjeansonlineresume. The word "resume" will make it more searchable by recruiters. However, if you plan to use the blog in the future for other purposes, then first try using different combinations of your name until you get the desired result.
Pick A Format - You'll be given format and background options in the way of templates, so pick one that you feel looks professional. You don't need anything fancy, so if it gives you the choice, turn off the widgets and gadgets that show who your followers are and any other fancy settings. A good rule of thumb is to keep it simple.
Write Your Header - Put together a brief introduction of yourself as your header. Think of this as your "elevator pitch" of who you are and what you want. Anyone who comes to your blog should immediately know if they are looking at the correct type of candidate when they read your header.
Post Your Resume and Cover Letter - Choose to add a blog post. In the body of the blog post, paste first your cover letter and then your resume. Allow several lines between the two. You may wish to customize your cover letter as more of a narrative rather than addressed to a specific person.
Add Special Elements - You can customize your blog to have additional text boxes which appear on your front page, preferably to the side or below your resume. You can use these boxes to highlight your accomplishments, post a copy of a successful presentation or other material (that is not considered company confidential, of course!) that represents your work. Get creative! You can use this space to highlight aspects of your professional life that you otherwise would not be able to capture. Perhaps you could write a few common interview questions and then answer them - use your imagination, but keep it job related and professional.
Use Spell Check - Don't forget to run spell check before you post anything. As this is a representation of your work, you will want it to be clean and perfect!
Add a Picture - If you have a good quality, professional picture of yourself, you can add it onto your blog. This is just a means to personalize it a bit, but certainly not necessary.
Once you have your blog together, put a link of it on your social networks so that recruiters and hiring managers will know it's there. And last, but not least, make sure your contact information is easy to find - I would limit it to an email and/or a cell phone number. I don't recommend putting your home address on your blog for privacy purposes. But do make it clear in what geographic location you would like to be employed.
Now you have a blog with your resume on it and any other information that will help you stand out above the crowd. Your resume is now searchable by recruiters and hiring managers, for maximum viewing!
This article is free for republishing
Published at Sooper Articles - Ezine Articles Directoryhttp://www.sooperarticles.com
No comments:
Post a Comment