Establish A Professional Web Presence This Weekend

We’re all on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or some other social media sites, but the web is also a great place to connect for work purposes. If you want to get yourself out there and share your skill set, here are some things you can do this weekend to get the ball rolling.

Make a Professional Profile

Chances are you’re already on LinkedIn, the most popular social network for professionals, but there are plenty of ways you can build on that and other great options as well. We’ve previously discussed how you can increase your hirability using LinkedIn, so that’s a good place to start. You can also build a resume from your LinkedIn profile, create an infographic and use FellowUp to turn your LinkedIn (and other) data into a personal assistant.

If you’d like to veer off from the standard LinkedIn path, however, there are some other services that are definitely worth checking out. Path.to and Zerply both create attractive professional profiles with your work history. You can even import from LinkedIn and Facebook. If you’re particularly worried about how your Facebook profile looks to prospective employers, you can use Identified to find out.

Create Your Own Landing Page or Web Site

While professional networks can be a great way to, well, network, they often do not allow for a lot of customisation or control. It’s good to establish yourself online in some way, whether it’s a landing page or full-blown web site.

We’ve looked at several great personal landing page options, but our favourite is Flavors.me. We’ve also created a open-sourced personal landing page should you want to have total control over your content.

If you need more than just a single page, we can teach you how to make a website. We also have plenty of design tips and a full-blown lesson on designing a site in Photoshop.

Get Your Materials in Order

We’re living in a post-resume world, to some extent, so it might be time to think about alternative ways to promote yourself on your landing page, website, or professional network. Some suggest an online biography, but with some jobs you’ll be more successful by offering a short introductory statement and a link to your professional profile. If you think a regular resume is the best course of action for you, however, we’ve got plenty of tips. Keeping it brief, dropping common words and phrases and choosing the right style are all important. If you’re looking for tips specific to your specific resume, however, try web service RezScore. It’ll analyse your resume and provide you with personalised feedback so you can avoid overused words, poor formatting and other problems.

Getting yourself out there and finding a job can be tough, especially in a (long) recession, but the more you do the greater your chances. By the way, if you’ve got any handy tips on establishing a professional presence online, be sure to share them in the comments. And have a great, productive weekend!