Personal website advice

[Kenzembo1]

Hey all,

I'm a recent college grad and I'm looking to develop a more professional image. I was in the process of ordering new business cards when friend of mine suggested that I purchase a domain address from GoDaddy and create a personal website. He said that it would catch the eye of a lot of employers and it would portray an image not only of professionalism, but also that I know my way around computers and can work with different technology. He didn't really give me any direction other than where to go to purchase my domain, and advised that I include my website (once created) along with a personalized email address on my business card.

What are your professional opinions on this? I should inform you that I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and have a minor in Political Science. The only experience I ever had building websites was with Microsoft Front Page in an IT class, so I'm really not sure of the best way to go about doing this. I'm wondering if iWeb is sufficient for this need...

Also, now that I have my own domain address how do I go about creating a personalized email address? I'm a little novice at this whole operation and have been using a gmail address on my business cards and resume but would very much like to change that.

I appreciate any and all advice that you may have!

Thanks,
Ken

 

[RawBert]

Go for it. Get it through GoDaddy. It's only 10-15 bucks a year. They have templates to get you started. The site comes with a few email addresses with that domain.

I currently only have a web page through Google, but it's so limited. I'm getting one through godaddy as well - this weekend.

EDIT:10-15 $'s is for the domain. The site builder and hosting is another ~$45/year. Still quite affordable.

Also, you need to have some good content to fill the site. Otherwise, LinkedIn is a better choice.

 

[citizenzen]

I have two concerns...

1. Your websites content. I don't know what the typical website would have for a recent business/poli sci grad. I'm a graphic/web designer so a portfolio is an obvious feature that can serve both potential clients and employers, but what could you offer that would go beyond the resumé and cover letter that's already in the hands of the person looking to give you a job? If you can't think of anything, then you may want to reconsider your need for a website.

2. Since you haven't designed websites before I'm concerned that you'll create something substandard and sabotage any benefit having a website would have provided. Perhaps just taking advantage of social networking sites such as linkedin would provide you with as much exposure as you need and free up your time that would have been spent creating a substandard site.

 

[FocusAndEarnIt]

I have two concerns...

1. Your websites content. I don't know what the typical website would have for a recent business/poli sci grad. I'm a graphic/web designer so a portfolio is an obvious feature that can serve both potential clients and employers, but what could you offer that would go beyond the resumé and cover letter that's already in the hands of the person looking to give you a job? If you can't think of anything, then you may want to reconsider your need for a website.

2. Since you haven't designed websites before I'm concerned that you'll create something substandard and sabotage any benefit having a website would have provided. Perhaps just taking advantage of social networking sites such as linkedin would provide you with as much exposure as you need and free up your time that would have been spent creating a substandard site.

I completely agree. Before you go about designing the website, etc... figure out what you're going to use it for first.

 

[yojitani]

I have two concerns...

1. Your websites content. I don't know what the typical website would have for a recent business/poli sci grad. I'm a graphic/web designer so a portfolio is an obvious feature that can serve both potential clients and employers, but what could you offer that would go beyond the resumé and cover letter that's already in the hands of the person looking to give you a job? If you can't think of anything, then you may want to reconsider your need for a website.

2. Since you haven't designed websites before I'm concerned that you'll create something substandard and sabotage any benefit having a website would have provided. Perhaps just taking advantage of social networking sites such as linkedin would provide you with as much exposure as you need and free up your time that would have been spent creating a substandard site.

I'll third this. When I worked (briefly) in HR, I often wondered what kind of sad sack wanted me to see his minimally designed content-free webpage with his name on it. It didn't always prevent us from bringing them in for an interview but it did get us wondering about his judgment.

 

[Tomorrow]

Forget the personal website. If you're doing this to market yourself, just get a Linkedin account and fill out your profile there. Business people are going to be far more likely to look at a candidate's profile in a place like that - which caters to business networking - instead of a personal site.

 

[Ttownbeast]

I use Just Host it's a bit more expensive but I have unlimited band width and space at 12 bucks a month. I am still trying to learn a little about CSS though thankfully they provide templates I can tweek a little bit, I may be an artist but I am certainly no web designer I only know enough HTML to prevent a small inconvenience LOL

 

[Kenzembo1]

I have two concerns...

1. Your websites content. I don't know what the typical website would have for a recent business/poli sci grad. I'm a graphic/web designer so a portfolio is an obvious feature that can serve both potential clients and employers, but what could you offer that would go beyond the resumé and cover letter that's already in the hands of the person looking to give you a job? If you can't think of anything, then you may want to reconsider your need for a website.

2. Since you haven't designed websites before I'm concerned that you'll create something substandard and sabotage any benefit having a website would have provided. Perhaps just taking advantage of social networking sites such as linkedin would provide you with as much exposure as you need and free up your time that would have been spent creating a substandard site.

You bring up very valid points there. I suppose in a way a personal website would be similar to the temptation of the iPad...it's not something that you really need but it's nice to have

I took your advice and that of others though and created a linkedin account. I have to say it feels a little like Facebook, although I understand it's appeal to the business community. I'll be sure to upload my resume and start expanding my network in the up-coming weeks.

I guess what I'm really trying to do is create maximum exposure but I realize now that creating a personal website might be a little overkill. If this is the case, let me pose a few more questions:

- What's the best template, font, etc. to use when creating a professional resume to market yourself to potential employees? I'm in the process of over-hauling my resume and have both iWork and Microsoft Office for Mac, which include a variety of templates to choose from. What's the most appealing feature or quality that I should make sure to include?

- How do I go about creating a personalized email address? I currently have a gmail account and would like to modify it that so it appears more professional on my resume and business cards. Ideally, all mail written to and from that account would still be accessible through gmail. Does anyone know how to accomplish this?

Thanks again, I appreciate everyones help and expertise!

 

[Shaun.P]

You bring up very valid points there. I suppose in a way a personal website would be similar to the temptation of the iPad...it's not something that you really need but it's nice to have

I took your advice and that of others though and created a linkedin account. I have to say it feels a little like Facebook, although I understand it's appeal to the business community. I'll be sure to upload my resume and start expanding my network in the up-coming weeks.

I guess what I'm really trying to do is create maximum exposure but I realize now that creating a personal website might be a little overkill. If this is the case, let me pose a few more questions:

- What's the best template, font, etc. to use when creating a professional resume to market yourself to potential employees? I'm in the process of over-hauling my resume and have both iWork and Microsoft Office for Mac, which include a variety of templates to choose from. What's the most appealing feature or quality that I should make sure to include?

- How do I go about creating a personalized email address? I currently have a gmail account and would like to modify it that so it appears more professional on my resume and business cards. Ideally, all mail written to and from that account would still be accessible through gmail. Does anyone know how to accomplish this?

Thanks again, I appreciate everyones help and expertise!

I have firstnamesurname@gmail.com and I find it professional enough for email. I love gmail - it's reliable and I can look over all my email for the past five years (since I opened the account). Just don't have stuff like kezembo1@gmail.com (unless than is your name ) as it seems unprofessional.

Even something like firstname.surname@gmail.com looks great.

 

[Kenzembo1]

I have firstnamesurname@gmail.com and I find it professional enough for email. I love gmail - it's reliable and I can look over all my email for the past five years (since I opened the account). Just don't have stuff like kezembo1@gmail.com (unless than is your name ) as it seems unprofessional.

Even something like firstname.surname@gmail.com looks great.

That's actually pretty similar to what I have now. My gmail address consists of the first letter of my first name then my middle initial and last name @ gmail.com. So for example if my name was John Paul Smith, then my gmail address would read jpsmith@gmail.com. I know that since I registered a domain name on GoDaddy, there's a way to do something like: john@jpsmith.com and it would be a fancy way of basically concealing your gmail address. That was the primary reason for me starting a personal website.

I suppose the advantage of maintaing a nicely built website would also be that your potential employer would have the opportunity to access an extension of your resume. You could include pictures if they're appropriate (ie. I have a picture with the governor that I would include) and allow a more detailed list or compilation of your hobbies and goals...that wouldn't normally be included within your one page resume. The problem is, I would most likely be using primitive software like iWeb to do this and it might come off as being not serious enough in a professional business environment.

 

[Shaun.P]

That's actually pretty similar to what I have now. My gmail address consists of the first letter of my first name then my middle initial and last name @ gmail.com. So for example if my name was John Paul Smith, then my gmail address would read jpsmith@gmail.com. I know that since I registered a domain name on GoDaddy, there's a way to do something like: john@jpsmith.com and it would be a fancy way of basically concealing your gmail address. That was the primary reason for me starting a personal website.

I suppose the advantage of maintaing a nicely built website would also be that your potential employer would have the opportunity to access an extension of your resume. You could include pictures if they're appropriate (ie. I have a picture with the governor that I would include) and allow a more detailed list or compilation of your hobbies and goals...that wouldn't normally be included within your one page resume. The problem is, I would most likely be using primitive software like iWeb to do this and it might come off as being not serious enough in a professional business environment.

I see what you mean. A website is something I have thought about in the past. I thought it sounded like a great idea in theory but in practice, I think that I'd actually have very little to put on it, and who'd actually be interested in it?

Most professional people I know (i.e. the lecturers at my university (doctor's, professors etc) have webpages with a list of their publications and grants that they have been awarded - but that's pretty much it.

You could get a domain and have it redirect to your LinkedIn page? That way you can publish a personalised website and email address on your CV and business cards.

 

[Macky-Mac]

if you're job hunting and looking to get hired as an employee, then there's nothing "unprofessional" about using a gmail address as your personal address. Indeed, setting up a poorly designed site with little content would be shooting yourself in the foot.

Getting the "yourname@yourname.com" address would require you to buy a hosting package that includes email. Some hosting companies will sell you a cheaper email only package that's intended to just provide you with email without having to set up a web site for your domain name. Since you mentioned godaddy.com, here's what they offer for email only services; link

Other companies offer similar products

 

[miles01110]

I took your advice and that of others though and created a linkedin account. I have to say it feels a little like Facebook, although I understand it's appeal to the business community. I'll be sure to upload my resume and start expanding my network in the up-coming weeks.

I guess what I'm really trying to do is create maximum exposure but I realize now that creating a personal website might be a little overkill. If this is the case, let me pose a few more questions:

LinkedIn is going to be a lot better for "increasing exposure" than a personal website. The framework is already in place and you just have to "jump on board" so to speak.

- What's the best template, font, etc. to use when creating a professional resume to market yourself to potential employees? I'm in the process of over-hauling my resume and have both iWork and Microsoft Office for Mac, which include a variety of templates to choose from. What's the most appealing feature or quality that I should make sure to include?

Honestly I would err on the side of caution in terms of exotic fonts and formatting. At least in my area of "expertise" you wind up submitting your resume through an online employment suite (brassring, for example) that pulls information from your uploaded file before letting you look over it and correct it.

- How do I go about creating a personalized email address? I currently have a gmail account and would like to modify it that so it appears more professional on my resume and business cards. Ideally, all mail written to and from that account would still be accessible through gmail. Does anyone know how to accomplish this?

There's nothing unprofessional about a gmail address. IMO @gmail is a lot more reputable than @yahoo or @hotmail these days.

I suppose the advantage of maintaing a nicely built website would also be that your potential employer would have the opportunity to access an extension of your resume. You could include pictures if they're appropriate (ie. I have a picture with the governor that I would include) and allow a more detailed list or compilation of your hobbies and goals...that wouldn't normally be included within your one page resume.

Depending on the size and nature of the company or organization that you're applying to, a hiring manager isn't going to even bother looking at your website.

 

[Shaun.P]

^ Some good advice up there. Good work miles01110.

 

[Ttownbeast]

the problem with using a web email service trying to get your own name is that the name will not always be available and you could be stuck with john doe 12345 or something like that but if you do have your own web page and manged to get a catchy name to boot and it comes with its own e-mail you can use whatever name @ your website.com--if you are very unfortunate you might still get stuck with a horrible domain name like clownpenis.fart

and nobody wants to be john_doe@clownpenis.fart