Start Your Own Blog

One way to make yourself hire-able in the eyes of recruiters is to start your own blog. This improves your ability to find a career in several ways. First, it helps you to boost your web presence (which you need nowadays). Second, it helps show employers that you have knowledge in the field you’re attempting to make ground in (even if you don’t have experience). And third, it gives a ton of resources to offer prospective employers in the event that they ask for details about your background.

A blog is the perfect way to not only showcase your knowledge, but build knowledge as well. It’s the perfect transition for those trying to switch careers, or those entering the professional world for the first time. Blogs are free to start and maintain, too, so they’re a great option for job searchers on a budget.

Get a LinkedIn Page

Another great way to make yourself stand out among your competition is by signing up for a LinkedIn profile. You’ve probably heard of this great site for professionals, but if you haven’t, you’re really missing out. Not only can you create a virtual resume that is easily searchable via all of the search engines. But you can connect with other professionals for networking purposes and have those you’ve worked with before give you recommendations.

Hiring managers and job recruiters will consider you a much more credible candidate if you’ve got a well set up LinkedIn page. Taking a few hours to set up a LinkedIn is worth the time, and you can link to your blog for even greater effects.

Obtain a Professional Email Address

If you don’t already have a professional email address, now is the time to get yours. While sourapplebubblegum@unprofessionalemails.com might have been fine at a certain point of your life, but you need your email address to show a decent level of professionalism.

The standard route to take when choosing your professional email address is to use some variation of your name like johndoe@yahoo.com, jdoe@gmail.com or johnd@hotmail.com. But if you really want to look impressive, you could register a domain under your name then sign up for an email address through your own account (ex. john@johndoe.com). This way, you could post a quick resume on your site, point to your LinkedIn page and blog, and have the ultimate professional email address.

Sometimes it’s not easy to think of ways to get your foot in the door when you don’t have a great deal of experience in the field you’re pursuing. But taking free or low-cost steps to build your experience beforehand could make you more hire-able then you could ever imagine.

LinkedIn is certainly a successful and major website for job seekers, and some wonder whether it’s advantageous to include a link to a LinkedIn profile on a resume. It’s a good idea. It’s a great way to set yourself apart and give a possible employer more information about you. It’s vital to spend some time making sure you’re not actually harming your chances, however. So if this idea has also crossed your mind, consider the following tips …

Your Resume and LinkedIn Page Should Match

Wouldn’t it be embarrassing if you sent your resume to a prospective employer with your LinkedIn link, only to realize later that day that a date was incorrect on your profile, or you forgot to add a former position to your resume? If you’re inconsistent between your resume and LinkedIn account, you might as well not put your LinkedIn account on the document at all.

Make Sure You Enhance Your LinkedIn Profile

What’s great about LinkedIn is that you have options to enhance your profile that can’t be achieved with a resume. For instance, you can take advantage of recommendations where those you’ve connected with can write personal professional references. Giving employers this virtual reference lists can cut down a lot of work for them. Sure, you give references on a resume, but the LinkedIn references seem more personal, and you can give ten or fifteen good references as opposed to three or four on a standard resume.

Leave the Dirt on Your Private Profiles

There’s nothing wrong with having a fun Internet life, but as you know, there are always risks involved. If an employer sees pictures of you slumped over with your drinking buddies, this may very well work against you in the application process. Most people don’t use their LinkedIn accounts to show unprofessional pictures, but pay attention to the contacts and references you post and think about how a hiring manager will perceive them.

Be Prepared for Employers to Follow Up with Your Connections

If you have 100 connections on your LinkedIn page and you offer your link on your resume, be prepared for any employer you apply with to try to follow up with any one of those connections. If you feel leery about this possibility, you may want to think about leaving the link off your resume because it could occur.

Adding your LinkedIn page to your resume can be a great idea as long as you have covered all of your bases in the process. If you have, then you might take advantage of this option as it may increase your chances of being hired for your desired position.