How Having a Website Can Aid Your Career

Having a website or blog can be a great way to further your career; whether you want a satisfactory job in a mega corporation or whether you’re interested in significantly improving your prospect of getting your dream job, having a website can be the best way to go about it.

While there are several case studies of how having a website have helped people build a successful career and land a dream job, one of the most notable examples is that of Matthew Epstein.

In 2011, Matthew created a website aimed at getting Google to hire him; with a very creative video and some media push, Matthew’s website went viral and he eventually received 80 job interview offers from some of the biggest companies in the world including Google, Amazon and Microsoft.

While a lot of people won’t go viral and experience the kind of massive success Matthew experienced, having a website will still position you above majority of people who have to constantly send pitches and hope they get the job.

Another great example is Mishri’s.  After applying to hundreds of jobs and only getting around 6 – 7 interviews, Mishri didn’t get a job until she set up her website.

Other than the fact that a website positions you better to get a job by allowing recruiters to directly contact you, it also helps you in every aspects of your career. Here are some ways having a website can aid your career:

1. Having a Website Helps You Control what Information is found about You Online

According to recent data, 70% of U.S. recruiters and HR professionals said that they have rejected candidates based on information they find online. Also, 85% said that positive online reputation influences their hiring decision to some extent.

When hiring managers are looking to hire a prospective employee, one of the first places they visit is Google; they will look for various details about you, including your social media profiles, online activity and other information publicly found about you online.

By creating a website, however, you can control what they find about you online since your website will naturally be positioned above your social media profiles.

You can even take things to the next level by guest posting on relevant blogs online; by doing this, you can link back to your website and as a result influence how well it ranks for your name. At the same time, the guest posts you write will appear prominently in the search engine ranking pages thus influencing information people find about you online.

2. It Refines Your Writing

How does better writing help you get hired?

Some of the biggest CEOs, people like Jeff Bezos, have publicly said that writing is one of the factors they consider when they want to hire an employee; CEOs like Jeff believe that if a prospective employee is able to better communicate his ideas via writing, then he’ll be able to better understand what the company wants and as a result communicate and implement them effectively.

And this is true; the more you write about something, the better your understanding of it and the better you can communicate it to others. Once you’ve created your website, you can create a blog where you constantly publish your thoughts. Over time, you start to understand yourself better and you also improve with constant feedback from people who come across your website.

3. Having a Strong Online Reputation Guarantees Job Security

In every field, you can think of a number of people who have a strong online reputation and are noteworthy in everything they do; more often than not, the media is always talking about them.

Aside from the fact that these people enjoy better jobs and higher pay, they also tend to enjoy more job security than the average employee; the last thing a company will want to do is get in the public and media’s bad graces by firing the wrong person without a valid reason.

By having a website, it becomes extremely easy to become an authority in your field; occasionally, as long as your website and writing is noteworthy, the media will contact you for your opinion on important topics in your niche. By constantly contributing, your online reputation will consistently increase. This makes you a valuable asset to any company that hires you and as a result ensures your job security.

4. Having a Website Suggests you’re Technical Savvy

When it comes to making hiring decisions today, most companies pay more attention to people who are technical savvy and can effectively use latest tools and technology to get things done. This is especially important when it comes to the internet.

Having a website instantly suggests to potential employees that you’re technical savvy and can make effective use of online tools to communicate; instead of just saying that you know about technology in your resume, prospective employees can actually see that you indeed know about technology because of your website.

5. You Can Make Some Side Income

Aside from the fact that having a website helps put you in the public and ensure you get constant job offers; you can also make some side income from it.

By sharing your experience in various aspects of your life, you’re gradually building an audience and you can make money in the future by promoting affiliate products, launching your own product or displaying ads on your website.

How to Create a Website

I could write a whole article on how to create a website but, since this article is already very long, I won’t. Instead, I’ll share two self-explanatory tools that you can use to create your own website.

1. Make a Website: This is a website dedicated to helping newbies create good looking websites; even if you don’t have prior online experience, everything you need to know about creating a website as well as the right tools are provided.

2. Easy WebContent: This is a WYSIWYG website builder that helps you create drag and drop websites without any technical knowledge.

Joseph is a professional marketer and blogger that helps people start a blog.

Image Credit: Shutterstock.com

Tags: job search, website

Category: Interviews & Resumes, Job Search, Personal Branding