Do I need a website?

Most job posts ask for skills in writing and effective communications. Even executive assistants or other administrative professionals may be asked to create PowerPoint decks for presentations, update websites, or send emails. A website demonstrates those skills and can provide more information about your experience - which you should be thinking of as your “personal brand.” Consider a website to be your digital resume: use it to showcase your problem-solving skills and the actual results of the projects you worked on with more detail than what a submitted resume can provide. Link to it on LinkedIn and on the resume you submit to the job post. There are free options available, like Google Sites, that are easy to use.

You can build this over time. Nothing is publicly accessible until you click “Publish.” You can update your site for the most recent information at any time. Just be sure to click “Publish.”

There are many articles and YouTube videos with instructions, examples, and tutorials.

Let’s use Google Sites as an example.

Google Sites is a free offering with a standard Google account. Files are saved in the cloud on Google Drive for a generous 15GB of storage, but options are available to purchase more if needed.

Log in to your existing Google account or create an account, and go to sites.google.com. The experience is similar to other Google or Microsoft products: add a text box, insert an image. Use an existing template theme or create your own with pre-populated colors and fonts.

Cons: Features are limited.

Tips:

• #1 and most important: Keep it simple.

• Use different font sizes and formatting to draw attention to the new section of content, like “bold.” Images are good to break up the text and draw attention to the new section of content. There are some stock images available, but make sure it’s relevant to your content and professional. For example: Stay away from an airplane to highlight a section about career growth.

• Start with a summary sentence or two about the objective of the site: what the viewer will find from the site content.

• Think of your next piece of content as a simplified cover letter that hits the same fields as an automated, AI-driven applicant tracking system (ATS) with a little more detail. But remember: keep it simple. After you draft this paragraph, run it through a free AI software and decide if you like the changes it recommends. Use a prompt like “Simplify this paragraph for a hiring manager viewing my resume on a website.” You can even upload your current cover letter and use a prompt like “Summarize this cover letter into less than 10 sentences for a summary on a website.” Apply the changes you like. You still want this to be written in your own voice, meaning: how you would describe yourself in a conversation. Job coaches will sometimes call this your “elevator pitch.”

  • Your name, your most recent role, the type of role you are looking for, your years of experience, industries you have worked in

  • Why are you looking for a new job?

  • What are you looking for in a new role?

    • Remote, hybrid, in-office

    • Company size

    • Company mission and values

    • Work environment

  • Link to your LinkedIn profile.

• You could use a second section or a sub-page (another page on the site that you link to) to be a more detailed version of your resume.

  • Years of service: Role, Company

    • Bullet points with primary functions, skills, key projects

      • For key projects, it may make sense to have a sub-page with more information about the project, your role, your contribution to the successes, challenges encountered and your role in addressing them, the end result of the project, and what you learned. Hyperlink to that page from the project name listed in your bullet point.

        • Keep it simple. Run your first draft through AI. Use examples that you would like to discuss further in an in-person interview without revealing all of the details. This is where you are “selling yourself.”

• At the bottom of the main page, include your contact information, including LinkedIn and other social media profiles that you would like the hiring manager to reference.

  • If you would like, include a brief, 2-3 sentence description of you: an “About Me.” Personal information like your education, family, hobbies, interests, skills that you would like to develop.

After you “Publish,” run this by a few friends to get their feedback, especially if they are recruiters or managers who hire. Honestly, no one is going to see it until you start sharing it. I started building this site and publishing blogs nearly two months ago. Feedback is critical. Ask for feedback after every round of changes.