7 Ways to Improve Your Online Resume, Expertise and Professional Skills | Affliate Marketing
Are you a student, a part-time worker, or even an industry professional who’s in search of a better-paid position? Or are you just starting out and wondering how to break into the medical field, getting the attention of big name PR companies, or simply looking for a different workplace and career altogether?
With so many job opportunities available, it’s not just about applying and putting your name out there, it’s also about knowing how to stand out in the process. For example, there are more than 18 million health care professionals in the United States today. That is more than manufacturing and retail sales combined. Home health aides, medical administrative assistants, and doctors are in high demand.
But how do you stand out to potential employers? Building your own personal resume website is a great way to get your name out there.
In this article, we’ll tell you why you need a professional website to find the new career you are looking for. We’ll also help you get started building a resume website from the ground up, and also focusing on some bonus tips for ranking in Google, and showing off your expertise and skills in the process.
Polish Your Resume
Professionals in every field should take the time to make personal websites. They work in your favor 24 hours per day and allow recruiters to find you. You don’t even have to fill out an application: they see your information and they contact you directly.
You should have one page on your website for your resume. It doesn’t have to be fancy or have a lot of graphics, but do experiment with the font. You want to be seen as professional and experienced. If you are familiar with WordPress or currently a user of Leadpages, this can be done in just a few clicks of a button. No tech or design skills required.
One nice perk of putting a personal website online is that you can “hyperlink” to your LinkedIn and social media profiles.
If you don’t know how to build a website, don’t worry. There are dozens of companies who can help you get your information on a resume website.
Take Advantage of Social Media Profile
Most of us are already on social media. However, for most of us it usually stops there.
Google loves sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram — which means it’s also very easy to rank these pages higher in the search results.
Make sure your social profiles are not only active and professional, but also being used to your advantage as well. It’s very likely that any employers you are looking to get hired by, are likely to take a look through these profiles and see what you’ve been up to.
At the end of this article, we will also five into how you can take advantage of social media profile pages to rank higher in Google, and maybe even own the whole first page for your name.
Build Your Brand
Resume websites are useful because you get a chance to control your image. You can add pictures of yourself in your scrubs or working with patients.
If you’re going for a career as a medical administrative assistant, a personal website allows you to post your certifications. If you’re considering the medical admin career path, you can view here for more information. With so many people graduating from higher education and applying for these jobs, it’s important to know what your employer is looking for, and to not waste their time during the hiring and research process.
You should always include your certifications and educational background on your website. You’re trying to stand out from the crowd, so feel free to brag about yourself.
If you don’t have a lot of job experience, just include your high school or college clubs. You can also include internships and volunteer experience.
Make sure to put contact information on every page so recruiters don’t have to search for it. All you need is your work email address and your business phone number.
Expand Your Network
One of the best things about personal websites is they give you a chance to expand your network. You can connect with colleagues in person, or you can join chat boards and network from home. It’s one thing to have a social profile for your business or personal brand, but it’s a whole new level when you have a dedicated site.
Opportunities for online work have increased 200% in the last 10 years. Even if you work in the medical field, you could end up doing online work with patients.
Putting together an online resume will help you connect with your colleagues all around the world. You can join networking groups and go to job fairs, all from your living room.
If you want to do some outreach, attend some in-person networking events. It may seem old-fashioned, but invest in some business cards and hand them out.
The business cards should have the same colors and font as your website, and you should include your basic contact information.
Build a Following
If you think you might start a business one day, an online resume is for you. You can link to your website from your social media, then ask visitors to join your email list.
When you get your private practice started, all you have to do is email your followers to gain clients. This tactic also works for freelancers who work from home.
To build a following, there is one thing that works very well: video. Video content is a must for any professional portfolio. You can record a short presentation describing your work experience.
Don’t feel like you have to make a long video, either. Just keep it to about three minutes or less and try to have some fun with it. You should post videos to YouTube as well: it can help you rank higher in Google searches.
If you’re trying to attract a larger audience, try to remember that lots of pictures take a long time to load. People are very impatient and will leave a page after three seconds if the page doesn’t load quickly.
Include Recommendations
When you’re building a professional website, try to get written referrals from past employers or teachers. You can devote an entire page to them, and they will help you get hired.
The less work a recruiter has to do, the better. Before they even call you, they’re able to look at your job history, past projects and education, and your references. For more tips on this, also take a look at my reference guide on how to build a great About Me page.
If you use patient recommendations, make sure to change their first and last names. Due to medical privacy laws, you have to include them anonymously.
Again, it’s okay to showcase your accomplishments on a website. Recruiters typically receive more than 100 resumes for every job opening. You have to figure out ways to polish your website and shine brightly online.
It’s not hard to get recommendations – all you have to do is ask. Everyone has at least one teacher, employer, or co-worker who knows you get the job done.
Own the First Page of Google
If someone searches for your name online, what are they going to find?
Depending on how popular your name is, they might be able to easily find your content, or simply get lost in a mix of other people that might have the same name as well.
From a branding and expertise perspective, this can be a disaster. If you put in the time and effort to follow each of the recommended tips above, you could possibly dominate the first page of Google for your name. Again, this will be easier/harder based on the competition around your name.
However, if you were to accomplish this, it would look something like this in Google’s first rankings.
- Your main website/blog
- Facebook profile
- Twitter profile
- LinkedIn profile
- Instagram profile
- YouTube profile
- Expert article or interview
- Expert article or interview
- Expert article or interview
As you can see, the easy part will be getting your main page and social profiles to link at the top of the search results. You can also swap in/out any of these with other high ranking profiles or trusted platforms. Then after that, you should focus on any articles or interviews you may have done on any other sites. With some social sharing and backlink promotion, you should be able to push all of this content up higher on Google — thus owning the whole page for your name.
This in itself will greatly impress any employer that you are looking to get hired by.
How to Get Started with a Resume Website
If working with computers is your thing, then just go online and get a domain name (your personal name). Modify your website and optimize it for SEO. Then you’re good to go!
On the other hand, if that sentence made no sense to you, you might want to find a resume website company who can help you get started. There are plenty of resume WordPress themes out there as well.
Try to find a current copy of your resume and transcripts. Make a list of all your certifications and recommendations, and bring it to your meeting.
A professional portfolio company will help you get online, build a following, and maintain your website. They know what recruiters are searching for and will help you develop videos, infographics, and blogs.
As simple as this whole process is, some people will simply want to hire out and not waste their time with it. If this is the case, feel free to try out any of the services mentioned on the blog, or simply reach out and we can provide you with website development services, or recommendations on how to best accomplish whatever it is you are looking to do.
Drop us a line and not only can we help with the launch of your resume website, we can also get it to rank at the top of Google in the process.
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