Do you plan to build your own website to display the awesome work you do? How long have you been thinking about it? When are you actually going to make it happen?
If you’re like me, you have great intentions to brand yourself with a personal website, but finding the time to make it happen seems impossible. However, there are plenty of things you can do in the meantime that require a little less effort and will help you sort through the content you want to use on your website once you finally get around to it.
I’m sure you’ve already fleshed out your LinkedIn profile with information about your current job and where you’ve worked in the past. If not, we have a guide to help you. Once you have a good foundation to your profile, it’s time to add some of the cool things you’ve worked on.
Under every section of your experience listed on LinkedIn, you can add media to show what you actually worked on during that time. Whether it’s a document, photo, link, video or even a presentation, you can attach it directly to your profile. This will not only add interest to your profile, but it will also serve as a live portfolio.
Even if you’re not currently seeking a new gig, it’s a good idea to start enhancing your profile now. You don’t want to wait until you’re applying for your dream job to beef it up. Although it may not be as fancy as creating your own website, adding media to your profile serves the same purpose and will impress recruiters and hiring managers. In fact, you will likely get more traffic to your LinkedIn profile than you would a website… That’s where the people are already.
Eventually, when you finally get around to it, you can use the content you added to your LinkedIn profile as a starting point for your website. We often feel the need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to this stuff, but cohesion is necessary to build a great personal brand (or any brand for that matter). It’s okay if you host the same content on a website that you also added to your LinkedIn profile. It’s not only expected; it’s actually a good thing.
Now the truth comes out… I’m guilty of not taking advantage of features like these. I’ve known it was an option, but haven’t actually taken the time to do it. My goal this fall is to make time to enhance my experience section on LinkedIn. I bet you can do the same. The hardest part will be tracking down materials from former positions, so start with your current job. Spend a little time each day thinking of projects you’d like to show off, and then make it happen. Let’s do this!