A Guide to Making a Personal Resume Website.
I walk into a room full of overly eager and fairly desperate students. The sounds of CVs being handed over, nervous and forced laughs being exchanged, and the feeling of possibilities is strongly felt in this room. I, Malory Rodriguez, a twenty-something soon to be graduate has willing decided to not only attend but actively pursue companies at DePaul’s annual job fair. With graduation soon approaching and the of terrors adulthood around the corner, I figured I really should make some lasting impressions. Yet how was I, a drop in an ocean of prospective future employees, going to make an impression on these HR representatives?
With that question in mind, I approached all of the booths I had even the smallest of interest in. I did the formal introduction, the polite small talk, and the handing of the CV. Throughout this time almost every rep made a comment on how proactive or creative it was that I had created a personal resume website and put the link on my CV.
A week or two after that fair I got quite a few calls for interviews. In one of my interviews, my inquisitor mentioned that one of the reasons they were impressed by me, was my personal resume website. Now I am no guru on securing jobs but I do know the experience that happened to me. And I thought, what better to do with this new found knowledge than share it with my peers?
I am going to assume since you clicked on this post you’re either a graduate, soon be a graduate or most likely / fingers crossed will graduate in the future. You need to step up your game. There is some pretty tough competition out there and just good grades and a strong handshake doesn’t cut it anymore.
That is why I am here to help. A resume is a good way to let future employers know the basics about yourself. Yet what will really dazzle them is thinking outside of the box. Making a personal resume website about yourself at “myname.com” will not only give them a little more insight to all the talent that you have to offer, it will also show your initiative, creativity, and your ability to go above and beyond.
Here’s how to go about setting one up using WordPress.
Choosing a Domain Name & Host For Your Student Website
For your grown up website you are going to need a grown up name. And your IM username from middle school isn’t going to cut it this time. A simple but efficient way to choose your domain name (the web address) is by using the name your mama gave ya. For example:
maloryrodriguez.com
maloryrod.com
Keep it something relatively short and easy to remember. Try to avoid adding numbers or random letters. You want a domain that people will actually remember. When you are competing for the attention of those company representatives, like I did, you want them to have to do as little work as possible to remember you. If the domain you want is taken, get creative with it. But at the end of the day make sure it is direct and clean and not sk8erboi347.com. As for the hosting, there are many affordable and reputable hosting companies you can set up an account with. Some we like are:
Nitty Gritty: Setting Up WordPress On Your Student Website
First: install WordPress. Almost all major hosting companies have a simple way to install WordPress, commonly known as “the 5 minute install.” You’re a smart cookie, I am sure if you can figure out how to download the latest season of Game of Thrones, you can figure out this.
Second: choose a theme. Choose something that reflects your style – show the world how special and unique you are. You must choose an appealing theme. A theme is the design template you will use for your website. To give you a step-by-step breakdown:
- Type http://yoursite.com/wp-admin into your search bar and log in.
- Once you are at your dashboard, you can choose from plenty pre-made, free templates from “Appearances > Themes.” Whether you want something professional, artsy or just all- around awesome, there is a theme that has you covered.
- In the Appearance menu click on the Themes sub menu Item Customize.
Kinds Of Content To Add To Your Student Website
Here is where the fun part starts. What do you want to be on your website? Obviously, there will be a resume. But what else do you want to add? Using WordPress plugins, which extend the functionality of your WordPress site, the possibilities are vast. You could include a portfolio with all your impressive university projects, for which you could use a great plugin like this one. Or, you could include an image gallery of your photography.
Setting up a blog to showcase not only your writing but also some passions can be another great to impress future employers. WordPress is perfectly suited to do this – all you have to do is set your blog reel page using your Settings > Reading menu in your dashboard, and then start publishing posts.
You could even add an “About Me” section, in which you can brag about your accomplishments, or a contact form for potential employers and collaborators to contact you. Regardless of what it is, here are the steps you will need to follow.
Final Notes On A Great Student Website
In summary here is what you need to remember:
- Get yourself a webpage (WordPress, tends to be one of the better sites for that)
- Get yourself a domain and host
- Domain: name to view your website
- Host: a service provider that provides the technologies/services needed for you site
- Download WordPress
- Customize the site to your need and add the content you want
Through these steps you’ll have no problem making an eye catching website that will make you stand out. If you really want to customize your site even further give Caldera Forms a try. With add-ons such as Mark Viewed or Custom Fields, Caldera Forms is able to help your website become more user friendly.