Online résumés vital in job hunt

Whether you are a senior feeling the pressure to find a job after graduation or a freshman with plenty of leg room to decide on a career, your résumé belongs online.

“Many companies and recruiters are now reducing their traditional classified and job-board advertising because they are buried in applications from poorly qualified candidates and are increasingly searching for people who better fit their criteria on the Internet and social networks,” Dan Finnigan, CEO of Jobvite, wrote for “Hire Education,” an online blog on The Wall Street Journal.

Today the unemployment rate is 10 percent for workers between 20 and 25 years old. Having an online profile or résumé webpage can only increase ones chances of standing out and being hired.

Recruiters receive dozens of applications from college grads, and most applicants’ qualifications don’t vary much since all have little prior work experience, if any. Typing an applicant’s name into Google is a given, so wow them with the search results. An online profile will set you apart because it isn’t the status quo — yet.

An online résumé better serves an applicant’s purpose. It can’t be lost or thrown away. It doesn’t have to be printed out because it is designed to be read on a computer screen. It has unlimited space for content, even though the best profiles are kept minimal. Most importantly, it can be updated instantly.

You don’t have to take a class or hire someone to make your online profile. Creating a functional website is not as hard as it seems, but for those daunted by HTML, there are plenty of blogging websites, such as wordpress.com, that will allow you to customize your online profile. It is ideal if you make it yourself, as it is a reflection of your work.

An online résumé lets you showcase all of your work, unlike a one-page paper résumé. Entire sections can be dedicated to the experience you’ve had so that your interests and strengths are fully detailed. The addition of those accomplishments will impress recruiters, and you will appear multifunctional and a potential part of a diverse company.

An online profile also allows you to show recruiters your strengths in addition to telling them. Include links to websites, articles and blogs, and upload actual samples of your hard work. Then give a brief, yet compelling explanation of each feature of your profile. Companies are looking to see that you not only have goals but a record of achieving them.

Once your online profile is completed, get it out there. Include a link to your profile on your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn but also take advantage of how companies and businesses use social media to market themselves by networking — follow their tweets and Facebook pages.

Be an interactive member of social media society. Respond, post, tweet, like and update as much as possible because though it might seem silly, it will catch people’s eye — people that might want to hire you someday. Businesses want fans and having job applicants as fans is impressive. It shows you have interest and knowledge about the company because you are actively in tune with it.

“In this new emerging era, you need to manage your online profiles like companies do their websites. Expect anyone to find them to learn more about you and your potential,” Finnigan said.

With that in mind, make sure everything about you online reflects you in an appropriate light. You never know what employer is searching for you.

Rebecca Lett is a junior majoring in print journalism and economics. Her column, “Staying Connected,” runs Thursdays.