Most job seekers spend their time applying to jobs, or hoping to hear responses related to resumes they've submitted through big job boards (a.k.a. resume databases). While these activities are an essential element of a job search, adding another Web component to your strategy might shorten the time it takes to find a job.

One of the by-products of the global economic slowdown is that companies and recruiters have less money to devote to their recruiting efforts. This means they are spending less on recruiting services and relying more on the "free" Internet to look for potential candidates. Many smart job seekers are anticipating this trend, and have created personal Web pages that are easily found by recruiters using Google or Yahoo!.

Why You Should Have a Professional Web Page

1. Tell Your Professional Story: Many job seekers have Facebook and Myspace pages that offer less-than-professional views of the person. While it might be unrealistic (and less fun) to scrub your personal pages of wall entries that look juvenile from a distance, it's simpler to have a career-focused page that serves a different purpose. Companies routinely do Web searches on promising candidates as an informal background check. I'm sure you'd rather have a portfolio of your accomplishments, than pictures of last week's beer blast in front of the employer.
2. Guide Employers to You: Your professional career page will allow resourceful recruiters to find you. I know one recruiter who uses Google to search for people after he's heard about a mass layoff at a company. He types something like "Java programmer at Exodus Corporation" and often gets a few search hits to begin finding people. Since your professional Web page will be chock-full of job-specific terminology, it will not only come up in searches, but it will probably show up first in that search.
3. Offer a More Complete View: While resumes must conform to the time-honored 1-2 page format, it's much easier to adapt a professional Web page to include other important elements like references, work samples, or a photograph. While I used to think this was mostly relevant to people in creative fields, it's inspiring to see what people are doing to tell their complete story to employers.

It's my personal belief that resumes and career portfolios are rapidly moving to the Web. In the future, it might be about employers finding you versus today's model. Tens of thousands of Jobfox users have already created Career Web Pages. You can view my Career Web Page here.

Rob McGoven is the CEO and founder of Jobfox. For the past 15 years he has helped people get ahead in their careers. Rob started Jobfox to help workers connect with employers in a whole new way. Prior to Jobfox, he was the founder and CEO of Careerbuilder. In his spare time, he wrote the book Bring Your "A" Game: The 10 Career Secrets of the High Achiever.

Last updated: January 2010