College Graduate Personal Website — Humanize the Candidate

College Graduate Personal Websites

Key Competitive Advantage?

It’s Happening! My Baby Girl and Baby Boy are Graduating!

After 5 years in college, 4 years in performing arts high school, and 14 years of dance recitals, my daughter will be graduating from university this year with a degree in graphic design. As well, after 7 years of college, 18 years of karate training, and 24 years of academic encouragement (aka. butt kicking) my son will attain a doctorate in pharmacy this year. They follow in the footsteps of their older brothers who have JUST graduated in the past two years.

You can imagine Walt and I are like…

Finding a job: using Personal Websites to gain an edge

As a pharmacist, a job in ultra-high demand, my son will be able to choose pretty much any area of the country and any job he wants. My daughter however, as a graphic designer, will have to work much harder to find and secure her job come next May.

What can my daughter do to locate the perfect graphic design position? How can she stand out among the sea of applicants? How will recruiters recognize how amazing she is, with just a one page resume and over 100 applicants for every job opening?

College Graduate Personal Website — Top 10 reasons a college graduate needs one

In the 2015 survey of 300 Human Resource (HR) Professionals by the market research firm Research Now for .ME Registry, a company that operates .ME domain names, many findings pointed to the need for soon-to-be and recent college graduates to develop a personal website. My daughter, especially as a graphic designer applicant, will greatly increase the likelihood of that job offer if she has a personal website. WHY?  According to the study:

1. HR Professionals agree that a personal website can better highlight examples of creativity, ambition, innovation, marketing saavy, visual thinking, awareness of branding, leadership
2. 50% of HR Professionals feel that personal websites humanize the candidate
3. 67% of HR professionals claim that a personal website provides more insight than a resume alone
4. 59% of those surveyed believe that personal websites provides a dynamic representation of personal and professional qualifications
5. 60% feel personal websites makes a positive, professional impression
6. 55% agree that personal websites increase their interest in learning more about the candidate
7. The most important content for an applicant to feature on their website includes: traditional resume, an interactive resume with links to work samples, work related blogs and portfolios, honors and awards, biographical information
8. 33% of recruiters agreed that a personal website can provide a competitive advantage
9. 40% of HR professionals would be more inclined to contact the candidate with the personal website, between two candidates with seemingly equal qualifications
10. ====>>> 42% of recruiters say that less than 1 in 100 job seekers are utilizing personal websites as a leverage to enhance their candidacy!  (I found this fact the most surprising of all!)

A new era of recruiting — College Graduate Personal Websites

There is no doubt in my mind, based on the findings of the study, that my daughter, as an upcoming job seeker, would benefit from a personal website. As a graphic designer, she could easily show her portfolio, her personal style, and her creativity with a personal website in a way that a traditional resume could never attain. Times have changed since I was on my job search and it’s now apparent to me that a personal website allows applicants to take control of their online image, shaping it and allowing them to stand out.

This new research confirms that we are moving beyond the age of ‘be careful what you post’ and into an era of digital presence and savvy to differentiate yourself in the job market. While recruiters continue to scan social posts for red flags, they view digital assets as tools to better understand candidates and to help them make more informed hiring decisions. The candidate who offers that content has an advantage in telling their personal story.

~Predrag Lešić, CEO of domain.ME

Have you seen all of our Domain.Me posts or our last Domain.ME  article?

Find out more on Personal Websites for college job seekers

Download your copy of the ‘US Survey: HR Professionals’ Recruiting Habits & Trends’ ebook, which provides evidence based research on the importance of a personal website for job seekers.

This post was inspired and sponsored by Domain.ME, the provider of the personal URLs that end in .ME. As a company, they aim to promote thought leadership to the tech world. All thoughts and opinions are my own. ​#HireME