September 2004

Sticky Portfolio
Brand yourself online.
by Salman Siddiqui

Out of the 88 million young people currently unemployed across the globe, 17 million are in South Asia alone. This recent warning issued by the International Labor Organization states that youth unemployment in developing nations is set for worse times ahead. Whether you’re an IT graduate or a barber, hunting for work against such a backdrop is tough. What will make or break your chances of success? Your resume speaks for you. A number of sites such as 10minuteresumes.com and eResumes.com provide free as well as paid services to help you design an eye-catching resume. A bankable option is to put your portfolio online where the resume becomes accessible anywhere—just so you can bag that international contract. SPIDER offers tips on building a slick site to net the attention of potential employers. You can follow these rules to create your own portfolio online or improve your recruitment luck using services such as BayT.com, Guardian Jobs or Monster.com.Be specificOrganize the content of your site with skills that you have. Be honest to the core. You might be an excellent graphic designer and a good pool player but consider building two separate sites to project these two different skill sets. A website that contains an overwhelming list may put employers off, giving them the impression that either you’re a jack-of-all master-of-none type or a big liar. Keep it focused.
Start with a nice introduction In order to grab the attention of your visitors, start your homepage with a well-written and concise introduction that provides a glimpse in to what the site offers and where. One way to write this is to put your self in the same spot as your visitor and think about exactly what they would look for. No typos! Always spell check at least twice before you upload any page.
FormattingAlthough you should always send your CV in printed form, you score bonus points if you also offer it on a website. Offer the resume in both downloadable and HTML versions. In the downloadable version, it’s a good idea to offer a PDF version along with a Word version. This is because PDFs faithfully retain your choice of design and layout whether it is viewed on a PC or a Mac. Check out the links section to see how to convert a word document to a PDF file.Find the right keywordsNow when the web page(s) carrying your CV is up and running, make sure you bear in mind the likely keywords employers use. One way to find out if you’ve used the right combination is to load Google, type in the keywords used and see which sites pop up in the list; the objective being that your site should come up at the top of the list. Or you could use the free keyword software from Goodkeywords.com to help you get the right set of keywords for your resume. For example if you’re a programmer, you could use the set of keywords such as the names of the tools that you use (C#, JAVA, PHP) in each of the Web pages improving your site ranking at search engines based on meta tags.
Watch your toneMake sure you don’t use any slang or hip words. At the same time, don’t be too posh or formal so as to bore your reader. Don’t make the web pages unnecessarily long simply because you may have little actual experience. Be careful that you don’t use uncommon technical lingo to impress people with your knowledge, unless you can’t help but use it to explain your work. In any case if you use to jargon, create a separate subsection at your site, for example the FAQ section, to explain those terms.
SimplicityAlthough you may be an animation expert, armed with all the knowledge of funky HTML tags and scripts, it’s always a good idea to keep the design of your site simple and direct. Clients and employers aren’t coming at your site to get wowed by your Flash skills but to gain information about your utility to them and their organizations. If the objective is to project such skills then upload samples of your creative work in an organized list at a separate section of the site. Avoid unnecessarily heavy images and sound files that could increase the load up time of the web pages.
Structure the SiteStructure the navigation of your site into logical subsections that makes it easier for visitors to find your background details and examples of your work. For example if you’re a computer science student, you could categorize samples of your work into subsections such as ‘Programming’, ‘Animation’ etcetera instead of fitting them all into one big list. Double check all links and see if the website is working in the same manner as you had originally planned to show off your skills.
Link to other sitesBuild a separate page that links to any press coverage regarding your work online or offline. Mention testimonials of former employers or clients that can convince others to consider you for future contracts with them; also remember to insert the company URLs of your referrals. Don’t forget to include any awards or medals that you might have been honored with. Periodically check external links on your resume to see if they are in working order.
Keep it updatedRegularly update your online portfolio and CVs with your current work esamples. If you change your address or phone number, remember to immediately update your contact details in both of them.

Sites:
10minuteresumes.com
www.10minuteresume.com
A Useful List of Pakistani Job Sites
www.coolbuddy.com/weblinks/pakistan.htm
BayT.com
www.bayt.com
Convert a document to PDF
www.scripts-and-coverage.com/screenplays/how-to-convert-script-to-pdf.asp
Eresumes.com
www.eresumes.com/eresumes.html
Guardian Jobs jobs.guardian.co.ukGoodkeywords.com
www.goodkeywords.com
International Labor Organization
www.ilo.org
JobsPK
www.jobspk.com/
Monster.com
www.monster.com
Putting your CV Online
www.support4learning.org.uk/jobsearch/cvs.htm
Writing a CV
www.fazed.com/careers/killer_cv.htm
lYouth unemployment report
www.dawn.com/2004/08/12/top14.htm