Personal websites and blogs

The beauty of the Internet is that you can carve out your very own space to promote yourself. Some people turn those Web spaces into business enterprises. For others, it's a way to show off their work — like a résumé but better. Still others blog in their field of professional interest.

As with any other social media platform, if your Web page or blog is public, it's open for employers to see, too. So follow a few a simple rules while you're job hunting.

1. Do make sure your website has the privacy you want. You may want it to be viewable only to those you invite and approve. On the other hand, if your blog is related to the field of your interest, you'll want to make it easy for people to find you. This is a way to market your personal brand.

2. Don't let your website be cluttered or unattractive in other ways. It's only natural that an employer will take it as a reflection of your own work habits.

3. Do make sure your site or blog is optimized to show up in search engine queries. This means tagging your posts with relevant keywords that people use to search online for information on that subject. You can find how often people search for specific keywords at the website Google Adwords.

4. In your résumé, do include a sentence or two or a link to your blog or website if it's relevant to the job you're seeking. For example, if you blog about your dog, there's no need to link the blog to your résumé unless you're applying for a job as a dog groomer.

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