Our client Cindy Eng's experience with her Brandego Executive Portfolio was featured in this story by Kaja Whitehouse, Dow Jones Newswire.
Jun 6, 8:14 AM (ET)
NEW YORK (AP) - When the staff at a Scholastic Corp. (SCHL) unit heard that Cindy Eng was being hired as their editorial head earlier this year, they did an online search of her name.
Fortunately for Eng, their searches led them right to her Web portfolio, a personal Web site that trumpeted her professional accomplishments, including the books she helped publish and the companies she's worked for. "I think it set their minds at ease that their new boss knew what she was doing," said the Fanwood, N.J., resident.
Eng's story illustrates what some career consultants have been telling professionals for years: Having an online presence is an important part of managing your career. They are recommending that people build online identities through Web portfolios, blogs and other forms of online publishing.
The idea is to control the information that pops up rather than risk something embarrassing - or nothing at all, said William Arruda, a career consultant in New York.
Just be sure that your Web site looks professional and your blog, or Web log, is smart, otherwise you will have defeated the whole purpose. Also, know that a Web site or blog will never replace a well-written resume and a stellar work history.
Web portfolios are Web sites that people build to show off their professional accomplishments. A good site will include more than just a resume. It might provide links to published articles and papers or evidence of successful project management. Words of praise from clients, peers and industry superstars are also common.
The company that created Eng's Web portfolio, Brandego, calls these "testimonials" and tends to sprinkle them throughout their clients' sites.
Web portfolios aren't new. Artists and freelance writers have long relied on personal Web pages to show off their talents.
Web portfolios have become a hot item among job seekers, who hope to drive traffic to their resumes by posting them online - a factor that may be contributing to their growing popularity among a wider variety of professionals.
Eng, for example, created her Web site with the intent of finding a new job, but plans to maintain the site just in case people in her field decide to check up on her the way her staff did. Maintaining a current Web portfolio is akin to "keeping your resume up-to-date," she said.
Blogs are also being touted as a strategy for career enhancement. The idea is for professionals to start blogs that focus on topics of interest to people in their fields. The goal is to position yourself as an expert in the field - at least among people who read blogs.
A blog is actually better for the career than a Web portfolio, which is just another form of the resume, said Jeff Kaye, CEO, of recruiting firm Kaye/Bassman in Dallas.
A good blog can show that you are up to date on the latest ideas and news in your industry, he said. A resume or Web portfolio only highlights your past accomplishments.
Michael Fox, an attorney with law firm Ogletree Deakins in Dallas, started his blog "Jottings By An Employer's Lawyer" for fun.
He agrees that it has resulted in some career benefits, including some name recognition and credibility. It's a marketing strategy not unlike public speaking, said Fox, who also gives lots of speeches.
Also, a Web search for the name "Michael Fox" results in a link to the blog before it shows the law firm's Web site. That's another reason career consultants are pushing blogs over Web portfolios: They're more likely to come up on a Web search.
Of course, blogs are also hard to maintain. For that reason, they're not as widely recommended as Web portfolios.
People who want to start building an online presence should start with a Web portfolio, especially if they worry they may not have the time to work on a blog. Another way to build an online presence is to contribute to other people's blogs, said Arruda.
Again, you want to keep the Web portfolio professional. That means no family photos or personal information beyond your name, email address and work history.
Also, be careful not to rely too heavily on your online presence when networking, recruiters said. An online presence is nice, but it's not important in certain industries, said Scot Melland, president and CEO of technology recruiting company Dice in New York.
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