Part 6

Market Yourself to the World

This is Part 6 of my ePortfolio series. Read my previous post on how to share your work and links. I will now discuss how to market yourself.

When I say the word, “market,” I am not referring to the marketing industry. Instead, I am talking about advertising yourself as a person. Yes, this sounds a bit weird, but it will go a long way in terms of your career growth. To get employers to notice you, a wise step is to develop a resume that stands out to them. Another way is to simply talk about yourself. This additional and important part could set you apart from other candidates applying for the same job. You won’t be overlooked any longer!

My only words of caution: “Beware of spammers!” Of course, you want to be contacted by the right people, since you have shared information about yourself, but this doesn’t always happen. Read on to find out how to avoid being a victim of spam.

It’s All About You! Now Go Brag About Yourself!

A powerful resume will effectively market your skills and accomplishments, demonstrating value to potential employers. However, you should also include some personal statements in your ePortfolio. Pick your words carefully and write about yourself as if you were talking to a potential employer in a face-to-face interview. There are several aspects about yourself to include in the “About Me” section of your ePortfolio. A short background should consist of your objective, schools attended, jobs and internships, best skills, awards and honors, activities and interests. I wrote a few paragraphs on a personal background of myself, where I share my university, my graduation term, my majors of study, my current job and internship, and my aspirations for the future. I go on to describe my experience, noting what my titles were and what I did. Afterward, I state the special lists and honor societies I was a part of during my undergraduate studies. I also mention where I am from and some interests, including my biggest passion (traveling), noting the positives that it has done and will continue to do for me. Moreover, I reveal my best characteristic traits and skills. My “About Me” page can be accessed through the side menu or my footer (link).

A Solution to Spam and Unwanted Contact

Now that you have put yourself out there, companies should be contacting you after they have read everything you have made available to them. You can decide if you want to make your contact details available to the public online. I suggest you don’t post your phone numbers (home, work and cellular), email addresses and home address, because they would be open to the world, inviting spam, spam and more spam. No one likes junk mail in their inbox. Try to avoid this by using the RCampus secure contact page. Guests can use a form to send messages straight to your email inbox while your personal email address is hidden and protected from spammers. Furthermore, their valid emails will be verified before the message is sent and the content will be monitored for spam, so you can be confident that the sender is legitimate. Again, my “Contact Me” page can be accessed through the side menu or my footer (link).

Read my next post on how to land a job.