What to (or not to) put on a personal website?

2 points by HackR 14 years ago | 3 comments

I want to make a personal website for myself that would potentially have a blog, resume, projects, etc on it and I was wondering what is a good idea to put on the site and what isn't such a good idea?

Others have told me not to put my resume up because it won't really be useful at all. I also have concerns with what an employer might think when he/she looks at the blog and whether its a good idea to mix the two?

Advice on this issue in general is appreciated!

Keep in mind I'm a sophomore in College studying CS. I was hoping a project like making a personal website would be cool and look good also.

dukeb0x 14 years ago |

Content is the main aspect of any website. Then design is the next step. Resume not that important. Your site should contain an about page highlighting a little about you and what you do. If people like what they see then they will soon get in touch regarding resume etc. Make sure your site has a php contact form rather than displaying your email address directly. The spam that you get from displaying email address directly soon builds up and is very annoying.

When coming up with design for your site there are a few things to take into account.

Make sure the design looks good on all browsers. What i mean by this is that many people still use older browsers that do not support all the latest CSS tricks. Your design should look good on these older browsers as a start then tweak it to look even better on new browsers. That way any visitors regardless of browser should have a pleasant experience on your site.

Last thing I will add is.....

Look at other sites similar to what you want to achieve. Don't copy them but see what you like about these sites. Layout, design, features etc and see how you can design, customise and implement similar aspects to suit your needs.

Don't forget that over everything else the "content" is the main aspect of any good site

sdoering 14 years ago |

First of all: You should do what you feel comfortable doing. If you are not comfortable, it will show in an unconscious way and will taint the over all experience, when someone visits the site (potential employer).

Then: You should show yourself as much, as you are. Why that? Well it might (depending, the way you are), make some potential future employers decide, that you are not, what they are looking for. Well, too bad, but would you want to work there anyway? Somewhere, where you don't fit? Where the culture is maybe not that tolerant?

I, for an example, decided some time ago, that these kind of rejections were a good thing. Because it saves my time evaluating a potential employer. As well, as it saves time for the employer, finding a good match for them.

So my tip is, put on the site everything, you are comfortable with. Even old stuff (code, i.e). Show your way, show who you are, what you have learned, show problems, that you have/had and how you tackle them. show the why behind the things you share with the world.

Be yourself, as much, as this is possible. Add value above just an cv or a resume. Make it easy, to "get to know you better" as a person.

dukeb0x 14 years ago |

I would also add to what sdoering said in their post. Make sure that your content is something you're comfortable and passionate about. This comes through at some level to your site visitors. If you are blogging then it is usually best to keep this blog within a certain field. Look at what blogs you regularly read. What is it about those blogs that keeps you going back for more. Don't go chasing readers or potential employers. If your content is good, relevant and informative in a certain field then word soon spreads and your users will come back for more. Im not saying that sticking to a certain field is the only way forward as we all have opinions about most subjects that crop up in our daily lives but usually it is good practice for gaining regular visitors to your blog. A narrow subject field helps to target a certain type of visitor thus encouraging the right type of target audience. e.g potential employers. After all is said and done the best thing to do is just get it down on paper and go for it. Your ideas, design, writing style, readers/visitors will evolve as time goes by.