The answer to this very fundamental question is a straight forward ” YES “.
If you are still relying only on your resume or CV combined with the routine application letter in your job search you are not really taking advantage of todays digital opportunities. As a professional hotelier you have a good LinkedIn profile and of course Facebook. Eventually you also use a Twitter account. But do you have your own personal website to promote and brand yourself and to be able to be found outside of the mainstream social media platforms ? Your own personal website not only gives you control over your personal data; it also provides many opportunities to position and market yourself. Here are my Top Reason why you should have your own personal profile page on the web.
No 1: Promoting yourself creatively on your terms
Your own personal website will give you the 24/7 online presence. You will say, that platforms like LinkedIn give you the same and you are right. But LinkedIn is a search engine just like Google and you are just a number. Not really anything what makes you stand out. Of course you can create your own brand through regular posts to attract interest, but why not doing this only your own turf. Your personal website is a true reflection of yourself and there are many ways for you to shine. Keywords are not the only tool. It gives you the chance to create a personalized and Individual content and online presence. You are able to promote yourself in the job market in many different ways. As a basic standard you can provide a downloadable resume after the person, downloading it, has entered his or her e-mail ID. This means, you got some control over who is interested in your resume. LinkedIn does not provide this feature. A link to your own website on your LinkedIn profile will make recruiters curious and they will eventually visit you on your site. It will be a pleasant experience seeing your individually created website with all the information they need from You. Chances are, that if you match the profile that they download your resume and you will be called or receive an inquiry for an interesting position. At the end of the day there is no way around the mainstream social platforms however it gives you more satisfaction and the ability to “stand out” and generate interest for your skills and abilities in the job market. With a good professional design you can do a lot of things, most importantly, impress upon the viewer not only with your resume or CV but with the overall look and quality of your web page.
No. 2: Credibility
A personal website will help you to build a strong reputation. As you advance in your career, your permanent website will help to boost your credibility. . Your credibility will be increased in the eyes of the employers. They will find you more reliable and trustworthy. This not only can – but will increase your chances of landing the right job for you in the right hotel. Let me provide a simple example. Imagine 2 dishwashers: The first one applies for a dishwashing position with CV and the usual credentials and the second one does exactly the same but also points out to the recruiter or the lady in the personal office to visit his website http//washing.dishes.com. Who do you think, has a higher chances of landing the job ? Of course the one with the website. Simply because he stands out from his competitor. Not only because he has a website but more though, because it is highly unusual for a dishwasher to actually have a website. To top it off: this person actually promotes himself with a sense of pride and a big smile on his face doing the hard work of washing dishes. This takes some courage. If I am the recruiter and I have to choose between those two, the first call will of course go to the one with the website. A zoom call later and the guy has the job. There are actually videos on the net about washing dishes and I was amazed how many people are viewing this. My advise is to start simple and small. Your website will grow as your career progresses and you might even be able one day to turn your website into a real business.
No. 3: Free promotion
As hotel professional you are able to promote your skills and abilities in a way, you are not able to do this on the social platforms . A good profile webpage impresses with its overall desig and layout. First of course you can present your downloadable resume and CV in many different ways. It alsot gives you the advantage to create a profile for the job you are looking for, not the other way around. You can perfectly describe what kind of role you are looking for; which region or country, what kind of hotel and so on. As you do this, you will automatically become more aware of your “dream job”. Of course you maintain the freedom to choose from potential offerings also in other regions or countries. However you let the visitor know, what role you are looking for. This will impress upon the visitor or recruiter to understand, that you are indeed an individual who knows what he or she wants. You are able to promote yourself via good photos with your team, with guests, with celebrities, with awards you have received. And you are able to create “Your Story”. You will be able to write little anecdotes, turning your website possibly into a blog, no matter what subject. Potentially you will not have to apply for jobs undefined by role and region but is is likely, that you will be contacted via your website. You don’t have to apply for hundreds of job vacancies anymore because the potential employers will contact you via your own website. You are free to promote yourself and your hospitality experience. By creating your website portfolio, you can share all your skills and credentials in one go.
No. 4: Update your website anytime
The best thing about your website is that you can update it. It is easy to add your recent achievements to your portfolio online. With just a few clicks, you will be able to update your new skills and achievements. You don’t have to waste paper and take out new printouts of your resume or CV every time . When you need to update your resume you simply make the necessary changes in your document and then upload it to your website. You want to add photos, you do the same. You want to write about a certain topic, you write about it and upload the content. Depending on your website builder, you can of course change the layout and overall design of your website. I want to point out here, that when you decide to have your own website and you are really not knowledgeable of how to begin , the first decision you will have to make is, if you want to go for a “Do it yourself” system like Wix, Jimdo or Godaddy or if you want to plan long term and go with a “WordPress” based website. The point I try to make is this: With your own website you have – all you need to be successful in your career and find the right job – in one place 24/7 and changeable anytime, any day. Based on what company you want to work for you can align the basic design simply with themes and related photography. That in itself will make the right impression with the right people.
No. 5: With time your website makes you more findable
As a hotel professional, you must do something that makes you more noticeable. There is a lot of competition in our business. Often I have seen in my career, that a person to whom I wanted to offer a job, had changed location, was working for a new company or was out of a job. This of course was not noticeable on LinkedIn. Also, even if people are on LinkedIn they are not equally engaged on the platform and take time to respond. If I have “your.name.com” website address I will reach out to you any time via your website and e-mail. Today, those who have a LinkedIn profile are discoverable most of the time. With your website you will not only show on Google with your LinkedIn Profile but also with your website. Some SEO work you will have to do though. And the more you make updates on your site, be it with photos or little anecdotes on your career advance or simply daily life situations. You may find out, that you have the potential to turn your website into a blog with alternate business opportunities. Especially if you are at the early stages of your hotel career, you will begin to move up on the Google ranking. You will begin to feature more prominent in searches providing you understand the importance of keywords. Bottomline: being findable is the name of the game in the digital world. Being a superstar in your field and nobody knows about you it will not help you very much.
No. 6: Highlight Your Accomplishments
Highlight your accomplishments ! Highlight your accomplishments ! Find a way to re-tell your accomplishments not only on your website but also on LinkedIn and your other social media platforms. Ideally as a link, which takes the person reading about your accomplishments back to your own site. It also makes potential recruiters listen up, if you do it properly and appropriately. Tell the real thing, the real accomplishment. Verify it with a photo or several photos. Every good job performance can be turned into marketing for you. Keep this in mind. During your work day, look out for things, you could share and talk about. Be it about a job well done with your team mates or how to clean a room, a kitchen or a restaurant properly. This all will help you getting views. So whatever it is you are doing well. Talk about it. It will pay off !
No. 7: Control what recruiters see
With your own website you have full control over what your potential employer sees of you online. Your site is for your business career. Not for family and friends. That should be limited to Facebook or Titktok. You have many choices what to post where on social media, however keep one thing in mind. Your personal life does not say anything about your ability to perform a specific job role. Therefore, when building your website you need to be focused on presenting you in a most professional manner. You must be aware, that recruiters or personal managers will google you, in some cases even a more detailed background check. No matter what, they might accidently find you on Facebook or Instagram for example. The same happens, when you apply on job boards or on the corporate websites and being asked to upload your resume. I advise to be cautious about it. Once your data is in the companies data base, it will be there without you being able to change anything for years to come. You might – at one point of your career upload an updated resume again and you will have 2 resumes in the company data base site by site. Which one will be used for evaluating you is beyond our knowledge but an older version might not beneficial in your job search. Make sure, that your data on your website are in sync with the data on your LinkedIn profile and that your private social media presence does not upset your professional ambition. And do not forget this: all your information you have been posting is being used by somebody else for monetary and commercial purpose without You having any control or knowledge over it . You don not even have the freedom to delete it. Have You ever tried to delete your Facebook account ? Even if you are successful in doing so, your data can easily be retrieved years later and then re-activated. There is little you can do about it. The same is valid for your LinkedIn account. Only your own website keeps your data and contacts in your possession.
No. 8: Your website has the potential to turn into a real business.
In the moment you begin to built your own website to promote and to position you in the job market, you begin the potentially very rewarding process of creating your own personal brand. In the beginning there will be only an eye catching design with your name on it. As you scroll down your page you will see some excerpts of your resume, some special skills you have and some accomplishments. Then there will be your downloadable resume or CV, a brief cover letter in which you answer the famous interview question: “Tell me something about yourself.” As you scroll down the page you will have some professional photos of yourself in a professional environment, alone or with some colleagues as long as it serves the purpose to highlight your skills and personality. One important item is to obtain the e-mail address of the people who are downloading your resume. This is a technical part which you will need to understand when building your website.
As time moves on, You will begin to make changes, you will make additions, add a job role, a promotion, a potential award or certification. You can also add recommendation letters you may have received from a guest or from your company. One of my clients features this on his website: ” I am a Corporate Chef with 25 years of international experience. For me it is about getting my work and experience out there, where people can see it. Impossible on LinkedIn or in my resume.” , says one accomplished hotelier who is presently working out of Kuala Lumpur. “Also it gives me the ability to write a BLOG which enables me to create a commercial base for my post retirement, which will be an added benefit. In many ways, I am creating my personal brand, do not have to submit resumes to recruiters or companies because they download it directly from my website.” This view holds true and could be the one most important and fundamental investment you in your career. And as your career advances, so will your website and with it potential alternate opportunities which you cannot see now.
These are my Top 8 reasons supporting and recommending the idea of having your own personal website. As for myself, I have had several websites simply for the reason of helping young hoteliers and advising them how to plan and live their career. I had trial and errors with my websites, partially also, because I did not have the time as an active hotelier. However with Corona beginning in 2020 I was contacted repeatedly by colleagues first and later by young people wanting to “Try Out” the hotel business. This was, when I started “Thecareerhotelier.com” and a former passion began to turn into a real business. I recently published my first book in which I describe how to plan his or her career.
If You read everything so far, you are indeed serious about “Priming” and “Jumpstarting” your career. You are preparing your plan and compared to many of your fellow hoteliers you think out of the box. You realize that your own, personal Website is one of the cornerstones of building a successful career. Your website will not only make You stand out from your competitors but also enable You to market yourself in ways which far exceed the traditional resume or CV. You will eventually start to showcase your strength through blogging on a certain subject. You are probably not thinking of a blog at this stage and You do not have to but keep this in mind. A Blog is and will be your Hub from where You expand your online presence into all other platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and so on. Your initial content is your biography and a downloadable copy of your resume. A photo gallery with a storyline of your career, awards, examples of your work, testimonials from guests, clients and even from colleagues will be an enhancement and verification of how your career is evolving. Your resume will no longer be a “Stolperstone” and your website will speak for itself and impress potential employers. This is for sure.
I know you will make the best out of this and have a great career ahead of You.
Your Helmut H Meckelburg
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