How to Show off Skills in a Creative Way With a Personal Website

We often reserve creative projects, like personal websites, for those involved in more creative industries. People that are designers, artists, and so on. But here’s the truth. Regardless of your industry or desired profession, there is no reason you cannot create a personal website.

And here’s another one. Your personal website doesn’t have to be complicated to make an impact.

What you need to do is find a creative way to show off your skills and stand out. And that’s not even that hard. 

In this article, I will explore many ways of enhancing the skills presented on your website. We all know artists excel at creating worlds. I hope this will help you start creating your own.

Inspire Yourself By Researching Other Personal Websites

Chances are you’ve visited some other people’s websites and can easily remember a few of your favorites. It’s worth your time to revisit those sites to see what makes their site successful.What does their web presence look and feel like? Can you interpret their end goal from their site’s design?

As you explore different websites for inspiration, keep your goal and audience in mind, and take notes on what you do and don’t like.

You’ll likely find a remarkable amount of similarities and differences between all the sites you visit. This will help you decide what you want or do not want (this is equally important).

The similarities are usually focused on meeting common expectations for any site visitor. And, that is regardless of their profile. On the other hand, the differences are what makes the experience of visiting an artist’s site memorable. It usually relates to their specific practice, technical abilities, and creative sensibilities.

Identify The Skills You Want To Highlight On Your Personal Website

It is important that you identify and appreciate what you consider to be your skills, abilities, and personal qualities. Only when you do this can you then confidently demonstrate these on your personal website. And, to market yourself effectively to potential employers.

After you make a list of the skills you want to be highlighted you should about how you’d like to be visually represented. Put them all into a format that matches your personality.

An added advantage of assessing yourself is that you will be able to identify your weaknesses, and thereby plan to improve and upgrade them.

Hard skills vs. soft skills

Employers are looking to hire employees who have the right mix of two different types of skills: soft skills and hard skills.

Hard skills are more technical skills that you learn in school, certification programs, training materials, or experience on the job. Hard skills might include proficiency in things like:

• Software
• Foreign languages
• Operating certain equipment or machinery

Soft skills, on the other hand, are abilities that can be applied in any job. Some call them “people skills” or “social skills”. They include proficiency in things like:

• Communication
• Customer service
• Problem-solving
• Time management
• Leadership
  

Use Illustrations, Charts, and Mind Maps 

Who wants to read another list of skills that have no ranking and no real application? Why not use illustrations to show exactly what you’re good at, and just how good you are at it?

It doesn’t matter what you use. It can be a graph, images that coincide with the skills, or something completely out of the ordinary. What matters is you can easily add a little visual appeal to your personal website.

Look for dates, numbers, and key points in your graphic resume and use charts to visualize them. For example, use a word cloud to visualize your interests, or where your expertise lies. Or you could use a donut pie chart to rate your experience level for different skills.

Another way to creatively show off your qualifications is by creating a mind map of your most marketable qualities. Use a circle with the central idea in the center (or a picture of you!) and branch off from that with different talents, personality traits, and skills that make you a desirable hire. 

Create Eye-Catching Infographics For Your Personal Website

The key to grabbing recruiters’ attention is not only to showcase your skills by designing a polished and professional-looking resume. It also entails showing off your ability to think outside of the box. All that while maintaining a style that is appropriate for your industry.

That’s where infographics come in. They help you present key information about your work experience and capabilities. And they make it more engaging and digestible. 

They’re also pretty easy to create, even if you’re not a designer or web developer. 

My advice is to start with a pre-designed template. An infographics maker like Canva or Venngage has hundreds of options from which to choose.

How To Use Icons For Iconographic

Anyone who has looked at infographics will have noticed that one of the kinds of visuals that they heavily employ is icons. Whether to share information or statistics, you can use icons in a variety of powerful ways to give context to the message in infographics.

Icons are an excellent way to organize the sections of your infographic to enhance readability and encourage the movement of your reader’s eye.

Many marketers and designers interested in creating strong graphics will be using infographic templates. They are usually available with their own set of icons. Adapting these icons to fit the message is an extremely important part of the customization process.

If you use the right icons it will make a massive difference in how your infographic is received. Conversely, employing the wrong kinds of icons will jeopardize your message and the intent behind putting so much time and effort into creating an infographic.

Be Mindful of Icon Sizes (On Your Personal Website)

When employing icons, it can be tempting to make them larger so as to be more noticeable. However, that isn’t the best way to design an eye-catching infographic.

Small icons that are proportionate to the text are a much better way to layout your design. You don’t want the icons to overshadow your text or get lost in it.

To Sum Up

Your personal website doesn’t have to be boring if you’re not a professional designer or artist. Instead, it can bring you to life in the eyes of potential employers; it all starts with a little creativity. Think about how you could incorporate one or more of the options above and get started today.

And don’t forget that simplicity wins. Always.