Part 1:
There will be many steps to this process, but the very first will have to be exploring what makes us each, individually, "tick." What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? What makes you happiest? Well, let's find that out first by doing the Brief Strengths Questionnaire at the Authentic Happiness website at Penn State. If you scroll to the bottom of the page, you will find the questionnaires. Make sure to record your results.Part 2:
Next, let's see what kind of a person you are. Self-awareness is one of the keys to leading a good life, or at least that's what Socrates said... Anyway, you can find out your personality type here. The results of this test are pretty reliable. After you've taken the test, record your four-letter personality type and do a Google Search for "Careers for (your four-letter type)". E.g., Google: "Careers for INTP". and you should be able to find some possible career paths for you. This is an example Personality Page for an INTP. Notice the possible careers listed at the bottom.Combined with the Authentic Happiness questionnaires, you should now be starting to really get to know yourself.
Part 3:
Now for the construction. You are going to need a Gmail account just to make things easier. Eventually, you are going to have to create a professional network; having a Gmail account to centralize everything makes things efficient.Let's make an About Me page, and construct the image that you want potential employers see. This will be your electronic business card. From here, you'll want to link to external apps that are following people in your chosen career path.
You'll probably want to connect with people on Linkdin, make a resume and start to create a network of professional contacts. These should be people who know you and could even be a reference for you. Link this account to you About.me page.
Your resume itself can take various forms, but one great one is on VisualCV. A picture is worth a thousand words, they say; the images that you put on this service can have a powerful way of getting what you could potentially contribute to a company.
Another way to publish your personal awesomeness is with a VERY short YouTube video. This can be as short as a Vine (6 seconds) and up to 1 minute, but any longer would be less effective. Here is an explanation of why video is an important, powerful tool in building your online persona. And, of course, there are numerous examples of video resumes that you can look at yourself to get some ideas.
These are the most important things that you can do, but remember that even on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, or any social media website, you are accountable for your image. If you want to have a good public face, it needs to be cultivated. All of the social media websites can be useful for employers to get to know you, but they have to contain only things that you would want employers to know about you.
Part 4:
Finally, you need to write a cover letter. Here are some examples of three different styles of cover letters. You should address your letter To Whom it May Concern, and then write your letter to a potential employer in the field that you've chosen to pursue as a career. Your first paragraph should be about your personality and what makes you a good employee.. Your second paragraph should be about what makes you suitable for the career you've chosen.
You should write this in a word document, save as a .pdf file and upload it to your Dropbox account. Then share the link to that document, and copy and paste that link to your About.me page.
