Personal Sites
2nd edition — by Patrick McNeil — Mar. 24, 2009
The Design Element
The personal site can closely resemble a portfolio site, and often the line between them is rather fuzzy. All the same this collection of samples represents sites that serve to show more of a full view of a person as oppose to simply a huge display of work. Obviously this approach has benefits on a personal level (mom and dad can see photos of the baby, etc), but it also has some other potential benefits.
Most significant of these (from my perspective anyway) is that it can be a valuable tool to break through the recruiting clutter. Good HR people (my wife included) would probably say that this sort of clutter isn't relevant, since they are prohibited from filtering people based on things like religion etc. But all the same I think there is tremendous value in showing who you actually are. It isn't unlikely that you will share an interest with a recruiter and there for become an attractive candidate. I think this is particularly true when it is a small shop doing the recruiting and there isn't an HR person to filter things. You might be saying, but they might not like my personality and overlook me for that reason. Ironically I think this is a benefit. Lets say your a goth, heavy metal loving rocker. An ultra conservative shop sees you and passes by. You wouldn't want the job anyway. On the other hand you might look really appealing to another type of shop.
Sample Usage
