Creating Your Online Presence, Part 1

In the next few posts, we'll walk you through creating your own academic website. In the hyper-tech new media climate of today's job market, you want to create (and control) your online presence in a professional way. One of the easiest ways to do this is by setting up a personal academic website. Below, we'll show you how.

As an example, we'll use a site created by one of our own Writing Center consultants, Megan Stoner Morgan. There's a lot of information up there, but we'll break down what's important (and useful!) for you to have on your website. Think of your website as an online interactive C.V. You want people who search for you (networking connections, potential employers, etc.) to get a sense of who you are and what you do.

First of all, you'll have to figure out where to host your website. Unless you're loaded with cash, buying your own domain name is probably not feasible (or necessary), There are many free hosting services, such as Weebly, Moonfruit, and Google Sites, which is what our sample uses. When picking a provider, make sure that your service is reputable! The last thing you want to do is infect visitors to your site with viruses (or have your link perpetually cycle to an unknown website).

Once you've signed up with a host, you can get down to designing the front page, where visitors will stop first. Here's Megan's:

There are a couple of things to notice about this front page. First, it's relatively uncluttered, and the dark text on light background is easy for readers. Second, as the highlighting points out, Megan states her research interests and her current academic position, giving a sense of what she does. And finally, the picture gives visitors a face to put with the name and the description.

The tabs at the top also give readers a quick and easy way to find what they may be looking for. Megan's divided her website into pages like "C.V.," "Research Areas," and "Teaching Materials," all of which might be interesting to colleagues and/or potential hiring committees.


The C.V.
Having an online C.V. is a good way for people to be able to see what you've been working on. It's also quite easy to keep updated: just a few clicks and a bit of typing, and your C.V. is all ready to go. Megan's C.V. incorporates some useful elements, which we discuss below.

Contact Information. This is crucial! Make it easy for people searching for you to contact you, but keep your contact information professional. Megan has listed her departmental address and university email address here. If your department doesn't have phone lines (increasingly common in these times of budget crisis), you might also wish to include an alternate phone number.

Publications. Obviously, you want your website to reflect the rigor and quality of your academic work. The added advantage of an online C.V. is that you can post links to articles if they've been published in peer-reviewed online journals, as Megan has done here.

Workshops and Other Presentations. Perhaps you haven't yet had a publication accepted (don't worry, you will!), or you're just getting started and haven't yet submitted an essay for publication. That's okay! You can still use your C.V. to demonstrate your commitment to academic work and involvement in the academic community. If you've done pretty much anything for your department in terms of presentations, workshops, roundtables, etc., list them in a section like this.

Pedagogical Training. Many departments now require new Teaching Assistants to go through various training programs. The University of Georgia has several, and Megan has listed them here. In addition to your teaching experience, this section can show that you've had formal training in pedagogy, which is something employers want.

Academic Service. As with the "Workshops" section, this section can help demonstrate your commitment to the academic community of your department. Many employers, particularly in smaller liberal arts colleges, will expect new hires to be able to multi-task, especially with administrative and/or committee work, and this section can show potential employers that you can do just that.

Articles Under Consideration. Don't have a publication yet? You can list essays that you've sent out for review under this section. This is a way to demonstrate that you're actively seeking to participate in broader scholarly discussion.

Coming up next: The Online Teaching Portfolio