The Internet and other digital technologies have created massive opportunities for all of us. Whether you want to connect with a close friend who is vacationing halfway around the world or learn a new skill or subject area on YouTube, the Internet has removed seemingly insurmountable boundaries. No matter your personal or professional goals, digital technologies make it much easier to accomplish those goals.
All of the above is especially relevant if you are an entrepreneur, creator, manager, or any other ambitious individual who is looking to get the most out of your career. You can think of the Internet as a blank canvas that is waiting to be painted by you. Because of its vast size and scale, the Internet provides a unique opportunity for you to show off your knowledge and skills in your chosen domain. All it takes is for you to take bold, aggressive action.
It is for this reason that you’ll want to make your CV stand out by adding your personal projects and achievements. Yes, you may already have listed some of your accomplishments on your LinkedIn page. But having said that, actually posting your project and achievement URLs can go a long way in building your reputation, connecting with fascinating people, and advancing your career.
The Value of Posting Your Projects and Achievements
So what is it about posting your project and achievement URLs that is so powerful? There are several important explanations here.
First, adding projects and achievements to your online CV gives some much-needed context about your skills and experiences. Let’s be honest: a CV can be a good way to show where you worked and some of your responsibilities at those prior jobs. This isn’t valueless, yet this information often doesn’t provide enough context about how you contributed to your past organizations.
This is where projects and achievements provide immense value. By actually posting your projects and achievements, you can provide some real color to your CV. Your projects and achievements can reveal your thought process, your expertise in your sector or field, and how you helped your former employer accomplish its business goals. To put it another way, it lets others get a much clearer sense of your credentials, skills, and how you can create value for others.
This type of insight is extremely powerful. And it leads to another huge benefit of adding projects and achievements to your online CV. It is the fact that doing so levels the playing field. Even though you may not have graduated from the “most prestigious” university or college, showing what you have actually accomplished in the world goes a long way in making you stand out.
The simple truth is that we still live in a world where credentials are often used as a proxy for talent. A graduate from an Ivy League school or a top-three consulting firm is often given more credence (and more opportunities) simply because of their background. While this isn’t a bad thing in every instance, there are situations where opportunities are not provided to extremely talented individuals because they don’t have a certain type of background.
In the eyes of potential employers, taking a chance on non-traditional candidates may be riskier than going with the other candidate with a more stereotypical background. It isn’t fair and may lead to these organizations missing out on game-changing employees. That said, this does happen.
Having said that, adding your accomplishments and projects online can shift the odds in your favor. It gives others a granular look at what you do and how you do it. Whether you are showing off a major project that contributed significant value to your organization or a side project that has helped thousands of users, showing your projects and accomplishments helps others see past your credentials. Even if you are proud and satisfied with those credentials, you still get the benefit of separating yourself from others with similar backgrounds as you. It’s truly a win-win.
Adding your accomplishments and projects online can also start conversations with interesting people. We’re not saying that conversations can’t happen by simply reviewing your standard CV or resume. That being said, adding projects and accomplishments can make those conversations occur much more organically. Rather than the standard “tell me about yourself” question, those looking at your accomplishments and projects are much more inclined to start more interesting and deep conversations with you.
There’s another way of thinking about this. Including your accomplishments and projects is almost like you’re pitching the “startup of you” to others. In startup pitches, investors would rather see the app or website that entrepreneurs are pitching rather than a slide show summarizing the website or app. Doing this lets investors get their hands dirty and truly understand how the website or app provides value to users’ lives.
Because of this, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how including your accomplishments and projects will help you start engaging conversations with interesting people. Even if you aren’t looking for a job or other professional opportunities, there will be fascinating people who want to speak with you. Trust us on this one.
Finally, one of the great things about adding your project and achievement URLs is that you have a longstanding record of your accomplishments. Essentially, it is like having a time capsule of your work.
This time capsule provides a wealth of benefits. For starters, it lets you constantly get better at your craft. Because all of our days are extremely busy, it is all too easy to keep looking forward. We keep our eyes on the next idea or the next project. Again, there’s nothing necessarily wrong with this, but the problem emerges if we aren’t improving. If we continuously make the same mistakes, we’ll find ourselves frustrated in our overall career development.
Posting your project and achievement URLs helps fix this problem. It lets you go back and easily review your earlier work. You can see simple mistakes that you made and take action now to never make those same mistakes. The simple fact is that all great performers in their craft study their mistakes and take aggressive action to never make them again. By including your project and achievement URLs, you can do the same.
Along with avoiding mistakes, having this perpetual time capsule of your projects and achievements can provide some psychological benefits. Namely, you can feel proud of what you have accomplished. If you’re a high striver, it’s easy to always think about what you haven’t yet accomplished or what you need to accomplish to get to your goals. However, remembering what you have already done in your early career can give you a boost when you’re facing stress or obstacles. This psychological benefit is real and something that you should absolutely leverage—no matter where you are in your career.
Showcase Your Projects and Accomplishments Today
As you can see, there are plenty of benefits to sharing your project and accomplishment URLs. Even though you may be nervous or intimidated to do it, this simple act can be the galvanizing force that helps you accomplish your career goals.
At Savvyous, we are proud to help our users connect and share their accomplishments with the world. To learn more about us and how we can help you advance your career, click here. We look forward to hearing from you.