As a Creative Recruiter I spend my days browsing through hundreds of names, resumes, and portfolios looking for that perfect candidate. I also spend my days rummaging through countless agency blogs, industry sites, and any other source, site, link, or otherwise to keep myself up-to-date on what’s happening in order to better serve my clients and candidates. I love the industry, I love the creative, and I love my job. Why then, am I so piss fire mad?

I’m mad because I come across untold numbers of people everyday whose websites suck, yours included. Worse yet, you would be surprised at how many Art Directors, Creative Directors, Designers, Copywriters, etc. that I come across that don’t even have their own URL’s. Come on people, it’s 2007, there are folks out there buying virtual real estate and setting up vacation homes for their Second life families and you don’t even have a homepage.

With the overwhelming availability of cheap, accessible options out there for website creation, it’s unthinkable to not have a domain set up for your potential clients or employers to use as a reference point. As a recruiter, potential candidates with their own URL’s that navigate well and provide a decent sampling of work, are the ones that rise to the top of my priority list, and yes, I have a list. You don’t need anything fancy, users don’t have to upload the latest version of Flash or swap to a more compatible browser to enjoy the sweat, blood and tears that you poured into your work. You only need three basic elements to make me happy – your resume, your work, and your contact info. Just so we’re clear, I’m assuming that you’ve included your name somewhere in all of this information (some people DO forget).

To lend some legitimacy to my rant I feel compelled to relate why I’m so frustrated with this issue. As I mentioned above, I come across spectacular creatives everyday – and I constantly find myself negotiating email file size limitations because my potential candidate doesn’t represent their work online. This is not limited to people fresh out of school or those that are industry dinosaurs. I came across a potential candidate just the other day that didn’t have one single website – instead, this person chose to put a few samples of work on one of their three blogs, some other samples on a flickr page, and still others on their Facebook. It would be laughable if it weren’t for the fact that this individual is an award winning creative.

In conclusion I’d like to offer this phenomenal nugget of information: Increase your chances of attracting new employers by spending a few bucks on a web hosting package. Think of it as a home base, or a fort, or secret hideout. Keep your resume, portfolio, and contact information on the site and keep it updated. As an added bonus, keep a downloadable copy of this information on the site as well. If you’re really feeling fancy, include a link to your site on all of your other peripheral web stuffs you mess with like LinkedIn or Myspace or Facebook or your buddy’s message board. I can’t contact you unless I have your info, and I’m not sure why I would unless I’ve seen your work – so let me see it.

Technorati Tags: creative recruiter, art director, copywriter, candidate, portfolio, wired and hired