Professional Portfolios

Plaxo, LinkedIn, and Google sites are three great web 2.0 tools that can be utilized for staying organized and up to date with your professional and personal life. Each site is a little bit different from the next and I think it is worthwhile to participate in all three sites. Plaxo is a nice site for managing all of your contacts on the many social platforms in use today. I imported many of my contacts onto my Plaxo site and now I can easily view the information from contacts of many different applications all in one place. Unfortunately my smart phone broke so I did not get the chance to link my phone contact information to my Plaxo site. As soon as I get a new smart phone I will sync its information to my Plaxo site. LinkedIn is a professional networking site where people can create a profile which details professional experience and then get connected with colleagues and potential employers around the world. Like Plaxo, LinkedIn allows you to import contacts to get connected. Having a profile on LinkedIn is an effective way to sell your skills to an employer and to stay connected with friends and members in your professional field. I do not have much information on my profile as of now but I plan creating a page that showcases my skills and experience and I look forward to connecting with others who are interested in physical education. Creating a professional website using Google Sites is yet another way to present yourself to peers in your industry and to those seeking employees. I think the best aspect of the Google Sites is that the site is completely your own, which means that is is highly customizable. You can begin with helpful design templates, add pictures, and create an unlimited number of  categories to display your interests and skills. I think the best thing to do would be to have an account on all three of the web 2.0 sites discussed and then link each one together. Each site offers nice capabilities for staying in touch with contacts and presenting yourself to the world as a quality professional. Having a resume in your documents on your personal computer just isn't good enough anymore. Now it is time to have your information readily available to those who need to see it.