Online Professional Profile Reflection
Due to time constraints, we were not able to workshop our websites in class, so this project gave us much more leeway in setting our own schedules for completion. That being said, I was able to use Thanksgiving Break to slowly edit my project each day. I kept a log of my work in my bullet journal, but I have outlined the highlights of the work below:
November 4: created draft resume
November 8: revised and uploaded an updated resume
November 17: created design draft of website via WordPress
November 19: created a design draft via Wix
November 21: Imported Resume information into website
November 22: Created text for Home page of website
November 25: Created Text for Projects page of website
November 28: Added pictures to website pages
December 1: Edited content of website
December 6: made final design choices and edits on website
Breaking the project up into little pieces proved to be very effective for me because I tend to clump an entire project into one week. By taking time in between edits, I was able to think about my design choices and research problems when they arose, like how to attach a link. Originally, I had chosen to use WordPress to create my site, but ended up choosing Wix. Although i don’t particularly like Wix, I was having difficulty password protecting my site. I chose to password protect my site for two reasons. First, because I have only been at my new job for a few months, I did not want it to seem like I was already looking for another job if anyone were to google me. Second, I can continue to edit the content of my site for the next few months in password protected mode, without publishing any content. Third, the Wix site can serve as a mockup draft that I can use when i create my own website at a personal domain (mirandamendicino.net) in the future.
In terms of the rhetorical situation, this project was unique because it will be used long after Technical Writing class is over. The purpose of the project is to create an online professional presence to display our experience and body of work in a design-based format. In terms of audience, the audience of the project can be anyone: future employers, clients, or colleagues, so it is extremely important to maintain professionalism on the website. For example, linking a satirical twitter account to a website would not be a professional move. The context for the project is that I am a senior who will be looking for full time employment after graduation soon. This website will be a valuable asset in my job search, as it would stand out on a resume or on my LinkedIn profile.
I am so glad that we created a professional profile in this class. I think it is a perfect avenue to display our work. I also like that a website can be a “working document,” in which I can update it with recent projects and project progress. Overall, I think that all of our projects in Technical Writing have been so beneficial to me. I feel like I have learned so much about multimodal communication and have expanded my breadth of skills significantly. I would recommend Technical Writing to any student of any major! This was by far my favorite class this semester.