How to Build Your Digital Presence as a Software Developer

Creating a home for your brand online

In this post, I’d like to give more techniques on how to build out your professional image by showcasing your skills and experience online. Whereas my last article discussed how to discover your personal brand, this article will cover some useful ways to get your brand noticed and taken seriously.

It’s important to remember that a personal brand is both abstract and physical. On one hand, it is an overarching theme that captures your unique value and professional experience. It’s the bigger tapestry you see when you zoom out from the individual events of your career. And on the other hand, it is a collection of concrete resources that showcase your skills, projects, and current goals.

You’ve got to talk the talk and walk the walk. You can advertise your personal brand all you want, but you’ve got to make it real and tangible for others. And in today’s day and age, that means making it accessible online. There’s several ways to build out the digital presence of your brand, so let’s get started.

Start blogging

So, you’ve never blogged before or you just don’t know what to write about…That’s okay. When I started writing my first blog post, I didn’t know how I was going to decide on a worthwhile topic. However, I can tell you that it’s fine to be confused at first because you will come to realize that blogging is a freeing experience. You don’t have to be an expert in the topics you discuss, and you can give yourself permission to explore intellectual areas that are outside your comfort zone. Try it out!

Blogging is also a fantastic way to expand your brand because it shows that you have ideas and that you’re willing to communicate them. Whatever you choose to write about, pick something that excites you.

The most valuable advice I can give to new bloggers is to write for yourself first. Pinpoint what you want to talk about and then just type it out as though no one will ever read it. Do not limit yourself. You could write about ES6 features, learning a new dev tool, how to build a React app, etc. Get those thoughts down and before you know it you’ve got a couple pages filled with unique thoughts and insights. Refine them a bit, push the “publish” button, and look — you’ve created value for others.

Make a portfolio website

This is not optional. You must have work to show for your brand, otherwise you don’t have evidence of your accomplishments.

Show, don’t tell.

Use pictures, links, references, publications — anything that lets others see your accomplishments first-hand. It’s obvious that these resources give validity, credibility, and interactivity to your brand — the importance of which cannot be overstated.

Maintaining a portfolio also allows you to organize and reflect on the work you’ve done thus far. You’ll gain additional insights into the technologies you’ve learned and into the problems you’ve solved. This will give you valuable feedback on what projects you enjoyed the most and what jobs you might like going forward.

GitHub your way to glory

GitHub is a crown jewel for developers. Be sure to show off your most elegant code and highlight any projects you’ve worked on. Tidy up your READMEs, choose descriptive variable names, and use a consistent coding style.

Recruiters will use GitHub to investigate the projects you’ve worked on and check out your code. In this way, the more information you can provide about your software engineering skills, the more compelling a candidate you are.

Sometimes it might feel like you should only use GitHub to store code for large projects. However, make sure to push code for small projects too. These “micro-projects”, which could include software tutorial projects or simple programming exercises, are also valuable. They show initiative, a passion for software development, and a willingness to implement new ideas.

Voice your brand through social media

Make sure your social media profiles show that you’re an intelligent, well-meaning thinker and team player. Your online behavior should always align with your personal brand. Make sure there’s nothing on your profiles that could botch your professional image.

Highlight your social media profiles in your applications if you use them to voice ideas about your industry, share new content, or engage with your professional network.

Otherwise, they should take a back seat and can probably be left out of your applications. Even so, make sure there’s nothing damaging to your reputation on these platforms. Your profile is just a Google search away for the curious recruiter.

Putting the pieces together

Use as many avenues as you can to give life to your brand on the web. Creating and polishing these tools will allow you to put your best foot forward. A powerful portfolio site, with beautifully written code and blog posts also available online, can give you a significant leg up in the application process.

Show pride in your work, interest in your next career move, and a hunger for breakout ideas.

And, of course, make sure that there is a sense of unity between all of these resources. Leverage the unique strengths of each one to showcase a particular aspect of your professional journey, while also ensuring that they complement one another.

Invest a bit of time effort into building out your brand tools; the payoff is big. Good luck, and keep your digital self in tip-top shape!

In the third and final part of this series, I’ll offer a few tips for staying mentally resilient throughout the job search.

Author: Harrison Miller — Mental gamer. Mobile engineer (React Native). Yale ’17. Building the future bit by bit.

LinkedIn | Email: hmaxmiller@gmail.com |Website: www.hmaxmiller.com