As part of my content update, I ideally wanted my site to be more dynamic, so that I did not need to touch it very often, yet to still have it be more up-to-date and fresh. My idea was to rely on updates I would make to other sites anyway, and to leverage those updates to drive my personal site too. While I could have relied on widgets and simple Javascript, this kind of material is not picked up by search engines, and did not allow enough design flexibility for my taste. Thus, I chose to switch to PHP and code things by hand, but sticking to simple approaches (RSS, for example, or straightforward APIs — I may once have been a professional coder, but these days I’m looking for simplicity first).

Here are the areas I focused on first on my main page:

About

This section I maintain locally for now, because the kind of language I’m using is adapted specifically for this combination of personal and professional site. I considered pulling it from other profile sites, such as Linkedin or my Google Profile, but the APIs were either too complex (for my purposes) or non-existent. On the other hand, the miniature about section at the bottom-right of the page is pulled dynamically from an unexpected source: Goodreads, which has a simple and effective API that makes this easy. (You’ll need to create an account with Goodreads, and request a key.)

To accomplish this with PHP, look at SimpleXML. Use it something like this:

[sourcecode language=“php”]
$data = file_get_contents($url);
$profile = simplexml_load_string($data);
php echo $profile->user->about ?>
[/sourcecode]

My Updates

I pull these from Twitter, using a simplified version of the Twitter-provided Javascript widget (although the API is quite straightforward too).

[sourcecode language=“html”]


[/sourcecode]

Featured Posts

These come from the most recent posts on in propria persona, and are pulled in via RSS feeds (using PHP and SimplePie). Other highlighted stories on my main page are put on there manually for now, although I have considered pulling from the RSS feed that SSRN provides on articles I put there. The basic code for RSS processing looks like this:

[sourcecode language=“php”]
$feed = new SimplePie(‘http://www.inpropriapersona.com/feed/’);
$feed->handle_content_type();
php foreach ($feed->get_items() as $item): ?>

• php echo $item->get_permalink(); ?>”>get_title(); ?>

endforeach; ?>
[/sourcecode]

My Comments

BackType scours the Web for comments I make on blogs, and provides them to me in an easy-to-use RSS feed. You’ll need to create an account there, then use the RSS feed they provide just like I used the RSS feed to display articles from my blog.

Reading

Goodreads provides a a nice, and simple, RSS feed to show the books on a particular “shelf” (Goodreads was far easier to pull from than any other similar site) — the links go to Google Books in order to access the “preview” functionality Google offers. The code is similar to this:

[sourcecode language=“php”]
$goodreads = new SimplePie(‘GOODREADS RSS URL’);
$goodreads->handle_content_type();
foreach ($goodreads->get_items() as $item):
$image = $item->get_item_tags(”, ‘book_small_image_url’); $image = $image[0][’data’];
[/sourcecode]

Publications

My publications page has a few of the same sections that my main page has, but emphasizes the list of articles and materials I’ve published (either online or in print journals). This list — the core of the page — is pulled from an RSS feed that originates with RefWorks, an online citation management service from ProQuest. The management interface isn’t pretty, but the service works well for creating and managing bibliographies for academic papers. Thus, since I’ll use the service anyway, why not leverage it for this purpose too?

Final Thoughts

The specific approach I’ve taken here obviously requires some technical knowledge. Still, the idea of keeping your site more dynamic and up-to-date can be incorporated into virtually any site, using tools like Google Gadgets or widgets from sites like Twitter or FriendFeed. Even more simply, you may choose to simple update your site in small ways on a regular basis. Alternatively, some people have chosen to use sites like Posterous or Tumblr to centralize their personal site in a easy-to-update, miniature blog.

The goal is to give your personal site a more active, engaging feel that encourages visitors seeking information about you to respond positively to your Web presence.

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking Web site focused on connecting people with each other. Many of us have now experienced the joy (and occasional pain) of (re-)connecting with people from high school, college, or law school through the site.

Many people have decried the negative aspects of Facebook in the job search, primarily the ability of potential employers to find personal information (such as drunken party photos, political/social leanings, etc.) out about you through the service. Although this can certainly be a problem for a naive individual, it should not keep you from using the service, provided you: (1) do not post photographs (or better yet, do not participate in situations) that you would derail your chances of employment (drunkenness, drug use, etc. — this is particularly true for legal professionals) and (2) keep your personal life confined (through various Facebook limiting mechanisms) to those who know you. If in doubt — don’t put it online.

From a job seeking perspective, Facebook will not find you a job. It is not Monster.com or similar job search site. Instead, it is an extension of old-school networking — meeting people, connecting with people, sharing with people. Use similar approaches on Facebook that you would use in person, but remember: Facebook is focused more on personal connections that professional ones, so treat it accordingly.

• Do not attempt to “friend” business connections who you barely know via Facebook. (Save those for LinkedIn, next on the list).
• Do let your actual friends know via Facebook that you are looking for a job.
• Do search for people you may know who do work like you wish to do, or who work where you want to work. You may be surprised that you actually know someone who can put in a good word for you.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is like Facebook for professionals, minus the games, the sharing, the pictures, and everything else that makes Facebook so “sticky.” But these limitations are its biggest asset, because they turn it into a truly professional zone. Everything you put on LinkedIn should be professional, with only a passing nod to your personal life (to make you real). In terms of posting information to LinkedIn, it is best to think of it as an in-depth, network-enhanced resume. It is not for arringing to meet friends at the movies, nor for sharing your vacation pics to Cancun.

Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn is the perfect place to connect with business acquantances who you do not know well. In this sense, think of LinkedIn as your social Rolodex of business contacts, with recirocal connections, recommendations, and easy searching.

• Do connect with those you meet.
• Do not connect with people you have never met, unless you arrange an introduction (supported by LinkedIn). To do otherwise is to invite trouble and do your reputation more harm than good.
• Do update your status on LinkedIn with professional information related to your job search.
• Do search for companies and look for people you know there.
• Do pay attention to “friend-of-friends” who you may be able to be introduced to through LinkedIn. This is a very valuable part of LinkedIn networking!
• Do get recommendations from current and former co-workers. A LinkedIn profile of an active job seeker with no recommendations is potentially problematic, as it suggests that no one wants to recommend you!
• Do keep your profile updated with current information.

Plaxo

Plaxo is in some ways like LinkedIn and Facebook: it connects people with each other. It has a more professional bent than Facebook, and in that way is more similar to LinkedIn (including an online profile hat is more like a resume than Facebook’s, for example). Its current incarnation is more focused on “lifestreaming”: gathering up and synchronizing your online life in one place:

Plaxo is about synchronizing all that’s important to you in one single place. It’s about staying in touch with all those who you care about… your family, your friends and your business contacts. With Plaxo’s Pulse, we keep you up to date with what your friends, family and Business contacts are up to.

• You can Share photos, videos, reviews and more…
• You can share content from the websites you use like Flickr, YouTube, Digg and a growing list of activity stream sites you can activate.
• You can represent yourself on the web with your own profile. Choose what to share and with whom.
• And with the Plaxo Address book, get the information you need for the people you know and Sync it to places you already use.
• You Plaxo calendar syncs with Yahoo!, Gmail, Outlook, Mac and a growing number of sync points to make sure you don’t forget what you’re doing.

Plaxo is all this in one place and that’s why it’s the most efficient and fun place to be in. And most important of all, you decide who gets to see what.

It is worth it to establish a Plaxo profile while job searching, and keep it updated. (Not having recommendations on Plaxo is also less of a problem, as long as you have them on LinkedIn.)

Plaxo’s aggregation support for your online activities is powerful, but has the potential to mix your personal and professional lives together. Thus, be very careful of this.

• Do establish and maintain your profile.
• Do use the aggregation and synching tools, if they are useful to you.
• Do not mix personal and professional updates.
• Do use Plaxo’s tools to contain your personal updates to your personal friends.

Twitter

Twitter is a newer contender to the social media landscape. It permits posting short status messages, which may include links to articles, blog posts, pictures, etc. In a professional context — remember, you are job seeking — these status messages should stay away from “crazy party last night” and steer more towards the “excellent article, I recommend you read it.”

Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn, and Plaxo, connections in Twitter are one way: you can follow people, or they can follow you, but reciprocity is not required.

To find useful people to follow, look for those in your field. A good place to start is LexTweet, which aggregates legal Tweets — consider joining as well and participating.

My recommendations:

• Do read about how others are using Twitter professionally.
• Do keep your postings professional.
• Do mix in some personal updates to be “real,” but remember — a potential employer may be reading them, so be judicious.
• Do “add value” by Tweeting useful information.
• Do not use tools to mass add followers, or similar “spammy” behaviors.

JD Supra

JD Supra is a different alternative to the above sites. Unlike the four above, it is focused exclusively on the legal community:

As a legal professional, you post your court filings, decisions, forms and/or articles to JD Supra’s database, a free tool for legal research. You also create an in-depth professional profile that is freely available simply by browsing or keyword searching, or via link from any of your posted documents.

A profile on JD Supra provides a useful addition to your LinkedIn and Plaxo profiles — but that’s not the core value of the site. The main point is to demonstrate your value to potential employers (and clients, for that matter) by sharing your work via JD Supra: filings, briefs, articles, etc.

At first glance, it may seem like you are giving your work away for “free” — but in reality, you are receiving value: respect. Your value as a lawyer, after all, does not come through directly selling your prior work — but rather in using your prior work to sell yourself.

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