It's the 21st century, so of course you're online.
How to put your best foot forward?
If you don't want a prospective employer to see it, don't post it.
www.amazon.com/The-Elements-Style-Third-Edition/dp/0205191584 is my favorite book (the later editions are bloated, precisely the opposite of what Strunk & White preached).
I have several, but one is just fine for you (www.slivka.com is mostly travel photos, www.benslivka.com is this WordPress blog, www.slivka.org is my family foundation, www.benslivka.net redirects to my LinkedIn profile).
I recommend www.godaddy.com as your Registrar, then use www.WordPress.com or some other hosting solution.
Try to find a short domain name that is still (mostly) your name. Some I've seen recently include www.gcan.co, www.nicolezhu.io, and www.RobinBrewer.com.
Avoid long domain names, e.g., www.FirstnameMiddle1Middle2Lastname.com!
At a minimum, you want to include a link to your LinkedIn profile (online resume) and a short 1-2 paragraph summary about yourself.
After that, a portfolio of your work (github, code for projects, links to websites and/or videos you have created, etc.) really helps you stand out.
Don't be intimidated at the prospect of building a website: even a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Mine is ben@slivka.com. I was lucky to have an uncommon last name and to be around to register slivka.com in 1997.
If you've registered a short domain name, use that for your email, too (probably redirect or host at gmail).
Otherwise, use a short gmail.com address (I have benslivka@gmail.com, too).
Be professional (FuzzyBunny34@ may have been cute when you were 12…).
Pro Tip: Be sure to edit your LinkedIn URL to remove the random letters/numbers that LI appends at the end of your default URL.
This is your online resume, so keep it up to date, and have a "paper" resume as back-up.
Your college information should include GPA, and for STEM degrees, you can list major (CS, EE, Math, etc.) courses.
Be sure to include high school performance (GPA, class rank, component SAT/ACT scores, AP tests, and key achievements (3rd place state chess championship, yes; president of French Club, no).
"Work Experience" is paid work, "Volunteer" is un-paid.
Be sure to include hours/week and total weeks for every job, project, etc.
Please list specific, concrete information for each effort: how many customers served, how many lines of code written, dates, dollars saved, etc.
Create a printable version (likely in Microsoft Word) of your LI information.
Focus on your most important information so it all fits on one printed page.
Unless you aspire to work in media, Twitter is unlikely to advance your career.
I joined northwestern.thefacebook.com in 6/2004 when it launched at NU and was only open to people with @northwestern.edu email addresses.
You can spend hours/day on Facebook if you're not careful.
My YouTube channel (www.videos.slivka.com) has more than 1,200 videos, but then I'm unemployed, I travel a lot, and I captured my first digital still image in 1996 and my first digital video in 1997.
Unless you're a video artist, post sparingly on YouTube.
Ditto for Tumblr, Pinterest, etc.
Every CS and CE major should have a GitHub account.
January 4, 2016 in Advice.