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Set up your Profile

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After creating your account, the next step is setting up your profile.

Profile overview

Your GradSkills profile is an easy, flexible way to present your background to companies seeking to hire university talent.

You can access your profile by clicking ‘PROFILE’ in the top navigation bar.

We describe how to complete each of the profile sections below.

Photo, Hourly Rate & Availability

Add a profile photo, and enter your location, target hourly rate and availability.

  • Photo – Click on the photo icon and upload a photo for your profile. For best results, use a photo with square dimensions.
  • Location – enter your address, which is required for invoices sent to companies who hire you.
  • Hourly rate – enter a target hourly rate for your work. This provides an indication of your expectations to companies, but you can accept projects above or below this rate. You can also change this rate anytime.
  • Availability – select your availability as ‘Now’, or in 1, 2, or 3+ weeks. You can change this selection anytime as your schedule changes.

Education

Update the ‘Education’ section with information about your current or most recent degree programme.

Click ‘Save’ when you’re done.

Skills

Add skills by clicking in the ‘Select skills’ field and browsing over 500 skills in the drop-down menu or typing to search specific skills.

Click ‘Save’ when you’re done.

TIP: You can add as many skills as you want. We recommend between 5-20, depending on how many specific technical skills are required in your field. Be aware that adding too many skills to your profile can have the unintended effect of diluting your strongest skills.

Introduction

Add an introduction to tell companies a bit about yourself in your own words.

Use this space to highlight any particular skills, passions, experience or other information about your background & abilities that you want to share.

Click ‘Save’ when you’re done.

In some contexts your intro will be shortened to a ~140 character preview. We recommend including a captivating first sentence to entice companies to read further.

Work Experience

NOTE: Your profile must contain at least one ‘Work Experience’ item OR one ‘Portfolio’ item (see next section).

Click ‘+’ to add a work experience item.

Enter information in the fields provided.

About Categories & Sub-Categories

You can select one or more categories & subcategories for your work experience item. These will determine where your profile appears when clients search for candidates.

For example, if you select “Marketing & Communication” as the category for a work experience item, companies searching for candidates in the “Marketing & Communication” category will see your profile.

You can apply for jobs in any category without having a work experience item in the corresponding category.

Click ‘Save’ when you’re done.

Edit Work Experience

To edit a work experience item, click ‘SEE MORE’ in the corresponding item.

Then click ‘Save’ to save your edits when you’re done.

Portfolio

Your portfolio provides an opportunity to share any projects — personal, professional or academic — that showcase your talents, skills and abilities. Bolster your profile with tangible examples of prior work that can help bring your experience to life.

NOTE: Your profile must contain at least one ‘Portfolio’ item OR one ‘Work Experience’ item.

Click ‘+’ to add a portfolio item.

Click the large ‘+’ button to upload a cover photo for your portfolio item.

Then enter information in the fields provided.

Select Categories & Sub-Categories

You can select one or more categories & subcategories for your portfolio item. As with work experience items, these will determine where your profile appears when clients search for candidates.

For example, if you select “Marketing & Communication” as the category for a portfolio item, when companies search for candidates in the “Marketing & Communication” category your profile will appear.

You can apply for jobs in any category without having a portfolio item in the corresponding category.

Add Links to Examples of your Work (Optional)

Adding an optional link to showcase your work provides a tangible example of your skills and lends credibility to your experience.

You can add any valid external link, including to websites or file sharing sites (e.g., Google, DropBox).

Make sure your links are accessible without permissions and that they do not contain any proprietary or otherwise confidential information that you do not have permission to share.

Edit Portfolio Items

To edit a portfolio item, click ‘SEE MORE’ in the corresponding item.

Then click ‘Save’ to save your edits when you’re done.

Reviews

When you complete a job on GradSkills, the client will have the opportunity to provide a rating & review.

You will also have the opportunity to rate & review the client.

Earning positive reviews on GradSkills is a great way to build your professional profile, attract more opportunities on GradSkills, and collect references to help launch your career after your studies.

Reviews you earn from jobs will appear in your profile in the ‘Reviews’ section.

Next Steps

Once you’ve completed your profile, companies will be able to find and view it.

Here’s a sample profile as viewed by a company on GradSkills.

Once you’ve completed your profile, you’re almost ready to apply for jobs.

The last step is to set up payment so you can get paid for your work quickly & securely.

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