Career advice, insights & tips for HR professionals

Would blogging help me get a new job? 15/12/2011

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Blogging for success
Building the right profile
Avoid online pitfalls

Blogging for success

With so much being invested in social media these days, your online profile is likely play a key part in all your future job search efforts.

Today’s job seekers are increasingly using blogs and personal websites to further market their expertise and enhance their online brand. A well crafted blog can be a great way of attracting the attention of the right people. However, before you begin waxing lyrical online, it’s vital to consider exactly what you’re going to write and who will end up reading it.

As a job seeker you can take it as a given that prospective employers will search for you online and that if you include your blog or website address on your CV, it will be clicked on.

A professional and well designed blog can be a wonderful opportunity to highlight your skills, showing that you are:

Intelligent, creative and able to write clearly on relevant topics.
Motivated and interested in your field of practice.
An expert in a particular area.
Passionate about your profession.
Keen to enter dialogue and engage with like minds.
A good cultural fit who has something to offer an employer.

Building the right profile

There are a number of excellent web publishing programs such as WordPress and Blogger that will enable and advise you on how best to develop your professional profile online.

Here are some key tips to ensure you build your profile in a professional and relevant manner:

Blog only about what you know and then only if it relates to your immediate job search.
Make sure that the material is accurate and well written.
Comment on press coverage and market trends relevant to your industry/profession.
Avoid negative rants on a blog.
Use a professional looking head-and-shoulders photo.
Connect with respected bloggers in your space.
Set up a professional Twitter account with tweets linking to your blog.
Keep your blogs and website professional rather than social.
Find yourself online (from a different computer, so Google doesn’t personalise your search) and assess your profile as a potential employer might.
Always write to a target audience. Staying focused on your subject matter will help to build on loyalty among readers and enhance your profile as an expert in a particular area.

Avoid online pitfalls

As with all forms of social media or online networking, it’s vital to keep in mind that everything you publish online is there for everyone else to see.

While employers are keen to see that you are literate and interested enough in a particular subject to host a blog and initiate discussion on relevant topics, they will also use the experience to check out your other online activities before committing to a hire.

When you’re blogging, particularly for a niche area of business or specialised field, there are a number of common sense rules you should keep in mind in order to remain professional and avoid doing damage to your profile:

Avoid negativity within your blog content and resist the urge to criticise or complain about people, companies or developments operating in the same field as you.
Don’t expect your blog to become an overnight sensation. You will need to work to bring people to your blog by linking it to other websites and through uploading free ads on the internet.
Don’t ignore those who make comments on your blog. Visitors will soon tire of a blog that fails to interact regularly.
Don’t break the law. Be mindful of defamation laws and of copyright issues when discussing people or using branded images.

Visit one of the sites below to get your blog started: