Great Example of Blogging for a Job

Kent Blumberg gets it.

Over on Career Hub I posted about the importance of blogging as a way of building a personal brand. Like all good bloggers, Kent knows the value of comments. He left one on my post and I went and checked out his blog.

Now just imagine that you are a recruiter or a senior company executive and you come upon Kent's page. What is your impression?  Mine was one of expertise. In what? In the areas of "leadership, strategy and performance." It says so right under his name!

The impression made by this blog is completely different from the impression made by a resume. One says I am an expert sharing my knowledge. The other says "I need a job."

Kent wrote this on Career Hub:

I've been blogging on leadership, strategy and performance since late May. Before I began, Google turned up only a few, relatively old references to me. Now, the great majority of results on the first couple of pages are links to one of my blog posts, or to comments I have made on other posts.

Better yet, my blog came up in a recent interview. One of the interviewers had googled me, and then read my blog and my comments on others' blogs. About half her questions were related to those links. Since I blog about areas that I believe are my strengths, it gave me a great chance to reinforce what makes me different.

Blogging also helps show that I am up-to-speed on the latest technology and not stuck in the old economy.

I don't know if Kent is actively job searching right now, but I do know that he's building a personal brand online that will ensure he is seen as a leader in his field. What better way to make sure you never have to send another resume again?

While I'm on this subject, on the Simply Hired blog, CM Russell lists 7 suggestions for blogger job seekers. They're all excellent, so check out his post.

Comments

[Kent Blumberg]

Louise,

Thanks so much for the compliments.

I am indeed actively seeking a fairly high level role, and that is what got me started with blogging. But blogging has become so much more than just a tool to help tell my tale. It is allowing me to put down on digital paper (for my own later reference) some of the knowledge I have gained over the years. It helps me feel useful, when readers tell me a post of mine helped them figure out a problem they were dealing with. (And feelings of usefulness can be hard to come by during a job search.) My blog could eventually become a book - who knows. Publishing a blog showcases not only the few leadership skills I have, but also the my Web 2.0 skills - it shows I'm not stuck in the last century. And it has introduced me to other interesting writers, you included.

I have become an evangelist for the use of blogs, by job seekers and by my small-business friends.

[Michael Schaffner]

Kent certainly does get it. I've known Kent for a few months now and he has a very thorough and organized search going. He's learned how to use the modern technology of blogs to complement the traditional search techniques. And as a true leader he's been instrumental in getting others (including me) into the world of blogging.

[amara emuwa]

Blogging for a Job? I am one of those people who 'stumbled' into blogging which has surprised everyone around me but I believe it gives you the power to reach the world that you would not have ordinarily reached. Sometimes people send in comments and sometimes they do not and when you blog for months without comments, it can get quite demoralizing but if it is an outlet that you strongly believe in, then it has fulfilled its primary objective ...making you happy and if it leads to a job for you then it is a bonus.

Personally, I see blogging as a way to achieve my writing dreams professionally and leisurely. I also beleive that it will be a platform for launching out my business.