How to Blog About Your Job to Find a New One

Published by Cassidy Hennigan | Last Updated on July 31st, 2020

If you want a new and better job than the one you have now, you’re probably familiar with most of the methods out there for finding work. You can post your resume on the big job boards, such as Monster.com, and scan the job listings for your dream position.

You can research companies you want to work for and reach out to them directly. However, alternatively, if you have a bit of a creative flair, you can blog about your job. Because this method is less used by job-seekers, it allows you to stand out and showcase your skills and talents to prospective employers.

The Benefits of Blogging

1. Recognition

You might be among the best at what you do, but if nobody outside your current company knows who you are, your opportunities for new employment are slim. With a blog that showcases your work, you put your name out there and begin building a brand for yourself.

Suppose you’re a graphic designer and have a substantial portfolio of quality work you’ve done for clients. However, all your work has been through your current employer, which serves as a liaison between you and your customers. Consequently, no one other than you, your employer and your clients has had the chance to see your work.

Showcasing your work on a blog gets it out into the open and lets others in the industry know of your capabilities. As your blog begins to amass viewers, the chances are good that someone who is in the market for a talented graphic designer sees it. This could be your ticket to a new and better job. Many companies consider for their brand ambassador experience and requirements someone who has a presence and an online following in the field.

2. Networking

The blogosphere tends to be a pretty tight-knit community, particularly within specific industries and hobbies. So-called “mommy bloggers,” for example, have their own veritable army on the web, comprising, for the most part, new mothers who blog about the trials and tribulations of raising children.

Whatever your job or skill set, a network of bloggers likely exists for it. By tapping into this network, you start to build contacts and relationships that might lead you to your next career opportunity. No matter the industry, the most desirable jobs typically aren’t posted on job boards; they’re filled via networking. Someone at the company knows someone who they believe is the perfect fit for the position.

When you blog about your job, you naturally attract the attention of others in your field. You never know which of these people might prove to be valuable contacts who can lead you to better career opportunities.

3. Subtlety

Blogging about your job allows you to attract the attention of prospective employers without drawing attention from your current company that you’re looking to jump ship. Posting your resume on job boards is riskier, as someone in human resources at your current employer might stumble upon it while searching for a candidate to fill an open position.

Though to everybody’s advantage, many job boards have the option to hide your resume from certain companies. However, with a blog, it simply appears as though you’re proud of your work and want to show it off, not necessarily that you’re looking to take your talents elsewhere.

Setting Up Your Blog

Setting up a blog doesn’t require much — or any — technical knowledge. You don’t need to know HTML, Java or any other programming language. Plenty of free blogging platforms exist that can get you up and running in minutes, and all you have to do is point, click and type. Posting photographs or videos of your work requires simply dragging them from a folder on your desktop to the spot where you want it on your blog.

Once you choose a platform and set up your blog, establish a theme for it and then post, post, post. Making regular posts that are engaging, informative and relevant to your industry represents the most important factor for building an audience for your blog. Stale blogs, the ones you see online that haven’t been updated in over a year, not only see their audiences dwindle from lack of new content but also, search engines such as Google penalize them for not staying up to date.

Other Considerations

Especially if you’re new to blogging, be sure to consider a few things before you begin to blog about your job. First, know that the internet creates a permanent record of everything you post online.

Therefore, if you post something in haste and later think better of it and take it down, search engine spiders likely have already cached your original post and created a permanent spot for it on the internet. Before you post anything, be sure it is something you don’t mind having your name attached to forever.

NOTE: Moreover, certain posts can be not only embarrassing but also libelous. Be careful saying anything defamatory online about your current or previous employers, or anyone else for that matter. In the case of a lawsuit, the onus is on you to prove the veracity of your statements.

What do you think? I’d love to read your comment. What field are you in? What’s your day to day job like? Do you have a story to share with us?

Image source: Unsplash – Thomas Lefebvre