5 skills to showcase on your blog and land your dream job
If you’re on the hunt for your dream job, you’ve probably got your resume ready to go, are attending every networking meeting this side of the Mississippi (whichever side that may be), and have let mom, dad, and mom’s dad’s uncle’s wife’s nephew know that you’re on the hunt.
But have you started a blog?
Believe it or not, doing so might just be the most effective strategy for getting from Point A (not having your dream job) to Point B (having your dream job) in today’s feisty job market.
To demonstrate how, let’s take a look at 5 skills a few of today’s top bloggers display and just why an employer would find them attractive.
1. Writing Ability
You know when Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has his employees write 6-page memos in lieu of PowerPoint presentations, writing skills are still highly valued in the workplace.
In fact, despite the countless people who decry blogging and social media as the end of civilized culture, writing has become all the more essential in the current social and work environment, as much of our communication has shifted to online venues like email.
There’s actually a lot of great writing on the web, but few can compare to The Bloggess, whose distinctive wit and voice have earned her a massive following. You can see this at every level of her blog, but most especially in her About Page, which reads: .
There’s a lot of swearing here (as she mentions, that’s kind of why she made the blog in the first place) and tons of interesting imagery. But perhaps more than anything, what’s so impressive about The Bloggess is her unique phrasing, which so accurately captures an emotion or experience in surprising and delightful ways.
True, if she wanted one,The Bloggess would have trouble landing a job in more conservative workplaces, but I doubt she’d want to work in one anyway. Instead, she’s managed to capture her unique personality and voice so well, she’s bound to impress likeminded companies and hiring managers, who would want to bring her in for an interview just meet her, not to mention to get her on board to write all of their copy.
So, lesson learned: write a lot; write well; get noticed.
2. Grasp of Web Culture
For today’s companies, understanding digital culture can be key to their survival. That means everything from managing online reputations to designing websites that make a company look relevant and on the ball to navigating social media and keeping up with the latest design and marketing trends.
That can be a tall task, especially for those who were raised before the age when digital savvy was a prerequisite to just about all of life, and employers are accordingly on the hunt for candidates with a keen sense of what’s what in the web world.
Digital savvy is something Matthew Epstein has in spades, as demonstrated on his popular website, Google Please Hire Me and his embedded YouTube video:
Epstein spent a considerable amount of time and money creating a site that really was primed to go viral, from the succinct yet compelling URL to the hilarious YouTube video to the cleanly designed website, all crafted to capture views and leads.
While Epstein didn’t land a job at Google, he did get himself an interview not just at his target company but also at many more, landing a different dream job altogether.
Now, this site is only partially a blog, and is probably a little bit closer to a microsite resume, but there’s a lot that can be applied here to the blogging world.
Whether you create your own site or go to an editor like WordPress or Blogger, your blog is a great place to show off your digital skills, whether that’s a grasp of Photoshop, smooth integration of YouTube, or nice tie-ins with social media campaigns.
Run your blog like a professional website, and you’re sure to impress.
3. Ability to Work Independently
In order for your blog to gain any kind of regular readership, you’ve got to act like both a writer and an editor, brainstorming ideas, putting yourself on a regular writing, production and marketing calendar, and doing it all without losing your motivation.
Take one look at a blog like Lahaul Seth’s LionBlogger, who updates regularly with expert posts within his subject area of online marketing, and you can see a number of highly employable skills.
For someone looking to hire within this subject area, there Seth demonstrates time management and organizational skills, and a clear passion. Essentially, just in keeping the site fresh (not even to mention his expertise), he’s showing any potential employers essential soft skills.
Should he be looking for a job, that’s bound to land him an interview.
4. Networking and Relationship Building
Of course, networking and relationship building are key to landing any dream job, and they’re also important on the job as well for growing companies. Well, it just so happens that these two skills can be key to growing a blog following as well.
Many successful bloggers, after all, have their blog site printed on business cards, which they take with them to any MeetUps and other professional networking events.
However, much of today’s networking happens on social media sites like Twitter, a fact well-demonstrated on media blogger Mark Evanier’s Twitter feed.
Like many people on Twitter, Evanier posts plenty of links back to his own blog, thereby promoting his own work. But perhaps just as importantly, he takes the time to interact with other people online, whether he’s retweeting tweets he enjoys or engaging in back and forth conversation.
This is not only an excellent way to grow his following and drive traffic back to his blog, but if he were to be hunting for a job, it demonstrates social media savvy to his potential employers.
This is key, as many companies are on the lookout for employees who will build their reputation online organically.
It’s also just great material for hiring managers to look at — much more interesting than a stack of resumes.
So get on social media to promote your blog, keep it clean, really put your all into it, and show employers what you’ve got.
5. Industry Expertise
Last but certainly not least, a blog is a great way to demonstrate or even develop expertise in your field.
In this way, a blog can solve that age old job hunt Catch-22:
“They won’t give me this job unless I’ve had this certain experience, but I can’t have this certain experience until they give me this job.”
On your blog, you can take a stance on something, argue cogently for your point of view, or simply provide helpful how to pieces to demonstrate all that you know.
The guys at Marginal Revolution, an economics blog, certainly don’t need a job, but if they did, their blog would certainly impress employers.
Yes, the blog is just downright useful in terms of economics education, but what’s so compelling about it is the breadth, depth and unique nature of the information it presents.
It’s succinct, and yet readers often walk away having had an epiphany of sorts, or at least thinking about things in new ways.
To potential employers, that’s yet again another way of demonstrating all of their knowledge rather than saying they’ve got it. Not just that, it shows that they can articulate that expertise in a way that’s accessible — a valuable skill for any place of employment.
The Takeaway
There’s no doubt about it. Blogging is an excellent way to demonstrate all you’ve got to give to employers — much better than a resume printed on perfumed paper.
Of course, before you can write passionately about your field, it’s also important to know what kind of career you’re looking to develop.
For that, a career aptitude test can really be key, as you’ll articulate yourself best when you’ve really found your niche.
So, what are you waiting for? WordPress is only a click away. Get blogging, you job-hunting expert, you!