I know that when a few tech pros see that title, they’re going to shudder. In my career in the tech publishing industry, I have met so many IT pros who would never think that writing is a skill they possess. Yes, I’m not sinless too because being a student I used to ask someone to write my essay. Almost every time when they produce something they’ve written, from their personal experience in the field, it is as good as, if not better than, typical pieces of journalism. So let’s not immediately reject the idea of a tech blog.
I can’t think of anything that would be more advantageous for a job candidate than to be able to point the hiring manager toward his or her own tech blog. Through blogging, you establish a reputation as an expert in your field, which helps build professional credibility in your industry.
Here’s why.
It Shows Your Enthusiasm for IT
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You’ve heard that expression “I eat, think, and sleep IT”? Well, there’s no better indicator of that than in someone who chooses to write about tech issues when he’s not working. Employers love the enthusiasm of an employee. We want someone whose curiosity about tech will make him or her look past what’s obvious to find problems and fix them.
It Shows Your Expertise
Now, of course, this statement won’t hold true if you are going to completely fake your blog. If you really don’t know tech to a depth that will let you advise on IT issues or intelligently extrapolate on what emerging technologies are going to be most important, then don’t bother writing a blog. People can spot a phony a mile away. Also, don’t do as some people do and copy good articles from other sites and present them as their own. Plagiarism is still plagiarism in bytes.
Who Should Not Write a Blog
If you are someone who is not a big fan of grammatical rules or for whom even short emails are a spelling challenge, then it would probably do you more harm than good to write a blog. You might be thinking that if you’re trying to highlight your IT expertise then grammar and spelling shouldn’t be an issue. In general, these people ask to write my essay for me. Sometimes that’s a right decision because how you communicate means everything. If you show that you don’t care enough about how your words are written in a blog anyone could see, then someone looking at your blog might wonder how careful you would be in the job.
Also, if you don’t really have the time to devote to a blog (posting at least once a week), then it may not be worth the effort at all. More frequent posting has, historically, been a plus in the elusive algorithms of the search engines. If you post infrequently, the less likely it is that you will appear on the grid.
Lastly, if you just want to use a blog as a stage for lambasting Windows products or ranting about IT leadership, you have to know that not everyone will be pleased or share your opinion. And, even if they do, who wants to hire someone who seems to be so negative? I would recommend that you save the rants for a personal blog and keep your tech blog focused on positive takeaways.
Promote Your Tech Blog
First, let’s answer why you should promote your blog. If you can get a good-sized, loyal following on your blog, think how impressive that would be to a hiring manager? If you can show that you are an “IT influencer,” a key term in the tech publishing world, then you will be in demand. Just don’t overdo the “expert” attitude. A little humility goes a long way.
The first thing you want to do after you’ve had your blog up and running a while is to put the link on your resume. If you submit electronic resumes, make it a hotlink directly to your blog. Include a link to your blog on every email and on your LinkedIn profile. As you would with a resume, put some keywords in your blog that will be there for SEO. Link out to other sites a lot too since that seems to feed the algorithm.
About the author: Erica R. Gibson is a technological writer at writemyessaycheap. She is highly interested in keeping up with advancing technologies. In this case, she spends her spare time reading various blogs to obtain new knowledge and improve her professional skills.