Posts Tagged ‘blogging’
Gautam is Product Evangelist and India Marketing Lead at BraveNewTalent.
Gautam Ghosh, Brave New Talent
Today, my podcast interview Gautam and I discussed the new movement, talent communities. We learned how talent communities are revolutionizing the way organizations are sourcing, recruiting, hiring, and even training top talent.
What you may not know is that Gautam Ghosh was one of the early bloggers in the human resources industry. You ought to check out our broadcast.
You may listen to the show on my blog under the Compassionate HR tab, or simply go to http://blogtalkradio.com/comphr…
Via www.blogtalkradio.com
Why Job Seekers Should Blog
If you are a job seeker, and you like to write–blogging might just set you apart from other candidates. When I started my blog in 2009, I wrote exclusively about HR. Then I started writing about Recruiting. That morphed into transforming this into an editorial blog where I critiqued what was going on in my industry. When I launched HireFriday in 2010, I changed the focus of this blog to help guide job hunters through the labyrinth of the job search process. In this economy, it’s important to help job seekers. That’s always been my passion. So hear this job seekers, if you are serious about leveraging social networks to land your next position, use blogging as a way to get noticed.
How do you get started on this path to accelerate your re-employment?
- Find a blog template that you like, and that expresses your professional interests (note be industry appropriate). I happen to like WordPress. However, there are so many new, and innovative blog mediums, take your pick.
- Practice writing your posts in Microsoft Word (or Word For Mac, which is what I use). Write the way you speak, but be sure to use spell and grammar check. Blogging is far more informal in tone than other mediums.
- Find free industry relevant photos for your posts (I like google images, and morguefile). Consider using more than one photo. According to Rayanne Thorn, two photos enhance your search engine optimization (SEO).
- Chris Brogan says the number #1 rule of blogging is “Just be helpful”. I agree. I’d also add, be interesting.
- Make it about your audience, not all about you. Conduct research, find industry blogs, and bloggers you can link back to, it enhances your SEO. It also helps you build relationships with industry leaders.
Read voraciously. If you are looking for a job read as many blogs posts as you can. Comment on blogs. Commenting on blogs is a great way to get started. It also helps you build those relationships with influencers in your industry, or at companies (that might be in a position to hire you). When I was looking for a job, I put my resume on slideshare, and posted it under a tab on this blog. Another tip, blog at least 3-7 days a week to increase your google rankings, and keep your readers engaged. Kris Dunn, author at The HR Capitalist blog wrote daily. When I first started I spent Saturday, and Sunday writing as many short posts as I could, and then saved them as drafts. Save your posts frequently while writing. Back up your blog. I wasn’t doing this on a regular basis when I had a PC. One day, my website crashed, and I lost most of what I wrote. I got a lot of it back (but not all of it) and what’s worse is I lost the “twitter ticker” that counts how many times my posts have been “RT,” retweeted. You are the brand, and recruiters, and employers alike will look at what you post. While you are searching for your next job be extra careful to catch the errors. Find a friend, or a family member who can proof-read for you.
My next, and most important point: in the back of your mind before you write each post add the mental salutation, “Dear Employer”. Ask yourself, is this something I want a future employer to see? In a round about way, you can articulate your value proposition with each post. You can do this without sounding like ‘spam post’. Be authentic, show some personality, but as I’ve said in previous posts be smart, sound smart. Never say anything on a social network that you wouldn’t want to see on a bill board the next day.
In essence, job seekers should blog. If done properly, blogging can and will position you as a thought leader in your industry.
Chris Brogan, Author, and Social Network Consultant
Chris Brogan is a marketing genius, and his artistic palette is in social networks. How do you improve your sales cycle using social media? Chris Brogan answers this question in my interview today on my podcast Compassionate HR (you can listen to our interview under the tab right here on this blog) Chris helps businesses add profits to what he calls the human digital presence. He discusses how to turn a prospect into a customer, and loving up the customers they are with through digital storefronts. Chris says he helps businesses be better digital shop keepers. His new book teaches companies how to use Google+ to build business, and how to use Google+’s create strong business branded pages.
Listen to this podcast to learn his critique about how people use Facebook, and LinkedIn. He notes that Google is the #1 search engine, and that Youtube is #2. He draws distinct lines in how businesses can use Google’s functionality. He cites the how The CEO (Michael Dell) of Dell holds Google+ “hang-outs,” which are incredibly popular. He also cited one of the most creative use of Google+ hang-outs: A super-fun live action game show held by John Herman. You gotta hear this podcast to truly appreciate the magical, marketing genius of Chris Brogan. You can reach Chris at http://chrisbrogan.com
Yesterday, Jessica Miller Merrell hosted HFChat on Twitter. We discussed how blogging can aid your job search. There were a wide range of sweeping opinions as to whether or not blogging can help, or hinder your job search. I tend to air on the side of caution in most cases; however, if done right, blogging can put your job search on the fast track. Last year I wrote a post, “Job seekers, clean up your act.” In it I said, “protect your digital reputation.” I’m all for being authentic online. As I said in that post, “don’t be authentically stupid.” Blog smart, and remember anything you say in your blog posts, or on anyone else’s blog posts becomes a permanent record. Don’t say anything on a social network that you wouldn’t want to see on a billboard the following day.
blogging can move your career forwrd
With that said, I got the last two jobs through my activity on Twitter, Linkedin, and this blog. This blog served as a showcase for what I know about HR, Recruiting, Social Media and Job Search. I’m passionate about career development in any form that it takes, and I care deeply about putting Americans back to work. That is why I started HireFriday. I’ve gotten clients through blogging. My digital footprint has served me well. Your digital footprint can do the same for you. If you are a job seeker, don’t just start blogging for the sake of blogging. Create a strategy, and develop goals for what you want your blog to do. Consider your audience and write for them. Examine your greatest strengths and expertise, and write about it. Develop your voice, and start writing.
Yesterday, there was one good piece of advice, if you aren’t a good writer, blogging might not be your venue. However, if you have strong opinions about your industry, and you want to share them, get a friend to proofread, and edit your posts. (I’m single, and don’t have someone sitting in the next room to edit for me which is why you might find little boo-boos in my posts). If you are uncomfortable writing, maybe video blogging might be a better channel. Video has better SEO than written blogs anyway, so give it a shot. There are different types of bloggers, identity bloggers, industry bloggers, and people who write about their hobbies.
This blog is my identity blog. It’s where I editorialize about issues that I observe going on in my industry. I often critique what I see, and what I hear. However, when I was a job seeker, I was very careful to use this blog as a place where I could demonstrate my industry knowledge, and expertise.
The take away from this post is simply this-use your blog to shine a light on what you do best. Demonstrate your skills, knowledge, and abilities. Your posts will draw the eyes of the people that hire you, and might just give you a leg up over your competition. Remember, everyone is watching you, and reading what you say. Don’t kid yourself about that for a minute. Stay upbeat, and positive while you are fully engaged in your job search. If you missed yesterday’s HFChat, and you want the skinny on what everybody said, click here and read the transcript. I’d like to thank Cyndy Trivella, Tom Bolt, and Steve Levy for being such great moderators of our chat.
This post is written by Kimberly Roden. She is one of the smartest women I know in the human resources industry. She is also my friend. Recently, we spoke on the phone. She made so many compelling points. Now, she will share them with you. I give you, Kimberly Roden
http://karoden.wordpress.com/2010/08/
Job Seekers Beware!
If you are a jobseeker looking for career advice, I have one word of caution, “Take what you need and leave the rest behind.”
There is plenty of great career advice out there but what concerns me is when career advisers just go too far. I recently read a post from a well-known blogger who implied that a job seeker may have ruined a chance at an offer after the hiring manager saw that she was driving an old and dirty truck. There didn’t appear to be any other facts listed and, although I challenged the blogger with a follow up question, I did not receive a response. My take away from this post was that job seekers should be sure their image was well-represented by driving a nice car. Seriously?
In the social media universe there is no shortage of self-proclaimed gurus, experts, and authorities who are happy to tell job seekers everything they need to do in their job search if they want to land your next gig. They will ask, “What’s your brand?” (I uber-loathe the word ‘brand‘ – and ‘uber‘ - for that matter) and “Do you have an elevator speech?” (What? Why can’t we just call it what it is - which is the answer to the question, “Tell me about yourself.”)
A job loss, no matter how or why it happened, is emotional. In addition to the loss of income, the kick to a person’s confidence can leave a job seeker feeling vulnerable and susceptible to bad advice – and that’s what scares me.
Here is what I ask of you:
If you are a job seeker, please really take the time to be honest with yourself. Know your true strengths and weaknesses. Seek out solid, practical and logical advice that will help you address and even talk about your weaknesses. Learn how to maximize your strengths on your resume and when you interview. Network with other job seekers both in and outside of your industry or occupation, attend face to face meetings, and learn new job search methods and creative ideas from others. Ask these folks to review your resume – it helps! Choose what you read, use common sense, and do your homework before you take any career advice. Remember, some of these posts are written for marketing purposes without factual evidence.
If you’re blogging about careers and job searching, please be empathetic to your reader. Wear the shoes of the unemployed who have not chosen this path. You have no idea how vulnerable someone might be so can you please keep the ridiculousness to a minimum. I know that you have a business to run but please don’t push the envelope just because you can. It’s not the right thing to do.
Thanks for reading and I welcome your comments. What advice do you have for job seekers today?
Also posted on the Women of HR site.
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