Career Blogging: Can it Help You Get a Better Job?

Investing the time and energy in creating a blog can pay off in a variety of ways, especially in certain fields. Maintaining a blog demonstrates your writing ability, commitment to keeping it updated, and knowledge of your field. Unlike a resume and cover letter, blogs give potential employers a bigger picture of your experience and skills. Take a look at these careers and how having a successful blog related to these fields can help you snag a better job.

With technological advancements, the implementation of the federal healthcare legislation, and sticky ethical situations that emerge from time to time in the media, there’s no shortage of topics to cover on a career blog related to healthcare. Whether you’re a practitioner such as a doctor, nurse, or therapist, you can present your perspective on these and other important issues related to medicine and healthcare. Building a following with a blog makes you more marketable to hospitals because you can point to the blog to demonstrate your interest in discussing important topics in your field.

In the About Me section of the blog, you should summarize your credentials. Putting this information on your blog is important in case prospective employers check out the site.

Include a way for readers to contact you because blogs are an excellent way to engage in networking with your peers. Offer opportunities for other medical professionals to write guest columns to show your readers how connected you are within your field. Finally, make sure you strike the right tone and follow HIPAA guidelines on your blog. The Healthcare Blogger Code of Ethics is an excellent resource to ensure you follow privacy rules.

There’s no shortage of financial advice online. Set yourself apart as a personal finance blogger by bringing credible, timely information to readers. Create posts about trends and major financial issues facing consumers such as college debt. With such a popular topic, you may develop a following quickly. To make the blog a platform for boosting your career, keep the blog topics relevant to readers and brimming with personality. Many people find finance to be boring, so you can draw in more eyeballs by simplifying complicated concepts or bringing a fun tone to a dry topic.

Invite other professionals in your field to do one-time guest posts, or create a series with another personal finance expert whose opinions differ from yours and debate hot topics. These opportunities to network could lead to a new job in the future as you demonstrate your knowledge of the industry and a desire to help people with their finances. A

Marketing professionals understand the importance of image and brand. By creating a career blog, you’re also creating your own brand and image that future employers will see. The fast-changing world of marketing is ripe for bloggers who want to create strong content tackling current issues, investigating trends, and discussing case studies. Establishing yourself as a marketing professional with a respected point of view demonstrates your marketing savvy to potential employers. Be sure to tout your credentials such as your MBA from Washington State or relevant certifications.

Offer ample opportunities for readers to comment (without registering) and share your content. When your blog posts get shared on social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, you’re earning additional credibility among your peers and potential employers.

Ensure you offer insights without compromising sensitive information you’re committed to protecting. This includes information from your current and previous employers. Think carefully about whether your case study or other blog posts disclose restricted internal information. If so, your blog will actually hurt your chances of finding employment. No one wants to hire a marketing professional who doesn’t follow guidelines for keeping information confidential.

By creating an entertaining blog connected to your career, you make it easier to network with your peers and demonstrate your knowledge to managers making hiring decisions. If you do a good job posting content, give your blog a clean, professional look, and keep it strictly related to your profession, you can certainly list the blog address in your resume or cover letter.