4 Reasons That Writing Blogs Can Enhance Your Executive Job Search

Feb 04 2010

By John Henderson

Keeping a good presence online has become more and more important as employers turn to the web to find new employees. As an executive, your presence online needs to be professional, significant, and impressive. Many accomplish this by writing blogs.

You’ve probably read numerous blogs in your time, but haven’t written your own. Some people use them for personal venting sessions while others showcase their professional expertise. If you’re trying to build your brand and enhance your executive job search, creating a blog is a good idea. However, if you’re unsure that it will work for you, here are four reasons to consider it as an option.

You Get to Share (and Grow) Your Expertise

One great aspect of writing blogs for your field is that you have the opportunity to share your wealth of expertise. Having been in your field for many years, you’ve seen it grow and can share your own comparative analysis, as well as offer insight into where you see your field heading.

Additionally, you get to conduct research for your blog that can help grow your knowledge. Working with a single company often means knowing your direct competitors, the specific facts of the organization, and the goals and missions of a company. Writing blogs is different, however, as your approach needs to be a bit more general in order to apply to all of the professionals that might be reading it.

You Can Increase Networking Opportunities

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By writing a reputable blog for your field, you could eventually draw in members of your field who would like to comment on your writings and maybe even contact you directly. It helps if you have already set up a LinkedIn profile that you can link to from your blog. This way, interested parties who have already gotten a taste of your level of knowledge can look at additional accomplishments and know how to contact you if they’re looking to recruit.

It’s a Great Resume Builder

Another great reason to blog is that you can build on the accomplishments already on your resume. Since most resumes are shipped off in electronic formats, you can post a link to your blog when you apply for jobs. You’ll come out ahead in the eyes of any employer who’s looking at a few final applicants for an executive position, as they’ll see that the knowledge and expertise displayed on your blog clearly show a better, more focused candidate for the position.

You Might Eventually Guest Blog

There’s something very special about having someone ask you to guest blog for their site. This is a major honor because it represents the idea that your wealth of knowledge is so well respected that others would like to have you come in to write from an expert’s standpoint. As you develop your own footprint in the blogging world and expand your professional brand, you might find that some will come to you for your expert opinion. Put a lot of effort into guest blogging spots, as they’ll often open up job and networking opportunities that can be invaluable down the road.

Some say that the idea of blogging being a benefit to a job search is a moot concept because so many people can do it without a professional background. However, many of the major blogs are written by well-respected, well branded professionals. Shouldn’t you give it a try, if you want to get to the level of those other professionals?