Blog Your Way Into a Job

If you really want that job, what are you going to do that others aren't prepared to do that will put you ahead of the pack?

For this particular role that you want right now, you've only got one bullet. You're going to want to aim, hold steady, pull the trigger and get the bullseye. If you do, your job is done and you won't need to spend any more time or effort applying to other places. But, it's hard isn't it, when…

There's too much competition for jobs these days

Actually, if you're good enough, there's never too much competition. And 'good enough' means:

• having the right (minimum acceptable) skill set (but preferably being damn good in this area)
• having the right attitude and personality for the role (being hungry to learn and grow is useful here)
• clearly demonstrating your interests or passion for this line of work
• being able to effectively convince the decision makers of the above (hint: make it easy for them)

A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link. If these four points formed a chain, then which one is your weakest? For most people it's the fourth one. Doesn't matter how strong the other three links are, if the fourth is weak, you don't get the job. You miss the bullseye. Your bullet is wasted.

Of course to effectively convince the decision makers, you need to get NOTICED by them and then get them INTERESTED in you, your relevant achievements, and your future goals and ambitions. Hard to do with just a cover letter, CV/resume and application form.

So what else could you do?

I've blogged before about resume alternatives. And I've acknowledged that for many roles, you'll still need to lead with a resume. But here's an idea that's easy to implement, has plenty of other benefits for your own learning, development and career progress, and can come to your aid when you need to stand out, get noticed and get the job you want:

Start a career based blog. Not very exciting advice you say? Hold on, don't go! Don't underestimate this one. Think about it in more depth. What if, once you've decided what your ideal career is and you've identified the right role..what if you had a casually written (updated as and when) but professional career blog that documented things like:

• what you've been working on
• the challenges you've overcome
• the small things you've achieved that have personally satisfied you
• the training you've received
• the learning and development that you've self-directed and plan to self-direct moving ahead
• how you've applied it
• your self-feedback, and learning from mistakes
• your career plans for the future
• your (smart) thinking and reflection about the projects you're working on
• ideas and innovations that you think could work

Don't make this blog a chore, keep it simple, and don't write it expecting a following of readers (however if you get one then that's a bonus). The point is, you have a real-time account demonstrating the things your potential employer is interested in.

Of course if when you come to apply for the position you think any of your old posts would hurt, then remove them or edit them.

Now, all you need to do is get this blog noticed by the right people. So what if you attempted to connect with them through Twitter, Linkedin or even Facebook? What if you joined any social online groups they belonged to, before the application process even begins? What if you made them aware of your blog before they even see your resume, and mention it in your resume as a project you've been working on? You'll need to get them interested enough to type the URL in and find it. So how about purposefully writing the most relevant blog post you can for this particular recruiter? Why not do some research on the company, see what they're currently up against, and blog your intelligent thoughts on the issue? Show your interest. Give it a compelling title, and then in your cover letter, or via social networking, invite them to read that specific post. Which of your competitors are doing something like that?

You have so much more flexibility with this approach than you do with the conventional cover letter, resume approach. You can really show case some important points about yourself, and if you really are aligned to your ideal career, then you'll have little trouble convincing them to invite you in for interview.

When you're at the interview stage for your ideal career, you've basically got the job already (so long as you positioned yourself strategically enough).

So there it is. Give it a go. Yes it takes upfront (and ongoing) investment. But think about the pay off when you need it most. What are you going to do if you don't have one? And think about the skills you'll learn from the exercise itself. It will improve your writing, your thinking, your interaction and networking, your engagement and motivation in what you do, and will provide a useful record to look back on to measure your own progress.

Finally, two pieces of advice about blogging:

1. Use a free service like WordPress (that's what I'm using now) or Blogger and you'll be up and running in 5 minutes.

2.  Learn all you need to about blogging and marketing your blog here at CopyBlogger I've trawled through plenty of resources about blogging, most of them hyped up salesy nonsense, and have recently found this level-headed sensible resource that has tonnes of useful information. You'll probably see me applying much of what I learn in the months ahead!

Any thoughts or questions on this or related, let me know in the comments below and I'll be glad to help.

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