is blogging worth it?

you betcha!

one of the reasons i've worked at keeping this darn thing going is to have somewhere to put the real me out there for the world to see.  including potential employers.  resumes and cover letters, no matter how good they are, just can't represent a person very well.  this is even more true for those of us that richard florida refers to as the creative class.  squeeze my career onto a single piece of paper?  you might as well try to put me in your car's glove compartment! try to show your creativity, put intuitiveness or charisma on your resume and every single "expert" wil scream take it out.

many career concillors now recommend you build a presence on the web to support your networking efforts when looking for a job.  of course, with eelearning and learning circuits blog i'm definitely present on the web.  and part of my networking is listing my profile on linkedin and actively building a network of colleagues there.

well, after months of searching, and sticking to my principles, i landed a very nice gig in silicon valley.  invariably the questions come, how did you find it?  which job board? did you use a recruiter?  Nope. Nope. Nope.  i didn't find this gig, they found me.

the manager saw my profile on linkedin which in turn led him to this little blog o mine.  he liked what he saw at both of these online resourse dedicated to me and  he picked up the phone and cold called me.  he already had a sense of who i am versus the what i am a resume presents.

i do firmly believe that there are a number of hiring managers out there who were ready to hire me, but i often reflected on the feeling of being the needle in the haystack trying to be found. my linkedin profile and eelearning were those red balloon on google maps, letting companies know where more talent was hidden in the veritable haystack of job candidates and contractors.

my advice?  put yourself out there, you never know who might be watching!

 

Comments

[Tony Karrer, Ph.D.]

Dave, congrats on the new gig, but you didn't say what it was.

P.S. Your blogroll doesn't have my blog listed?!?