Your Personal Blog Can Get You a Job — If You Include These 11 Things
Welcome to Recruiter Q&A, where we pose employment-related questions to the experts and share their answers!
Today’s Question: What’s one thing a candidate could add to their personal blog or website to make them stand out to an employer like you?
These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization composed of the world’s most successful young entrepreneurs. YEC members represent nearly every industry, generate billions of dollars in revenue each year, and have created tens of thousands of jobs.
1. Accountability
Demonstrate that you value accountability, that you don’t make excuses when things go wrong. Take ownership of your personal and professional outcomes. People who are willing to own it in life and work will go the extra mile; they’ll step up to help the entire team succeed. — Robert Glazer, Acceleration Partners
2. Previous Projects You’ve Worked On
Going into detail about projects you’ve worked on previously (whether personal or professional) is a great way to demonstrate competency, passion, and personality. The latter two are the most important to demonstrate. If you possess passion and personality, you will no doubt figure out the first. — James Simpson, GoldFire Studios
3. Lessons and Skills You’ve Learned Through Nontraditional Means
I like to see what lessons a person has learned and what skills they’ve obtained outside of traditional avenues like education and work experience. For example, I’ve found that former athletes on pretty much any level are naturally incredibly competitive, are usually team players, and are wired well for certain roles at our company. Stand out from the crowd by pulling assets from nontraditional places. — Joel Mathew, Fortress Consulting
4. Case Studies
One thing a candidate could add to their personal blog that would make them stand out is a case study of a project they worked on that is similar to what they would want to do at a new company. This would definitely make them a top consideration for the role in my view. — Alfredo Atanacio, Uassist.ME
5. Your Own Marketing Strategy Experiments
One thing that would impress me would be to see a person writing about marketing strategy experiments to grow the readership of their own blog. Marketing is always changing as an industry, and the best marketers are always learning and trying new things, so I’d love to see a candidate doing that with their own blog. — Kelsey Raymond, Influence & Co.
6. A Consistent Schedule of Posts
A consistent schedule will stand out on a blog. Anyone can start a blog; maintaining one and updating posts on a weekly or monthly basis is much harder. At our firm, we have to deliver marketing and content to clients on firm deadlines. A blogger showing me they can honor their own schedule means they can honor the team’s schedule, too. — Duran Inci, Optimum7
7. A Genuine Interest in Your Chosen Industry
People can blog about anything they want, obviously, but it’s definitely a plus if I know that a candidate actually thinks about issues relevant to my industry in their spare time and keeps up with developments. This tells me it’s more than just a job to them; they have a real interest in their profession. — Kalin Kassabov, ProTexting
8. Testimonials and Feedback
If I were looking at a candidate’s website and saw that they had social proof, it would push me to hire them. If others trust and love their work, especially reputable leaders in the industry, that gives me an incentive to continue with the hiring process. It makes a candidate stand out when others vouch for the quality of their work and work ethic. — Stephanie Wells, Formidable Forms
9. A Sense of Humor
I like seeing a personal blog with a sense of humor. In life, finding humor in things is important. I think we all benefit from having a good laugh. When I see blogs with funny author bios or lighthearted jokes sprinkled throughout the content, they stand out. — John Turner, SeedProd LLC
10. Visual Appeal
While most people can create a blog, making it look attractive is another level of effort altogether. A candidate who can make their blog visually appealing will certainly get my attention. It shows that they are tech savvy and creative — two qualities that matter in a digitally-focused company. — Blair Williams, MemberPress
11. Industry-Specific Thought Leadership Content
We build custom software, so if an applicant has written about the latest technology trends, that is a plus in our book. If a candidate publishes thought leadership material focused on the job itself or the skills required, that suggests they could be a great fit. — Piyush Jain, SIMpalm