Blogging for Job Success

    LONDON, ENGLAND, July 22, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Today's job seekers are increasingly using blogs and personal websites to further market their expertise and enhance their online brand.

A well crafted blog can be a great way of attracting the attention of the right people. However, before you begin waxing lyrical online, it's vital to consider exactly what you're going to write and who will end up reading it.

As a job seeker you can take it as a given that prospective employers will search for you online and that if you include your blog or website address on your CV, it will be clicked on.

A professional and well designed blog can be a wonderful opportunity to highlight your skills, showing that you are:

- Intelligent, creative and able to write clearly on relevant topics.
- Motivated and interested in your field of practice.
- An expert in a particular area.
- Passionate about your profession.
- Keen to enter dialogue and engage with like minds.
- A good cultural fit who has something to offer an employer.

Building the right profile

There are a number of excellent web publishing programs such as WordPress and Blogger that will enable and advise you on how best to develop your professional profile online.

Here are some key tips to ensure you build your profile in a professional and relevant manner:

- Blog only about what you know and then only if it relates to your immediate job search.
- Make sure that the material is accurate and well written.
- Comment on press coverage and market trends relevant to your industry/profession.
- Avoid negative rants on a blog.
- Use a professional looking head-and-shoulders photo.
- Connect with respected bloggers in your space.
- Set up a professional Twitter account with tweets linking to your blog.
- Keep your blogs and website professional rather than social.
- Find yourself online (from a different computer, so Google doesn't personalise your search) and assess your profile as a potential employer might.

Visit one of the sites below to get your blog started:

- Wordpress - http://wordpress.org/
- Blogger - www.blogger.com/

For more career advice please visit the Michael Page Career Centre at http://www.michaelpage.co.uk.

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