A friend revealed his reticence to blogging recently by explaining that he didn’t want to create a trail of work and opinions that could limit his future career choices. Fair point, perhaps.
We’ve all heard stories of bloggers who’ve lost jobs as a result of the content of their posts. And if you believe the Forbes story, the blogosphere is filled with teaming hordes intent on ruining established companies and destroying the economy (okay, I exaggerate).
But the Forbes story was found empty after Kurt Opsahl pointed out the criticisms leveled against blogs applied pretty equally to printing presses (or, just about any other media, probably). And most anybody watching political reporting on the cable channels will find examples of bloggers whose careers were made by that trail of work and opinion.
So I countered my doubtful friends fear with this: your successor will be a blogger, and when you re-enter the market, you’ll be competing against bloggers who will be able to point to a history of work and writing as evidence of their fitness for the job. As employers continue to lose faith in the claims made on resumes or by references, those blog posts will grow in value.
He started blogging the next day.
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Yeah, I know that same guy. Fear of words being used out of context down the road is one thing, and the notion that he will need to blog to get a new job is another…but his real reluctance is simply not wanting to cavort in a public way. But he is confronting his reluctance and putting himself out of his comfort zone. Blog on.
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[...] Casey at MaisonBisson posted recently (”To Blog Or Not To Blog“) about something that I occasionally think about in regard to blogging — how it will affect future employment opportunities. I’ve been thinking about it more, as it relates to the article on blogging I recently wrote for the school newsletter. [...]
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