I’ve stolen the title from Chad Pursley, who devoted a post to the subject and asked the same question on my older post, Resumes are Dead. Social Media is Your New Resume:
Right but to what extent is this a good thing and to what extent can it backfire? Does it change if like me you are a recent grad?
Chad also asked the same question on LinkedIn where most respondents were concerned with “juniors” potentially looking stupid, or leaking corporate secrets on their blogs.
Oh, boy.. I the Old World speaking: shut up, don’t even think about blogging (in fact don’t think at all) until you make Partner, Senior Director, VP.. you name it.
Baloney. My take: you should blog especially if you’re a recent grad, or “junior” ( a word I don’t like in this context at all). It’s very simple: your resume will be quite … well, empty, since there’s not much you can put on it – yet.
A blog in the other hand is your perfect self-marketing tool, or with a bit more modesty let’s just say a way for you to open up to the world, let readers have a feel for what drives you, what’s on your mind – in short get to know you as a full person, junior or not.
In fact using the term junior means missing the whole point in blogging. In the real world you don’t get to debate the Corporate VP, the CEO, the Professor, the VC Partner if you are junior – you are in different leagues. Send them an email? Yeah, right, good luck with that. But you can chat them up on their blog: as long as you’re relevant, only your thoughts matter, not how senior you are, and you don’t need an invitation to participate. Blogging ( and Social Media in general) is the Great Equalizer.
- Ben Casnocha did not ask for permission to launch his startup at the age of 15, nor did he ask for permission to start blogging. He is still in college, but is well-known, well-connected – he won’t be looking for a job. He’ll be hiring others.
- Paul Stamatiou is a tech blogger extraordinaire, who reached that status years before his recent graduation.
- Yuvi Panda is just a “codin kid” in his own words, but that did not keep him from blogging while still in high school drawing attention of celebrities like Robert Scoble.
- Voyagerfan5761 is not a celebrity. He’s blogging under s pseudo-name – probably since he hasn’t really decided what to do with his life yet. He’s at high school, a drama and technology fan. Just a smart kid, but blogged enough for anyone to see just how smart he is.
The list could go on – they are all junior by age – definitely not so junior by their achievements, or even by the content they write. You get my point … there is no junior in the world of blogging. Just get started and be yourself.
Update from an IT Recruiter:
Yes the question came up because so many of the blogs I thought were good reads were people with 10+ years into their career. They have the knowledge and experience I want to learn from.
Perhaps if I had worded it differently I would have gotten more positive answers? Something like “Should I begin blogging right out of college?” In any event I appreciate everyone who replied, and everyone who has been a part of this discussion. This blog especially.