Thought: Blogs and Résumés

Posted in Online by Bes on May 31, 2007

With more and more people having blogs, it is interesting how many employers are searching for employee blogs in order to find out more about them. Sure, your résumé is important, but the way you actually act online also shows a side of you to your employers.

Type your name in a search engine to find out what the internet says about you, since your future employer will do the same. I think in the very near future many employers, from both the online and offline fields, will give your blog more value than your résumé.

Future employers may ask for you blog instead of your résumé

Future employers will not only search for the way you blog but the way you interact with others through your blog. Do you help others online? Your employer will notice that. Do you use online people and leave them hanging? Your employer will notice that. Do you break the personal and business promises and deals you make with others through your blog? Your employers will notice that.

If you were an employer, it may seem more logical to find out about an employee by the way they actually behave online through their blog, compared to reading a résumé which may probably be a few self-advertising pages.

What do you think? Do you think one day your blog will define you more than your résumé in the eyes of an employer?

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Tags: blogs, business, Quick thoughts, trends, work

12 Comments to “ Thought: Blogs and Résumés .” Please leave a comment below, thank you.

# 1
Simply Precious :
( June 1st, 2007 at 9:06 am )
Hmm, you thought of this topic because of me, huh?? Hahah…

# 2
Bes :
( June 1st, 2007 at 1:19 pm )
[Originally a reply to 2 comments by SP. The original comment was removed as requested, since it was a duplicate comment made in error]Wow, we have two SPs today, interesting. Friday = SP Clone day? :p

SP # 1, hmmmmm, good question. I think this came out of my own blog stats and thoughts about how people are searching for my blog. I should post something related and concerning you, soon, since there are many topics that come to mind because of you and your influence, heh.
SP # 2, hmmmmm, really, I don’t think so, but since SP # 1 above asked the same thing as you, I am still trying to remember and think more…..

:p When is the Bes Clone day?

# 3
Simply Precious :
( June 1st, 2007 at 1:43 pm )
Did you get my Google Talk message that I was supposed to have edited the 1st comment, but it added a new comment instead? That’s what happened… Not sure if I was editing or adding, so sorry about that! So uh, yeah, delete the first one, please… Thanks… It didn’t make any sense, that’s why I tried editing it… Sorry…

# 4
Ashley :
( June 1st, 2007 at 11:17 pm )
I’ve googled people dozens of times, often before meeting them. I usually get a myspace profile with animated gifs all over and questionable (often tasteless) photos… I mean, what if I was an employer? I’ve learned to live with the fact that whatever I do online can be archived and thrown in my face 10 years from now… which is why I use common sense when posting on forums and in my blog.

Not to say that I don’t use offensive language or tell politically-incorrect jokes, but hopefully that won’t matter next to my competition’s bitchy livejournal posts and racy pics.

There’s always someone worse off, haha.

# 5
Bes :
( June 2nd, 2007 at 1:06 am )
SP, I will check, though I think Gtalk ate the message or I probably closed the window by accident. =\ Either way, I was only joking about the clone day, don’t worry! There is nothing to be sorry about, I guessed that you were trying to edit it, yes.

Ashley, thanks for the comment. I really appreciate it.

Good example about MySpace. Yes, whatever happens online can probably be available in different mediums, to everyone, and for a long time too. Search engines are becoming so much easier to use everyday, it can be surprising to not find some information about anyone who has been active online somewhere, in some form.

Of course, that brings us to an important question: should we act differently just so that our employer can judge us from our online activities? What if a person just likes to do something unacceptable online, and not illegal or even relatively immoral, whereas in the offline world they do not do similar things. Should an employer still judge that person? An employer only gets an online portrayal of a person by searching about a person on the internet. An employer should also focus on searching more about a future employee in the offline world in order to have a more accurate and balanced view of things. I wonder how many people are being rejected good job offers because of their MySpace profiles.

lol @ “There’s always someone worse off.”

Off-topic: I see that you have a new design again; nice. I like the contrast in colors for some reason.

# 6
Simply Precious :
( June 2nd, 2007 at 8:08 am )
Bes, LOL, I knew you were joking. I just want it deleted because it doesn’t make any sense… LOL…

# 7
Bes :
( June 2nd, 2007 at 2:12 pm )
I see. Ok, doing it now….done.

# 8
Simply Precious :
( June 2nd, 2007 at 2:22 pm )
Thank you, Bes! =)

# 9
Bes :
( June 2nd, 2007 at 7:51 pm )
No problem.

# 10
Jess :
( June 4th, 2007 at 6:43 pm )
What sort of blog are you talking? I have some warped feelings of an employer choosing employee’s upon the way they blog, such as in myspace, livejournal or their personal blog.
If it were a blog like yours, I’m sure you would be mighty proud of it. However, a blog like mine that’s pretty much… superficial? And a place where I don’t intend on being professional (whereas in a workplace I would be), my blog is a place where I vent and rant and have my feelings… I wouldn’t want my future employer to judge me based on that, rather than my true skills and the way I really do conduct myself at work.
I think a resume will still be as important as it is now… but in regards to blogs or websites, employers shouldn’t judge a person by their blogs, unless the employee has offered up the site.

# 11
Bes :
( June 5th, 2007 at 2:40 am )
Jess, good question. I am implying any general blog, including both personal and non-personal blogs. And yes, MySPace blogs, LiveJournal and other kind of blogs are included, though I was pointing more towards sites which focus solely on blogs or directly related things, like LiveJournal or having a blog on your own domain and host.

You are too kind; I’m not sure if my blog will make you proud, though I’m proud that I have a commentor like you. I was thinking that your blog is more sincere than superficial, as it doesn’t try to portray a character that is not truly yours. So in your view, resumes will continue to be important, and you think employers do not judge people on how those people act on blogs.

Thanks for sharing.

# 12
resume editing :
( October 7th, 2008 at 7:40 pm )
This can be a possibility, I am working on a career/employment agency - mostly working on resume editing, hiring and staffing. One of the first things that we are required to look into is the online presence of a certain person or applicant.

We usually do this by first searching for his name online and read through what ever pops out of Google or Yahoo. From here we can gauge on how he interacts with people, how internet savvy or technologically challenged he is.

But one trouble is that when we search for a name and nothing comes out…that’s a big problem, so we stick to the traditional norms of personal or phone interview and reviewing resumes.

So if you are posting something online about yourself make sure that you post something good…if its for myspace or other social or dating sites….work on getting a good alias…:)