To What Extent Does Blogging Affect Job Prospects?

The two most common reasons that I encounter as why people who work for an employer do not blog are:

1. There is a fear of getting “dooced” (i.e., laid off for something written in one’s blog).
2. There is a fear of putting oneself out on the Internet for everyone to see.

These are valid concerns.

I have detected an additional concern as an undercurrent, and it may become more widespread as time passes and both the ages of blogs increase and as people move from job to job. That is, will something written in one’s blog negatively affect future job prospects with other companies?

To answer this latter question responsibly, I would have to say that it could. I haven’t noticed a lot of cases where it has (or cases from where a person couldn’t recover), but blog content pretty much becomes memorialized on the net once it’s published. I recall being very disturbed on one blog I saw where the blogger used lots of profanity and cited dozens of company names and specific circumstances where they did not successfully get through the interviewing process. The person also used a lot of self-deprecating language in the posts. While I could definitely appreciate the feelings this person had (it’s not a great feeling being rejected), a blog is not necessarily the mechanism I would have used to burn bridges publicly.

I happened to ask a person involved with recruiting processes of a large firm as to how blogging affects things. The long and the short of the opinion was that most recruiters don’t have time to search for the blog of a prospect once they receive a resume. Though the company was familiar with blogging, the person couldn’t recall a case where they didn’t hire someone because of what was written in a blog. In fact, the person I asked said that sometimes things can be a plus. For example, if the person posts about things the company cares about, then this can benefit the person.

To cite a good case of blogging where it has helped, Fred Wilson highlighted a case where Charlie O’Donnell was hired as an analyst for the venture capital firm, Union Square Ventures, and where Charlie’s blog played a big role during due diligence. Quite an interesting observation for anyone who knows how difficult it is to land a job in venture capital.

For myself, I’ve had a variety of opportunities pop up because of my blog. Blogging is not my trade though, and it is something that happened somewhat accidentally for me. It has taken some time to generate opportunities (3-6 months plus ongoing experimentation). One opportunity included a book deal on corporate blogging that came out of the blue (which fell through at a later point, but the point is getting opportunities to step up to the plate and swing at the ball). Other opportunities include meeting people around the world (e.g., Germany, UK, France). I obtained a consulting opportunity with the blogging software provider 21Publish as a result of blogging. I also obtained an author relationship with Creative Weblogging as a result of blogging. Clients have told me that they read my blog and that it serves as an additional thing to talk about on the job (some have told that they have purchased books I recommended). There are also some new opportunities cropping up for me as related to my blog and other efforts – I may soon have multiple employers in addition to me being a freelance consultant. I don’t expect all opportunities to pan out or to be a good fit, but the fact that blogging opens doors, well this is a good thing.

Update (6/6/05): I recently accepted and started (June 1, 2005) a fractional management role as COO of 21Publish in addition to my other endeavors. I did not expect blogging to take me in this direction, but I am excited about both the opportunity and the prospects for 21Publish.