Blogging Your Way to a
Job
Getting a job can be challenging, especially if you do not
have the right points of contact in the right circles you want to gain access. And,
even if you did get a job without this kind of access, you may be offered low
pay due to a lack of credibility,
experience and trust…all three being inextricably linked.
From the employer side; employees are liabilities. Employees
want certain types of pay and benefits. Employees can be unpredictable, unreliable
and untrustworthy. Employees often take on a job from a what’s in it for me
perspective, without considering what the employee can do for the employer. This
means one thing to an employer in its totality; it’s called risk. And, any risk
that prevents an employer from achieving a profit is an intolerable risk.
There’s a way to mitigate the impact of these challenges
through the use of social media. This approach allows you to gain exposure,
build some trust, and well as some credibility. Social media can be an
ice-breaker that can gain you face-to-face access to a person, or community of
people whereby you can increase the odds of getting the employment opportunity
you seek.
Exposure
Blogging affords you an opportunity to display your level of
expertise to an audience. Like-minded professionals may gain interest in what
you convey and begin to follow you. You can amplify your blogging by having
your posts disseminated via the variety of social media tools that can lead to
the creation of a tribe. Tying your
blog post to professional sites like LinkedIn,
related online professional media, etc can extend the range of your audience,
by sharing with your professional connections, and any professional online
communities associated with the site, as well as other sites for that matter.
Build Trust
People follow you when they begin to trust
you. When people trust you, you then have the basis for establishing
relationships. This can be especially true if your blog posts provide solutions
to problems, challenges and touchpoints your followers are contending with. Trust
is amplified when you are consistent and focused. Don’t let your message get
lost in the minutiae of a website; ensure your posts are aligned with your
theme. Additionally, keep relevant posts grouped in some type of form to
amplify your message and broaden the benefit of your knowledge and experiences.
It’s a challenge, but one not to be ignored.
Eventually, people may want to hire you for small jobs, which
can lead to other building block opportunities.
This is where you start building credibility.
Build Credibility
This is your real goal. If you are credible,
you are going to be desired. If you are desired, you gain a reputation as a provider
of goods and services. If you have a job already, your value can increase
exponentially. But your value is tied to the value of the services you provide.
And, as you continue providing quality work, your credibility will sustain
itself.
Additionally, credibility can serve as a form of inertia.
Your reputation spreads, opportunities surface that lead to more opportunities.
However, when you fail to connect to other people, via
mediums like blogging, you start to become an unknown quantity again. This can be
a problem should you be in the need to seek growth elsewhere.
All along the way you are building relationships. And, it’s
relationships that get you the jobs and opportunities you seek. Blogging is
just one mechanism to help you build relationships.
Some great references regarding these types of issues are:
Linchpin by Seth Godin – This book is about how to make yourself a
need, not a want. Seth gives readers tips and reasons why they need to make themselves
indispensable.
http://www.smartpassiveincome.com by Pat Flynn. I’ve been watching this
gent’s business grow over the last six years. Pat is real deal, and he responds
to emails and tweets. He started his online
business when he received word he was going to lose his job. He eventually made
Forbes magazine without
his parent’s help.
Cheers