April 19, 2006
somebody hire tom raftery, dammit

Got an e-mail from Tom Raftery today:
Hey Hugh,
I read with interest the report in the Boston Globe how blogging can improve your chances of getting a job so I decided to try an experiment this morning — I am looking for a job through my blog — http://www.tomrafteryit.net/gis-a-job-seriously/
It’ll be interesting to see how it pans out — can I market myself as my own global micro-brand?
I’m not holding my breath!
Rock on, Tom. As somebody who started blogging during an unemployed period of his life, I can certainly relate.
And sometimes it works. The Economist liked Megan McArdle’s blog so much they offered her a job. I love it when that kind of stuff happens.








Hugh,
thanks a million for the link love and the imperative post!
Tom
How would one market oneself as a global microbrand? Thats a hell of a question. Any thoughts Hugh?
Good luck Tom! Like Tom, I’m using BMA as the centerpiece of my job-search, and I think you’re going to see more and more employees use their blog in this fashion in the coming months. Ryan(http://ashtonmedia.blogspot.com/) recently landed a Regional Marketing Manager position in Canada, and added that the blog “put me in a whole different light in relation to all the other applicants.”.
Another big advantage of blogging.
And maybe I’m biased, but I think being familiar with the same types of social-media that the community is using is a big plus
Hugh: I started blogging while employed and when I began interviewing for a new gig, it definitely helped me get my latest job.
It was not the only reason I was hired by my current employer, but it made their decision even easier to make.
Perhaps, though I’m doing the same with little success so far. Perhaps it doesn’t work so well with more conventionally minded employers?
The other thing that strikes me is that when I was employed, although objectively I had far less time, I managed better and more frequent postings than I do now, with time on my hands.
I started blogging coincidentally with being made redundant from my last job. It didn’t occur to me at the time that blogging would help me get a new job, but it did help me to keep motivated with my job search by journalling what I was doing.
The jobsearch posts (http://www.furthermore.org.uk/archives/cat_jobhunting.html) are still pretty high up in the stats for my site over 2 years later (although that may just mean I’ve not said anything interesting since then).
At the risk of gapingvoid becoming a classified ad space — I was advised at the end of my second year in University to set-up a website and send any prospective employer to it…
Coming to the end of my final year, and the prospect of working full-time I am thankful for the advice. Not that I’ve gotten a job out of it, but I am hopeful that it will help get me something. So if your reading this — hire me!!
http://poetbloggs.wordpress.com/2006/04/20/original-ideas/
I managed to get a job from blogging. Sometimes it is just about being in the right niche.
The fashion world has so few people that cover it from an intellectual and personal perspective so I did it in a blog.
Now that blog is being developed into a column by Fashion Wire Daily.