patti wilson's blog

Using Blogs to Move your Career Forward

Earlier this year, the Boston Globe published an article on how a guy wrote a blog sounding like an expert and it helped get him a job. The article theme was picked up on by Scobelizer . He added that there was also a risk of information leakage inherent in blogging that could also jeopardize your career. Scobel referred to Mark Jen as a case in point who was fired from Google in 2005 for blogging about the company. Mark replied to Scobel's post to the effect that he learned about being a "good fit" at a company and that he was happier at Plaxo.

A member of the Wednesdayjobgroup , an egroup I formed in 2001 to provide a venue to discuss jobs, careers and working for a living, that her posting to Craigslist selling a green couch ranked at the top of the page under a Google name search on her. Several companies, in doing a background check on her as a potential candidate for a job found the posting. It was embarrassing but could have been worse.

It comes down to your values and managing the expectations of others. Do you value being authentic with a consistent self-presentation across both your personal and professional lives? Then choose a workplace and company culture that fits who you are both privately and publicly.

Let them know appropriately up front about the proclivities in your personal life the may come home to roost in a way that would be unacceptable to the company. That way there are no surprises when the company's HR department finds things published on your blog that are contrary to corporate policy or its unofficial rules of the road.

However, if you like to differentiate your personal from your professional life like I do. Then be careful of that profile you publish on MySpace or Match.com. Use Yahoo or Google or Hotmail email addresses to protect your identity when selling that old stereo on EBay, posting inflammatory rants to a listserv, or even posting your resume to job boards.

Managing the expectations of your employer to keep not your dream job but the perfect company for this stage in your career may mean being understanding and applying the difference between telling your unvarnished truth and being appropriately circumspect with your on line visibility.

Writing a Master Resume

The first step to writing or updating your resume is to create a Master Resume.

What’s that you say?

Your Master Resume is a comprehensive compilation of all your experience from your 1^st college job forward including: education, awards, certificates, patents, publications, part-time and full-time jobs/internships/contracts, presentations, affiliations and volunteer participation.

This should be as detailed as possible and multiple pages long. Be sure and list the dates, titles, and locations, audiences of all courses, awards, presentations and publications. List the names of all the clients, customers, vendors, partners, affiliates and sponsors that you and your company worked with.

I know it may not seem possible that you might forget the details of your work down the road but it happens. I have had clients in their 30’s try to recall the customers they worked with 5 years prior exclaim in exasperation, “but, that’s so long ago!”

Keep the record of your career current, updating it annually after every performance evaluation. It’s also helpful to track and maintain a record of written kudos and compliments, recognitions and rewards from co-workers, colleagues, bosses, and teachers. Any time you receive a note, letter, email that indicates a job well done, a favor fulfilled, extra credit, recognition for going beyond the call, save it.

Such a collection of public recognition and acknowledgement will bring credibility and credence to your qualifications and accomplishments.  Assiduously acquire endorsements (testimonials) to attach to your profile on social networking sites such as Linkedin.com. What others say about you is more memorable than what you say about yourself. You can use these endorsements in other venues as well.

All of this is grist for the mill. Someday you might find that you are digging through years of job changes and career moves for specific details that will create the written agrument for your next job. Drawing upon the wealth of data collected about yourself in a Master Resume can ensure the likelihood of a job offer.