Is Your Blog on Your Resume?
I’ve been thinking about resumes and CVs a lot recently as Kyle has had me look at his CV about a million times before sending it out to potential advisors. Believe it or not, I used to consult on resumes when I worked in my college’s writing center – not that I super knew what I was doing.
Some of the resume advice I have heard a few times is include hobbies and such because it gives employers a fuller picture of who you are and you never know if there might be some unique connection with the person screening your resume or interviewing you. I have had blogging on my resume for a few years to further substantiate my enthusiasm for – if not necessarily talent in – writing.
Kyle and I are trying to slowly transition EPF into an income stream (hence the banner ads) and may eventually even start considering it a real business, if only a sole proprietorship. So I am wondering if the blog – as a business, not a hobby – is something that I will eventually add to my resume.
On the pro side: There are certain skills and experiences I can imagine I would gain from running EPF as a business that I wouldn’t get from my scientific training such as managing business expenses, negotiating with advertisers, writing for the public, and some website-specific skills like SEO. So adding the blog to my resume may show that I have some business experience, which might be useful if I transition from scientific research into the private sector.
On the con side: Employers may not want their employees pursuing side ventures that may compete with their performance at their primary jobs. Salaried employees can’t count on having strong boundaries between their work time and personal time, often working extra hours on demand, and perhaps an employee is also an entrepreneur would be less willing to put in additional work at the primary job. Also, the nature of blogging may give potential employers pause – what might the blogger say about the company?
I don’t think there would be a downside to putting a former entrepreneurial venture on a resume, but I’m not so sure about an ongoing one – particularly one that doesn’t greatly bear on the skills or knowledge area of the potential employer.
Are your self-employment or freelance ventures on the resume you use for your full-time career? How about hobbies? Do you include current self-employment ventures?
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Filed under: career · Tags: entrepreneurship, hobbies, resume
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I never thought about adding blogging onto my resume. I guess I feel as if it isn’t really relevant to the roles that I am applying for.
Glen @ Monster Piggy Bank recently posted..4 Tips for Sticking to Your Budget
Definitely if it’s not relevant, leave it out! I’m looking into “alternative” careers so any experience outside of science is potentially positive for me.
I think it depends on the job you’re applying for. For an academic job, no – it seems to me that academia values very specific sorts of experiences and skills, and while things like writing for the public could be a plus once you’re there, I don’t think they’d help enough to make a difference in the hiring stage, and could even hurt if it looks unfocused.
For a non-academic job…it depends how much the skills relate, I guess. I have quite a few jobs that I take on and off my resume (mostly fairly low-level customer service stuff) depending on where they look valuable for the position.
Definitely I wouldn’t put it on a C.V. for an academic or purely scientific position. And I will customize my resume when I’m applying for jobs for sure – I’m just trying to think of blogging would ever make it on there as a non-hobby.
Mr. PoP has had previous freelance ventures on his resume, but that was largely because they were his primary income source at the time. Leaving them out would have made it look like he had a big gap in his employment timeline.
As for putting blogging on our resumes, I don’t think we ever would in our current fields – even if we weren’t anonymous. I get it for creative or web or social media related fields, but for sales and computer programming, I think it’d be looked at as more of a negative than a positive.
Mrs. Pop @ Planting Our Pennies recently posted..How To Look At Real Estate Values
Hm, couldn’t it be relevant for selling – selling your product to advertisers and readers, for instance? Maybe that’s too much of a stretch!
It seems like a shame if you don’t put it on there. Personally, of see it as more of a risk. I once put World Record Holder on my resume and it worked out great. It just makes you a little more interesting.
Why is it a risk for you but a shame if I don’t add it?
Thanks for sharing a success from the “hobbies” category!
Well I am a freelancer but a VIDEO freelancer that has nothing to do with blogging. I do that “blogging” as a hobby, but not the name of the blog. Thank you for posting this because I have struggled with this decision too (and btw this is only I’m I’m applying to full time video editing jobs). I don’t want my resume to get bogged down with too many skills, but then again I don’t want to limit my job options, and frankly I’m getting tired of applying for video editing jobs, and really like blogging, writing and social media. So if my site grows and I start making (more)(any) money, I might do a totally separate resume with is tailored to those skills, then lightly touch on my video editing skills.
Plus I don’t want future employers to read such personal details about myself..my money, job struggles, etc. That would be weird.
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Maybe we will get some responses from people who actually do hiring!
If blogging is going to substantiate your skills for a certain job, I think it’s fine to add it. But yeah, I’m not sure how to make it look super legit without including the URL…
One tip I’ve heard is that your resume should never have a job title listed on it that is higher than the one you are applying for. Which means that if you have to put self-employment on a resume, you should always give yourself a lower title. Because you aren’t applying to be an owner. If I was going to listing my blogging efforts in anyway, I’d probably call myself a staff writer or webmaster, depending on the situation.
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I’ve never heard that tip, actually! I sort of don’t believe it, especially for self-employment and start-ups. What if you were a co-founder of a failed company?
Look at it this way, do you really want to say that you failed at business on your resume? The document is supposed to be about showcasing your achievements, not your failures.
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A failed start-up is not considered a failure overall in that world. It’s a high-risk venture and you can still learn a lot from the experience!
Even if a small venture isn’t a failure specifically, I would think it would still be fine to list yourself as a founder or owner or whatever as long as the job you’re applying for is a step up. Like, if you were the president of a small college it could still be a promotion become a dean of a school within a large university, don’t you think?
In the past, when I’ve applied for jobs that required social media/marketing or writing skills, I mentioned running a blog in my cover letter under the context that I am familiar with social media for promotion and writing for an audience. I would not list the url on my actual resume though since it is a bit more personal than professional.
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I have “written 500 posts for a personal blog” currently under my hobbies but there is no way I would include the URL! EPF I might include, not sure.
I think if you’re doing it with an eye to making it a side business then I would by all means put it on a resume. Many employers are looking for people that are well rounded and take the initiative, especially in today’s climate. They want to be able to see that you’re able to run something and deal with adversity, which can definitely be found in blogging (if you’re running it like a business).If I am hiring, I am more likely to look at someone who is managing something like this as opposed to “just doing their job”.
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Glad to hear some positive response! When you next send out resumes will your blog be on it?
I don’t but that’s because I blog anonymously. That might change one day though!
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Would you add your blog without the URL if you thought it was relevant?
I think it depends on the audience. Some employers would look at it as a distraction which may affect your time and effort. I think it depends on the career choice and company.
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True but unhelpfully variable! When I actually consider doing this I will have to run the idea by some people in the industry I’m looking at.
I wouldn’t because I blog anonymously as well and I don’t want employers reading my personal business either. However, if the skills were relevant to the job, I WOULD put my skills on the resume and have writing samples available. If it’s not related to the position at all, I don’t think it’s relevant. If it can help you get the position you are applying for, it can’t hurt!
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Is there a way to have the blog present without revealing the URL do you think? Writing samples available is a great idea; I haven’t yet applied for a job where that is relevant but I might.
I don’t think it would be a negative thing to have your blog on your resume. If anything it’s a great conversation starter for an interview and the employer may see your blog as additional skills they are looking for like social media marketing, advertising sales, and writing. Just my opinion though.
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Glad to hear another “This isn’t crazy!” Have you looked for any new work since you started blogging and if so did you include your blog on your resume?
No, it’s not on my resume, however, it is on my about.me profile page online. I am a web editor and writer, so my published work is generally enough without listing my blog.
I am currently full-time employed, but also freelance, and am tweaking my blog to the point where it’s something I could leverage more for the latter. (I’ve gotten some freelance work through my blog and I do link to my other published work from my blog.)
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Glad to hear of your success incorporating your work from your blog!
Mine is not and never will be. For one reason, I am semi-anonymous so I don’t want people to connect me. And another reason, my field and the blog is so very different. I do not want my prospective employer to think that I won’t fully commit to working for them (anyone with a blog can know it can be very time consuming, so I don’t want to take the risk).
I can see how it can help with certain type of position though. I am building a separate resume for my freelancing and blogging career. I am certainly including the blog in that.
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I guess that’s part of what I’m asking – Will you only include your blog on a resume specifically for freelancing (i.e. not a salaried position)?
I’ve been tossing the idea around in my head of adding my blog to my resume or linkedin page. The pf/investing topics I write about are even loosely related to my career field.
In the end I chose to not to include it for reasons others have stated. I blog semi-anonymously and don’t want employers poking around in some of the more personal things I post. I think if I was applying for a job where the SEO, social media marketing, etc.. I’ve learned from blogging would help I would definitely find a way to include it.
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It is dangerous to let potential employers know more than they legally can during the hiring process – I don’t want to be discriminated against based on my marital status or religion. But if it’s related to your career, I think you should find a way to include it!
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I don’t have it on my resume or my LinkedIn, but I do link to it if employers ask for places where I exist online.
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Have you gotten any feedback from employers regarding your blog content? It’s rather personal – do they like that?
Great post. I’ve wondered about this very topic in the past. I don’t include my blog and wouldn’t (right now) as it’s not relevant to my current career. However, I might consider adding it in the future as a hobby (without the URL-I blog semi-anonymously so I don’t really want my future employers to be reading-esp. if I mention my work).
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Sounds like what I’m doing now… I think it’s OK! Do you think you would ever have a job for which blogging seems relevant?
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