Blog Posts and Videos

In this post:

Why I Blog
Video Blogging
More Possibilities

Last week we had a meeting with the head of Career Services at HR. He provided a lot of good info on the process that we're going to be embarking on with his team and after his presentation, he fielded questions.

I took the opportunity to talk about this blog, specifically my daily posting schedule and my reasons for blogging.

Why I Blog

Well first, HR recommends that we maintain an engineering journal. It's a way to record what we're experiencing and learning, and it'll provide a source of material for our resume and interviews.

I also remember reading or hearing somewhere that it's another piece for hiring managers to evaluate and get to know you through. If you think well, and communicate that through writing, perhaps someone who's looking for those qualities will be more interested in speaking with you, if they've read or skimmed your blog.

Beyond that very specific purpose - improving hire-ability - I've enjoyed blogging as a ritual, or commitment. It's satisfying watching my list of posts grow, and to flex the follow-through muscles that make it possible. It's not easy to do, and that also gives it an extra layer of merit.

I shared some of those thoughts and asked if he agreed with my strategy of writing with the job process in mind.

My sense from his response was, yes, there is merit in maintaining a blog and that can be a distinguishing feature. He also suggested another idea.

Video Blogging

Rather than writing text-posts, he explained that there's value in another medium - video. If I were to record a code walk-through or breakdown and was able to articulate my decision making and thought-process, well, those are attractive qualities. What's more, in the event that there were code verbalizing parts of an interview that didn't go so well, you might have some legacy credibility from demonstrating those skills, and that might give you the benefit of the doubt. Of course, that type of video is great practice for verbalizing and make it more likely that you're prepared to speak eloquently about coding challenges you've faced, or even to talk through code during the interview.