Writing can get you a job

The post talks about how blogs are proving to be a medium for recruiters to spot prospective employees.

A blog is more than just a tool to vent our feelings. It has also become an excellent medium to communicate, share ideas and most of all, spot prospective employees.

Blogs: a Helper’s Hand
Recently, I learnt of a position being closed thanks to the candidate’s blog. When the HR Manager met the candidate, he found her to be shy and reticent, and he wasn’t sure if she would be a fit in the advertising agency. However, on reading her blog, he realized that she could express herself extremely well in the written form. The candidate ultimately joined as a Research Executive and proved to be an excellent performer.

Though this practice is still in its nascent stage, corporate recruiters are surfing blogs to unearth candidates and expanding their candidate pool as well as gaining insights that they can’t get from resumes or interviews.

Blogs: do we, don’t we?
Blogs help employers probe further into the qualifications of Potential Hires. Now that HR Managers feel that blogging for new recruits helps, does this mean organisations in India should start reading blogs?

Well, blogging can give several insights about the candidate like:
How passionate the candidate is about his/her present job profile?
How innovative is the candidate?
How does the candidate deal with criticism?
Is the candidate able to bring others to his/her point of view?

The recruiter rarely gets such insights in the interview with the candidate. On the other hand, such insights are easily available on one’s blog.

However, there are various aspects about blogs which can lead to dire consequences. As a company and as an HR professional, one should be very specific rather than gauging all aspects of the candidate through their blog. One should take into consideration the conext in which the posts have been made by the blogger and also the fact that most blogs are not updated consistently.

So its just too early to decide if blogs will be the next-generation recruitment tool. While companies do agree that they are helpful, candidates can’t be hired based on their blogs only. But one does get a unique perspective of the candidates’ personality that otherwise would have been difficult to assess.

So if you’re in the market for a job, well, blog away and let the recruiter know you better!

Avinash