Should you open a blog ? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Icarus
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 25, 2015, 06:29:33 pm
content: A friend of mine said that opening a web blog could help me to find a job.Is it true ? Or what should I write any way ?I afaid that If I will write specific techinal things, know-hows, etc.., people will stole those information and credit.What you think ?

author: briandorey
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 25, 2015, 06:57:11 pm
content: I have had my own project blog for a few years now and find it difficult to find the time to keep it up to dateI often find that some of my content has appeared on other sites and there isnt any way to stop that.I haven't heard that having a blog can help to find a new job but I find that it does help direct visitors to my online shop and that has resulted in extra sales for us.

author: codeboy2k
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 25, 2015, 08:15:59 pm
content: I have seen several job postings that want to see your blog as a portfolio of your work. Also your github account. They have also said that a high rating on stackexchange is worth a lot to them ... which seems odd to me, because I've tried getting myself higher on stackexchange, and it takes all your time all day long to make a stackexchange posting every day that's worthy of getting high marks. What I see all the time is people copy/paste images from the net, add their own comments, and it's these long posts on stack exchange referencing images they did not create that gets them high marks. If I did that all day long, I'm not being a good employee, am I ?Getting high on stackexchange takes a lot of work and free time, but I see alot of businesses want to see it.

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2015, 05:23:02 am
content: Make it a private blog and give employers a code to access it if your concerned the information will be easily stolen. No information you put on a website is totally secure but you have a lot more control if you run the web-server yourself.The reason to make a blog is to showcase your skills, work history and ability to complete a project and document it. Them knowing community projects you're involved in shows collaboration.

author: Mechanical Menace
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2015, 10:27:44 am
content: Quote from: Shock on July 26, 2015, 05:23:02 amA commit log (or two, or three) works for that and actually tests the skills they're after. Expecting a personal identifying blog from people in fields that're notoriously antisocial* and paranoid about personal data security is unrealistic from those employers.*That's the popular view not mine.

author: Icarus
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2015, 12:28:03 pm
content: I understand so If I post something about atmospheric physics, that do no help.Thank you people I'm going to open a dual language blog and see what will happen

author: alexandru
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2015, 02:06:08 pm
content: It is quite hard to make your blog a big success. People now they tend to view videos instead of reading text. For a successfully blog you need to have unique and very good content for your readers. They will find out through Search Engines and it is hard to compete with other websites in Web Search Rankings. Starting and doing a niche blog it's a better solution.

author: JackP
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2015, 02:15:22 pm
content: I don't think he's doing it (mainly) for the success, it's for prospective employers to back up his claims and find out more about him. Not a bad idea seeing as most people just have social media accounts to represent them on the internet.

author: TerraHertz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2015, 05:48:29 pm
content: Or, you can just treat a blog as a kind of personal diary, make it too boring and tedious for anyone else to wade through, and not give a rats arse if anyone reads it. Like myhttp://everist.org/NobLogWhich isn't even really a blog. I think when I die, the gravestone will have a little holder for free DVDs of the not-blog, labeled "This is all the crap he wrote. Good riddance."Yes, I am feeling bitter today.

author: Icarus
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2015, 08:21:48 pm
content: hehehe

author: codeboy2k
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2015, 09:37:16 pm
content: Quote from: TerraHertz on July 26, 2015, 05:48:29 pmI think that's very useful, actually. I have 10 books of personal notes that I made over the years, it's not searchable and sometimes I wished it was all online so I could find things easily. There are notes on theory, about vendors, about parts, there are my own personal circuits and off the cuff drawings, my experiments I did, some other tidbits here and there, some circuit analysis, notes about circuits I found elsewhere, guidance from peers, tips and tricks for myself to remember, etc.. these are all in 10 notebooks with each page dated before I made any entry. It's not organized, it's just daily notes. It is in fact my own personal diary. It would be a great effort to put it in a blog, but it would also be very useful to me, and me alone, as an online diary, like you said.

author: MarkF
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 27, 2015, 12:24:07 am
content: I have yet to find a position through the internet! Every job I have ever had was through friends and co-workers. Get out and start talking to friends and people in the field you're interested in. Your best chance will be networking with the people you know and getting introductions through them. Good luck.

author: TerraHertz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 27, 2015, 11:15:16 am
content: Quote from: codeboy2k on July 26, 2015, 09:37:16 pmIn fact, I wasn't kidding about that. I have a mountain of stuff I want to add to mine - all my working life projects and tales, hobby builds, software, childhood, urbex adventures, actual buildings constructed, etc. It's just so much work to do it though. But that is why it's ordered the way it is.Ha ha... I'm one of the few people in the world to have a piece of software I wrote specifically named in an act of Parliament, as illegal and henceforth banned. That's a good story. Well past statute of limitations I'm sure, so probably safe to tell now.Luckily, I'm not looking for a job.

author: Icarus
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 27, 2015, 03:41:56 pm
content: I believe that we -people who have a certain scientific/engineering knowledge- are quite different than normal people.For example, I write like this "I designed and implemented both software and hardware of a high speed fiber optic ATM Router"But HR people reads like this "Oh, so you don't know TCP/IP then"

author: TerraHertz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 28, 2015, 03:46:35 am
content: Quote from: Icarus on July 27, 2015, 03:41:56 pmIcarus, you're flying too close to THE*, son.(* Tedious Humanoid Eeeediots)

author: eas
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2015, 10:41:02 pm
content: Quote from: Icarus on July 25, 2015, 06:29:33 pmThink it through.Consider first the balance in the potential audience for your writings between people who will want to steal and take credit for what you publish, and those who won't. Consider too that 1) people get "credit" for finding and sharing good information while providing attribution. 2) The easiest way to share information on the web is to link to the existing page. Its not just Facebook and twitter either. Most blogging software has an easy way to click a bookmarklet to create a new blog post that excerpts and links to the original web page.Consider too that for someone to steal from your writings, they first have to find your writings. If they can find your writings, then other people can. Your biggest problem is likely to be that no one pays any attention, there are ways around that. In fact, just putting a link in your signature on forums you participate on can make a noticeable impact. The better you are at getting attention to your writings, the more likely it is that your writings will appear higher in search listings that that of people who try ripping you off.Finally, consider that the most important audience for your work is probably potential employers. How are they going to find out about your work? Perhaps they'll discover you on their own, but more likely is that they'll find out about you by another means, by someone forwarding them your resume, or you applying for a job. They'll check out your blog because they want a quick way of getting a better sense of you. If they like the first thing they read, they may read more. If your posts make a favorable impression then maybe they'll do a search to see if there is any doubt about the original origin of the writing on your blog. If they care enough to do that, and they discover copies of your writing, there is probably a good chance that they'll be able to figure out that you are indeed the original source.Now, all of this ignores the question of whether starting a blog is a good use of your time when it comes to searching for a job. I can't really answer that. I'd guess that there are probably lower hanging fruit, easier/quicker things you can do. However, if you find yourself with a lot of time on your hands and fill it by things like constantly checking for new posts on EEVBlog/forums, writing blog posts probably isn't a bad use of your time. Writing something down forces you to clarify your thinking, if only for yourself. Doing so also makes it easier to communicate your thinking to others, and that is itself valuable in getting and doing most jobs that require thought and expertise.If you start a blog and do get a job, consider keeping the blog up, because it could make it easier to find the next job too. My wife hasn't found a job because of her blog, and she hasn't updated it in 18 months, but people are still finding and reading the articles she wrote (and the google ads on them still make a little money every month). My old posts on my various blogs still find readers too.