Last week one of my best friends found out some potentially bad new about his job and told me to keep my eyes open for opportunities. Figuring that this would be a good time for him to shift his career a bit, I asked him what his long term career goals were. He stumbled a bit, so I rephrased my question asking him what his dream job would be right now. His goal is very reasonable (he doesn’t want to be Batman) and he most definitely has a good portion of the skills to do the job he wants, the problem is that he is self taught and has no formal job experience. My suggestion to him was start a blog.
A blog is a wonderful way to document self-education and personal growth. It is immediate proof of your skills (how often do you get to show a new employer work you have done at a previous job – I mean actually SHOW them the work) and it proves that you are willing to think outside of the box and teach yourself. Another added benefit is that your blog might attract an audience which is never a bad thing for a business as it adds instant credibility for their product or project (if that’s what they are looking for and in my friends case, it would very much be a benefit).
I retold my wife the story (as she sometimes thinks about a career change) and she sent me this article. Of course they highlight the paranoid tone of not saying anything stupid, but the point remains the same: when you show you are passionate and willing to work hard, it sometimes means more than a piece of paper.
Good luck out there readers.
