These days, starting a blog is convenient. Websites such as BlogSpot and WordPress permit you to click a few buttons and start developing posts within a matter of minutes.

Blogs are a good way to write about a topic that really interests you, and it’s not unusual for job candidates to find ways to integrate blogs into their job search procedure, whether it is by:

• Bringing up their blog in the interview.
• Incorporating their blog into a resume or cover letter.

This technique of marketing yourself is fascinating, and has certain merit. There is a lot of potential behind the concept that you can show an interest and commitment to a product, company, service or field by directing someone to a website that you’ve developed that is committed to that field. Still, are blogs a helpful job application tool? Should your blog be integrated into your job application and job interview strategy?

Short answer: No

Long answer: There is certain potential behind using one’s blog to show commitment to a field. Interested in marketing? Perhaps you’ve a blog that you’ve dedicated to marketing information. That is not useless. That dedicated is significant for the employer to know.

Although – and this is a big however – the vast majority of all blogs have issues that make them inadequate for your job search. For a blog to be beneficial, it must:

• Consist of Only Professional Posts – If swore, ranted, went off topic or wrote poorly anywhere in your blog, involving back when your blog was first developed, the blog is no longer suitable for your interviewer. If you direct your employer to the blog, you don’t know how many posts they will read. Even if you’ve written extremely professional and well written posts for over a year, the interviewer may go back further and find one post that is unprofessional. That one post could lose you the job.
• Contain just Related Content – The blog must merely contain content related to the job field. If you go off on tangents throughout your blog, you might come off as disorganized or unprofessional, or you might touch upon a subject that the interviewer disagrees with (like politics or religion).
• Contain merely Interesting Information – For your blog to matter, it must have fascinating ideas. Preferably distinctive or well researched ideas. If all your blog does is rehash basic tips that relate to the field/industry, then your website doesn’t offer anything that would assist you to stand out as a candidate.

The blog must also be well designed and entirely free of ads. You should also have moderated your comments to delete any spam, angry comments and junk comments.

Almost no blogs qualify for all of the criteria listed above. As an outcome, though you might have some interesting posts or have a website that gives solid reasons for the company to hire you, there are simply too many risks involved with letting your interviewer know about your website. Only if your blog meets every single one of those criteria is it worth bringing up in your application conversation.