Blogging - An Essential Career Management Tool

For those still wondering whether a strong online presence pays off, a recent article by FINS.com (a Wall Street Journal publication for Financial Services) should put any concerns at bay. FINS spoke with Peter Deragon, financial services practice leader for North America at Stanton Chase International, who said that he likes to maintain contact with candidates through their blog posts or e-newsletters. "In displaying their niche expertise, they exhibit their educated perceptions of the equity or fixed income markets, the economy, and their ability to 'predict' or anticipate trends."

In this interview, Peter, an AESC member search consultant, highlighted the fact that keeping an up-to-date blog is an excellent way to establish yourself as an expert within your industry or function. From commenting on other articles or industry news to unloading your thoughts on the future of your industry, it gives your peers and executive recruiters an insight into your knowledge gained from your work experience.

Taking this one step further, if you can form links and partnerships with other industry experts who are blogging, you will soon find your network expanding, not to mention the search engine benefits you will receive from having links pointing to your site. Inbound links have become the single most important factor for search engines to decide where to put your website in the search results (on the first, second or even last page).

One concern I hear from many senior executives, is they do not think they have enough to say to maintain a useful blog. Without going into too much detail here, it is best to have a niche market that you can appeal to. It can be as simple as a Career Management Blog (such as our BlueSteps Executive Search Blog) or you could choose to target a narrower audience (such as a blog for New York Non-Profit CIO’s). Thinking this may be too specific? Not at all. If you create links with other CIO websites and non-profit blogs, you can offer a unique view on your industry or function, not to mention the search engine benefits – the blogsphere is overpopulated but if you can offer truly unique content, both readers and Google will appreciate it.

Moving away from a strictly business approach, executive recruiters often appreciate a more in-depth look into your interests and additional skills, with Peter Deragon commenting in his interview with FINS "Financial services people tend to be active, athletic, and travel well -- so [writing about] adventure is always appealing whether it be running marathons, kayaking, climbing, ski or snowboarding, they relate."

So there you have it, if you haven’t started a blog and formed a marketing strategy to make sure it is read, now is the time to start - the .com boom has moved from cash to content. In our upcoming online presence and engagement guide for BlueSteps members, we are going to make this process that much easier.

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This article was written by Christian Pielow from the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC).

BlueSteps is the exclusive service of the AESC that puts senior executives on the radar screen of over 6,000 executive search professionals in over 70 countries. Be visible, and be considered for up to 50,000 opportunities handled by AESC search firms every year. Find out more at www.BlueSteps.com.