Should I list a technology blog on my resume?

Question

I have a personal technology blog that I am considering putting on my resume.

The blog mainly contains technology articles about WPF/MVVM, which is the sort of work I am going to be looking for. Typically I would never link to a personal blog on a professional resume, but in this case I'm considering it.

Should I list a technology blog on a technical resume?

And if so, how? I have considered just leaving a link to it up with my contact information, but that leaves no context. The alternative is to mention it somewhere else in my resume, and expect them to ask for it. Or maybe do both.

The draft of my resume currently has a "Skill Summary" section, which includes

Other
Active teaching others in the programming community, experienced managing a small team, author of a personal technology blog, fast and independent learner.

Answer 1

Should I list a technology blog on a technical resume?

If you are proud of the contents of your blog, and it is relevant to the kinds of positions you are seeking, then yes, I think you should list your blog on your resume.

Hiring managers like me often want to hire people who care passionately about their profession. A blog relating to that profession is a nice way to demonstrate your care and interest. When hiring (and I've been hiring technology people for many years), this is exactly the kind of "extra" that attracts my attention.

Take special care that everything on your blog is presentable. If I were considering hiring you, and I started to read the blog you directed me to, I wouldn't want to see rants against your employer, pages full of misspellings or poor grammar, cheesy ads, an old, out-of-date site, or a site which emphasized pictures of cats. I'd want to see something that tells me the kind of professional you would be if I hired you.

Even if you don't list it on your resume, there's a good chance the hiring company will discover it anyway. I know that I always do a Google search on candidates, and see what kind of public postings they make. You'll want to try that yourself, and see how potential employers might view the results.

And if so, how?

I think you are exactly right to refer to it in an "Other" section. Another alternative would be to include it in a "Publications" section, if you have one. You should spell out the URL for your blog, rather than just using a hyperlink. Documents like resumes are passed around in many formats (paper, plain text, etc) - some of which don't support hyperlinks. Spelling the URL of the blog out ensures that it doesn't get lost in the shuffle.

Be prepared to discuss your blog further, should you be brought in for an interview. It could easily catch an interviewer's attention, and would be a great opportunity for you to expand on the subject.

Good luck!

Answer 2

So long as your blog is relevant to the jobs that you are looking for, and is well-written and well-considered: yes, you should list it. Personally, my blog is in the header of my resume, along with my name, email address, and phone number. It's also linked on my LinkedIn profile.

As someone who is part of the hiring process for a technical team, I'm not a big fan of an "other" section on a resume. Everything that's in that section should either be discussed elsewhere (such as management experience), or if it is relevant to the position at hand, that information should be included in the cover letter. Being an author of a blog isn't really a skill that I'm looking for in a candidate, so just telling me that you write a blog (as opposed to actually giving me its URL) isn't likely to make me very interested.

If a blog is listed (or I find one myself), I'll read through it to get an idea about the candidate. I've had blogs that made me much more interested in the candidate, and I've had blogs that made me strike the candidate from consideration. Before you include your blog on your resume, you might want to consider asking a friend or colleague to consider whether your blog is one that will help you shine as a candidate.

Answer 3

good companies will like this. Bad companies won't interview you. So if you are not desperate for any job add it. You may get a note added to your employment agreement about not blogging about this company ever. I'd probably sign that. Generally you don't want to blog about people paying you or who have paid you in the past. Makes future employers worried you will make them famous if you don't like them.