This podcast episode, (with a transcript) is about learning in public, in the context of software development, where having a tech blog is one example of that. The episode contains the following claims:
I think learning in public ... helps you stand out amongst other candidates that are applying for a job.
But at the same time, [learning in public is] also proving to everyone that you are good at communicating or that you have grown a lot in your communication.
I want to hear about experiences candidates have had where having a blog clearly affected whether they were hired. I would also like to hear about experiences folks doing the hiring have had where they either did or did not look at a candidate's blog, and what effect that had on their decision, if any.
I tend to agree with the podcast episode's broader thesis that learning in public is a good way to learn more/faster. (I expect most regular Stack Exchange users would also agree.) However, I'm less sure whether writing tech blog posts would actually affect a candidate's chances of being hired in a meaningful way.
Note that this is a different question from whether a very popular blog post could spark the interest of an employer. I want to know, given a candidate replies to a company's job ad, when there had been no prior contact, whether a tech blog that is mentioned somewhere in the application would be looked at, more often than not.
I don't currently have a tech blog. When a job application form has included a place to put a personal website, I've just put a link to my Github account, where I have several software side-projects available to view. My current impression is that almost no employers are going to take more than a glance at a candidate's available code, given the chance, and most not even that.
My goal when asking this question is to decide whether making a tech blog would be worth the effort, if we consider only the effect it would have on hiring decisions.
Any impression is a chance for a good impression. But a non-impression is not.
The host and guest on that podcast episode work for the same software consultancy/agency. Maybe looking at candidate's blog when hiring is a phenomenon specific to software consultancies/agencies?
That same company also has their own tech blog. Perhaps only companies that already have their own tech blog, (as opposed to entirely marketing posts,) would care about this?
Overall, my question is, would a large enough percentage of employers look at a candidate's tech blog to make it worth writing one for that reason alone?
