There seems to be a general consensus that putting blog links or public profiles like LinkedIn or StackOverflow on your resume is considered a good thing to do if the contents of your blog or profile are topical, professional and show your depth and interest in the field; that is, it does not hurt to add a link to a personal blog to your resume, whether or not it actually helps is another discussion.
One thing that I am realizing as my career grows is that it is as important, if not more so, to be able to demonstrate your value instead of just merely having it. After tossing this idea around Comms Room, it was summarized rather succinctly as "you want to have a curated identity and a clear voice". In my opinion a personal blog is a large piece of building that curated identity. If it is not, please explain why you think so in your answer.
I used to put a not insignificant amount of energy into ServerFault for a number of personal and professional reasons. On the professional side, answering questions and participating in the community there challenged and exposed me to topics that I would not otherwise see in my day-to-day. I had the idea that a potential employer would look through my ServerFault profile and read some of my better questions and answers and think, "Dang! This guy is pretty good for a Junior Systems Administrator" and that would factor positively into his hiring decision. I no longer think ServerFault is a good platform for this and I am think of redirecting this energy into a personal blog related to Systems Administration and Operations with the explicit professional goal of helping "curate my identity and voice".
- Do personal blogs that are topical and professional factor into hiring decisions at all or are they just merely a "nice-to-have"?
- If personal blogs do factor into hiring decisions as a sort of "secondary" characteristic, at what weight do you think they do? (Not important, kind of important, definitely important)
- Is it important to have a curated identity and clear voice to your online resume and consequently worth the time and energy to build it?
EDIT: While the question Do employers visit online resumes/websites for extended versions of resumes? covers some of my questions about whether personal blogs factor into hiring decisions it does not address the more general question about using a personal blog to help build your curated identity and personal brand. Consequently I do not see this as a duplicate.