I am considering starting an anonymous technical blog. I do not want to use my real name or picture online.
If I have such a blog, can I still claim it on my resume when I apply for a job? If yes, how to do it the right way?
Note: The primary reason for the blog is not to make myself more marketable. It is simply to share information with others. I do, however want to use it as a marketing tool to potential employers when applicable.
Yes, you can. You can simply claim it as your "Pen name."
Also - getting harassed and threatened for having your own opinion isn't necessarily endemic to your gender. We've all gotten it at one point or another.
You can, but I wouldn't recommend it. Women already have it rough in the tech field (in many places) and you need to consider how this could be perceived.
Having an anonymous blog because of harassment could be perceived that you're afraid of criticism or that you're weak. Women already have the (incorrect) stereotype of being overly emotional and weakness. That's why a man is called assertive and a woman is called a bitch. It's the common double standard.
There is a compromise between anonymous and fully public. Your id is c_maker so I'm going to make up a fake name based on that.
If you're name were Christine Maker, you could start a blog authored by Christine Maker. You could also it GirlEngineer. There's a third alternative. You could put yourself as the author as Christine M.
What that does is make it easily identifiable in that you can say that it's yours and any employer will make the connection when they look it up. Also, it's not completely anonymous so there's no possibility of being perceived as actually afraid.
But here is my unbridled honest opinion. Own it. Put your name and take the lumps. And when someone challenges you, you nail them to the wall because you know you're right. You're strong enough. Don't let anyone make you feel like you have to hide. And if the comments get too vulgar or become personal attacks, remember, it's your blog and your house. Delete them.
(I want to be perfectly clear that my characterization of stereotypes of women are not my own opinions nor do I want to suggest that it's ok. Unfortunately they do exist and unfortunately, women also have to deal with them. I happen to love strong women and married one.)
If you decide to call it out on your resume, consider well what types of company culture you will be applying into. And that it will become common knowledge not just to your supervisor but probably all your coworkers if you work there. I know in some industries outside projects are looked upon pretty favorably. But in traditional industries it could be seen as very negative, not that outside/related hobbies are problematic, but that it's considered more of a social media / timewaster. I know a lot of folks on here would be shocked that their boss/coworkers might not even know what a blog is but I'm very serious, in some industries it could be seen as negative or even amateurish.
Yes, you can. If it's for an IT related career you can easily provide proof with various forms of cryptographic tokens, for example by putting a bcrypt hash of your full name plus a salt on the website.
I would not put an anonymous blog on a CV without proof, because if the employer already suspects other entries to be made up for any reason, claiming an anonymous blog as your own will only increase their suspicions.
