Are you trying to find a job? Building up a positive and reputable online brand identity might be the differentiating factor that makes a recruiter or hiring manager call you vs. another candidate.
You may have thought that establishing a strong reputation would require creating (and maintaining) your own website or blog but this is not necessarily the case.
According to Donna Svei in Job Seekers: To Blog or Use This Easy Hack?, you have the clever alternative of commenting thoughtfully on other people’s blogs!
Not only does this move have the potential of building up your identity on the internet, but it opens up the door for you to become friends with the bloggers and other members of the online community with whom you are interacting.
This post will walk you through some examples of how to put this shortcut to practice.
2 Shortcut Steps to Establishing Online Expertise
- Find (and read) the relevant blogs in your field of interest.
- Comment thoughtfully on a couple of those blogs that speak to you every week.
Finding Relevant Blogs in Field of Interest
Typically, at least one writer has put together a list of best or top blogs every area or field. If you google “best X blogs” or “top X blogs,” this lead you to those listings.
To further vet through the list, you can then look at them and see which of those blogs seem to be repeated across the different lists and then visit them to see which look most relevant and interesting to you.
For example, in the social work world, we have the following lists:
- Top 10 Clinical Social Work Blogs
- Top 30 Blogs for Social Workers 2012
- Top 50 Blogs by Social Work Professionals
- 101 Greatest Sites for Social Workers
- Inspired Advocates
Professional Image
Check out Jacqui Barrett Poindexter‘s expert career guidance on how to present your professional image online in her article How to Manage the Struggle of Being Your Real Self + Professional on Social Media.
- Your goal is to find a happy balance between your authentic and professional self.
How to Comment Thoughtfully
Read the post [in full] that you are planning to comment on.
Reply in a way that will add to the conversation such as:
- sharing an example or experience of your own
- sharing another resource
- posing a relevant question
- participating in the post in some other helpful manner
For some illustrations on how to do this, please see the below excerpts from a few comments that a few kind individuals made on this blog.
Examples of Comments that Add Online Expertise Value
In reply to Continuing Education: Optional or Obligatory?, Andrea Goldberg, LCSW stated:
An important part of being a competent therapist is keeping abreast of new developments in the field…. Unfortunately, many therapists only take continuing education in what they are already familiar and comfortable with and don’t learn about new findings in attachment, affect regulation, and interpersonal neurobiology, or about experiential and mind-body approaches to therapy that take these new findings into consideration.
The longer I do this work, the more I realize how much I still have left to learn. It is a never-ending process of updating knowledge and incorporating it into our practice.
Andrea is an LCSW psychotherapist; she is demonstrating her expertise and knowledge by sharing her knowledge and offering valuable guidance to both the post’s author and readers.
In response to 4 First Session Strategies Every Therapist Should Know , Jackie Yun shared:
As a coach, I find the idea of “do not be timid” and “if you were wrong, stop and fix it” to be freeing, allowing me to be more present with my clients. Thank you for sharing!
Not knowing the protocol and requirements for agency intake forms, I’m wondering if these can be made less boring just by asking the questions differently or offering the form in a different media (maybe mixing in ramification)?
Jackie is a coach and offers not only an example of how the strategies presented may be applicable in her work but a suggestion as to how to solve a problem mentioned.
In response to How to Tame Your Job Interview Anxiety Once And For All !, Marianna Paulson commented:
“I particularly liked the way you so clearly presented the examples of how to take control of your thoughts. I’ve found that often when people are feeling negative emotions they think and feel that they are forever doomed to have those negative emotions. Learning that emotions are not static, and that you can influence them is powerful…
I would also like to remind your readers to get curious about what triggers their anxiety. Was it something they heard? Saw? Smelled? That awareness, plus the activation of tools and techniques becomes a powerful tool to circumvent those non-resourceful behaviors…”
Marianna is a stress transformation coach and educator. In her response above, you can how she continues the post’s topic, as well as demonstrates her expertise.
In reply to 50 Shades of Secrets , Sharon MSW shared:
I’ve read this book and have met the author…Excellent book to read about secrets in the family that can pass down through the generations. Secrets are a terrible thing in any family and when brought out in the open can start the healing process. Very tricky though and getting help to work through it is so important.
Sharon is a social worker who graduated a couple of years ago but in her response, she is exhibiting an up-to-date and experienced persona.
Last but not least, all of these lovely women [both the ones who commented as well as the career mavens: Jacqui and Donna] are friends of mine whom I met through social media.
While I may have first made their acquaintance on twitter, it was through more detailed conversations on our respective blogs that we became friends and I am most grateful for their friendship, as well as for the other friendships I’ve had the good fortune of developing thanks to social media.
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment, subscribe, share, like and tweet this post 🙂
What are your thoughts/reactions? Do you have any suggestions you’d like to add, or good examples of comments that you’d like to share?
Social Media Icons: katefosson
Hello Dorlee,
Great post, and thank you for calling out Donna Svei’s pithy blog where she shares pragmatic reasons why job seekers shouldn’t necessarily be blogging. To do it well (as you know), blogging requires time, training, talent and much more.
Her alternatives (job search hack) resonate!
As well, your examples of how to put this short cut to practice are illustrative. Not only do you describe the types of online comments that ‘add value,’ but you also provide real examples, from your blog! I admire Jackie’s and Marianna’s commenting style, and Andrea’s and Sharon’s comments spur memories, too, as I have read their words on your site over the past several years.
I might add one more reason job seekers should consider blogging (or not), is whether or not they are willing to put in the time, over the long haul, in keeping the content fresh/updated. I’ve witnessed many blogs that started out of the gate with great speed and energy, including regularly published content (1-4 times per month or more), and then gradually sputtered and stopped. If you look at their blogs now, posts dated a year, 2 years or more dominate the space. That type of lethargy in a blog can work against, versus as an advantage for a careerist.
Anyway, thanks again for another informative and useful post for careerists! Finally, I appreciate your calling out my recent post on managing the struggle of being your real self and professional on social media.
Warmly,
Jacqui
Hi Dorlee,
You also asked if your readers might offer good examples of comments, so I’m sharing one, hereto. This was in response to: http://careertrend.net/harvesting-our-dreams-in-lake-texoma-tx. Claire Belling stated:
Hi Jacqui!
What a great summation of the last 3 years.
We are glad you guys sailed on down to Texas!
My footnote to your story would be to always keep a paddle in the boat. In life’s journey, the wind is going to die and your going to run out of gas at times but you can always paddle you way out. Might be harder, might be slower, but you can keep going!
Claire
~~
I loved her ‘footnote to the story.’ It was so vivid and heartfelt 🙂
PS – I love all of YOUR comments at my blog, too, Dorlee; you always extend the value in a deep, rich and soulful way. I just figured you would want an outside example for purposes of your readership’s needs 🙂
~Jacqui
Thank you so much, Jacqui, for your wonderful illustration of a response that showcases your expertise – that of a career maven and talented & excellent writer.
You extended the conversation in your typical value-added direction [aka @ValueIntoWords twitter moniker and new @IWant2Write4You] by pointing out something that many bloggers often do not think about when starting out their blogs – the long-term commitment that a blog requires and what impact dropping out may have on their professional image.
I so value your friendship & expert career guidance,
Warmly,
Dorlee
Also, thank you, Jacqui, for sharing one of your favorite comments made at your blog. It is a great example of one meant to both encourage and inspire.
[Sorry that I only saw it now – it somehow got caught in google blogger’s spam trap].
Aww – thank you 🙂
Hi Dorlee, I have found reading and commenting on other peoples blogs as much fun as actually writing my own blog posts. It is easy to spend longer than intended browsing what other people have taken the time to write and if leaving comments helps to build up a strong online presence then all the better!
Hi Debbie,
Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing how you much fun you have in reading and commenting on other people’s blog posts.
I totally agree with you; time flies for me as well when reading other people’s posts 🙂
Good post Dorlee. I like the idea of a blog post like this one (or a series of blog posts) on just the habit of leaving comments. There is an art and science to it. To answer your question, I also recommend responding to a question with another question. It gives the blog author or other readers an open invitation to continue a discussion thread – which opens up other ideas and connections.
Brent,
Thanks so much 🙂 I’m so glad that this post was useful.
Also, thank you for suggesting the idea of posing a question. That’s another great way for people to extend the conversation and build connections with others.
Best,
Dorlee
Hi Dorlee,
Thanks so much for using my comment as an example of adding online expertise value. It is very generous of you to share the limelight by featuring the writing of your colleagues, instead of just using examples from your own writing. You add a great deal of value whenever you comment on my blog.
Thanks again,
Andrea
It was both my honor and pleasure, Andrea.
I am always so appreciative when you stop by and share some of your expertise!
Warmly,
Dorlee
Hello Dorlee,
You are so kind to include me in your post (a *superb* instructional manual on how-to comment on posts), especially amongst such great company!
I also like Donna Svei’s idea of blog commenting vs. writing one’s own blog, if time and commitment do not permit. She writes that job seekers may find blog commenting more efficient — and I agree.
However, have you noticed that Google does not necessarily bring up the comments you’ve made to posts via a google search on yourself or on somebody else? One way to boost the visibility of one’s comments (and by extension one’s expertise and online presence) is for a job seeker to showcase his/her commenting via their LinkedIn profile (e.g. add the posts he/she has commented on in the Summary with a description of what to look for).
Last but not in any way the least, I am so happy that we are friends and am amazed that this happened through social media.
Hugs,
Jackie Yun
Hi Jackie,
It was my pleasure. I’m always most appreciative of your thoughtful comments.
Thanks so much for bringing up this very important point of the google search. Another way of ensuring that one’s comments are linked/brought up with one’s search is to insert one’s linkedin URL as the URL to be associated with one’s comment profile.
Aww, thank you, Jackie – I too am so happy that we are friends and feel most grateful to social media for having served as the conduit 🙂
Hugs,
Dorlee
Hi Dorlee,
I always learn so much from you. Love the tip about using one’s LinkedIn URL when commenting. Let me try that now with this comment. 🙂
Keep your posts and your tips coming,
Jackie Yun
Thanks so much, Jackie – I try 🙂
Please let me know if/when it works. It is possible that one needs to make a number of comments via this method before Google starts having them appear with your search.
Warmly,
Dorlee