Ask HN: In what unexpected ways has writing a blog affected your career?
24 comments
I got my current job on the back of it!
I don't interview particularly well (interviews are a lot of about first impressions, and I make a [ranging from poor to] indifferent first impression), and especially used to struggle with interview exercises that require you to think on your feet. For e.g., read this case study, present your analysis of the client's requirements, and draw up a technical design, all within about an hour.
During my interview process for my current employer, I had come across one such exercise, and in the follow-up interview, was challenged on some of my poorly thought through responses. I was a bit too exhausted then to play games, and said outright that I struggle do that sort of thing well under time pressure, especially one that's not representative of a real-life work situation where we've usually got more time than an hour to analyse the situation, prototype various approaches, and eventually arrive at a refined solution after a few iterations of build-validate-redesign.
The interviewer then basically wanted to know how I could prove that I was capable of structured thought, careful analysis, and reasonably cogent writing. At this point I spoke about a few blog posts that I'd done, and he wanted me to email links to them after the interview was done.
A few days later I got a call saying that they were happy to extend me an offer.
I met the above chap who interviewed me some time later over a few drinks, and he told me that it was the blog posts that had changed people's minds about hiring me. I've been happily employed there for nearly 5 years since, so I'd say it all worked out really well! (Although I did stop writing blog posts for mostly laziness-related reasons...)
I don't interview particularly well (interviews are a lot of about first impressions, and I make a [ranging from poor to] indifferent first impression), and especially used to struggle with interview exercises that require you to think on your feet. For e.g., read this case study, present your analysis of the client's requirements, and draw up a technical design, all within about an hour.
During my interview process for my current employer, I had come across one such exercise, and in the follow-up interview, was challenged on some of my poorly thought through responses. I was a bit too exhausted then to play games, and said outright that I struggle do that sort of thing well under time pressure, especially one that's not representative of a real-life work situation where we've usually got more time than an hour to analyse the situation, prototype various approaches, and eventually arrive at a refined solution after a few iterations of build-validate-redesign.
The interviewer then basically wanted to know how I could prove that I was capable of structured thought, careful analysis, and reasonably cogent writing. At this point I spoke about a few blog posts that I'd done, and he wanted me to email links to them after the interview was done.
A few days later I got a call saying that they were happy to extend me an offer.
I met the above chap who interviewed me some time later over a few drinks, and he told me that it was the blog posts that had changed people's minds about hiring me. I've been happily employed there for nearly 5 years since, so I'd say it all worked out really well! (Although I did stop writing blog posts for mostly laziness-related reasons...)
Second that.
Fallen in love with certain technology.
Played with it.
Created a solution based on it.
Published blog post.
Got hired, relocated to CA(lifornia).
Best job I ever had in my life including best paid.
Great story. Would you mind to share a link to your blog?
Sure, didn't want to plug it unnecessarily :) I haven't updated it since I got the job though, make what you will of that!
http://tech.theswamp.in/
http://tech.theswamp.in/
I found out that someone did their 4th year honours project focused solely on one of my blog posts: http://extremelearning.com.au/unreasonable-effectiveness-of-...
This discovery was quite surreal as I only found out months later, because neither the student nor the lecturer contacted me at the time.
Also, despite being a math/IT guy working for many years in government, my blog posts have mainly got the attention of graphical computing people in the private sector (eg animation, game studios, digital imaging, etc). This has meant that my work has made some (small) impact in industries beyond those I have worked in or been formally trained in. This has been a nice surprise. It has also markedly increased the breadth of my professional network to now include practitioners and experts from a diverse set of industries.
Finally (like many technical people), although writing is a crucial skill in mid-level management roles as well as consultancy, for most of my career I have had a mental aversion to writing reports, and has been the cause of much work stress.
However, after writing intermittently for many months on topics that I have personally chosen, and on topics that I have some knowledge on, I have found that this has had noticeable effects on both my confidence and capacity to write reports in my day job. I can now write reports faster -- and with considerably less anxiety.
And thus, between all these points, I believe that I can genuinely attribute much of my recent career successes and opportunities to writing my blog.
;)
This discovery was quite surreal as I only found out months later, because neither the student nor the lecturer contacted me at the time.
Also, despite being a math/IT guy working for many years in government, my blog posts have mainly got the attention of graphical computing people in the private sector (eg animation, game studios, digital imaging, etc). This has meant that my work has made some (small) impact in industries beyond those I have worked in or been formally trained in. This has been a nice surprise. It has also markedly increased the breadth of my professional network to now include practitioners and experts from a diverse set of industries.
Finally (like many technical people), although writing is a crucial skill in mid-level management roles as well as consultancy, for most of my career I have had a mental aversion to writing reports, and has been the cause of much work stress.
However, after writing intermittently for many months on topics that I have personally chosen, and on topics that I have some knowledge on, I have found that this has had noticeable effects on both my confidence and capacity to write reports in my day job. I can now write reports faster -- and with considerably less anxiety.
And thus, between all these points, I believe that I can genuinely attribute much of my recent career successes and opportunities to writing my blog.
;)
This is a really nice reply. I can imagine it. Thanks.
I got a book deal!
I answered a whole bunch of questions over on a Show HN a while back if you're interested: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22033129
I'm happy to answer any specific questions around this. My email's in my profile, or you can reach me on Twitter (@jstanier).
I answered a whole bunch of questions over on a Show HN a while back if you're interested: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22033129
I'm happy to answer any specific questions around this. My email's in my profile, or you can reach me on Twitter (@jstanier).
Thanks for the availability!
Took a look at your book's content table and it definitely resonates with my current position, transitioning from being hands on developer to leading a small, growing team of developers.
Took a look at your book's content table and it definitely resonates with my current position, transitioning from being hands on developer to leading a small, growing team of developers.
[deleted]
I was kind of "famous" in the embedded system community in my home country... I got a bunch of paid side projects from it, friends and job offers.
I never even considered any of the job offers as I was happy with my employer and they were in other cities.. but.. I did get a friend to one of them and he is still in the company (it has been 8 years now).
I don't blog anymore (has been 4 years :P ). I feel like I am super happy where I am with my career and would rather do other things in my free time.
I never even considered any of the job offers as I was happy with my employer and they were in other cities.. but.. I did get a friend to one of them and he is still in the company (it has been 8 years now).
I don't blog anymore (has been 4 years :P ). I feel like I am super happy where I am with my career and would rather do other things in my free time.
Well, it's not really a personal blog, but the main website I run has been responsible for at least two, maybe three of the full time jobs I've gotten so far.
Also given it used WordPress and a few past jobs were based around WordPress development, it also gave me the skills needed for those roles as well.
Plus practice with whatever other web development techniques I've needed to practice over the years.
Also given it used WordPress and a few past jobs were based around WordPress development, it also gave me the skills needed for those roles as well.
Plus practice with whatever other web development techniques I've needed to practice over the years.
It made it easier for people to find me online. Not sure if that's a good thing though.
When I'm interviewing, it helps showcase my writing skills and previous work. A lot of potential employers will ask if for writing samples and if I have experience in SEO/blog platforms. I usually direct them to my website/blog.
I also cover my interests and activities outside of work. I think it gives them a better picture of who I am - activist, researcher, and taco enthusiast.
I didn't even start as a content writer and now, I write content for Startpage's blog: https://www.startpage.com/blog/
When I'm interviewing, it helps showcase my writing skills and previous work. A lot of potential employers will ask if for writing samples and if I have experience in SEO/blog platforms. I usually direct them to my website/blog.
I also cover my interests and activities outside of work. I think it gives them a better picture of who I am - activist, researcher, and taco enthusiast.
I didn't even start as a content writer and now, I write content for Startpage's blog: https://www.startpage.com/blog/
A few of them:
- I got a job on a new city
- Some of my posts have been cited on thesis statements
- I got new contacts and new projects through it
- I've learned a few things that would not have been in my interest and that I looked it up just to write a blog post
- It somehow has become a relaxing activity
- I got a job on a new city
- Some of my posts have been cited on thesis statements
- I got new contacts and new projects through it
- I've learned a few things that would not have been in my interest and that I looked it up just to write a blog post
- It somehow has become a relaxing activity
I know it's not exactly a blog, but academic publishing in journals has been interesting! It can get you invites to publish all sorts of other things. I think in this way success begets success.
I've also anonymously written a few small blogs with a couple of popular posts. What's amazed me is that sometimes a simple post with a question can drive consistent views (1-2k/views a week consistently). It hasn't been about the large numbers, but I have met a couple of people who have stumbled across these posts which have turned out to be interesting friendships!
I've also anonymously written a few small blogs with a couple of popular posts. What's amazed me is that sometimes a simple post with a question can drive consistent views (1-2k/views a week consistently). It hasn't been about the large numbers, but I have met a couple of people who have stumbled across these posts which have turned out to be interesting friendships!
Personally, starting a newsletter/blog has been one of the most valuable personal development experiences I've ever had. It's allowed me to:
- Meet tons of smart and friendly experts in a field I might want to work in some day
- Gain a deeper understanding of what consistency and quality look like
- Take my interest in my topic of choice (in my case, video games) to a whole new level
The only drawback I can think of is the scope of it all. There's always so much good content to write about, prioritizing and weighing personal vs public interest isn't an easy task.
- Meet tons of smart and friendly experts in a field I might want to work in some day
- Gain a deeper understanding of what consistency and quality look like
- Take my interest in my topic of choice (in my case, video games) to a whole new level
The only drawback I can think of is the scope of it all. There's always so much good content to write about, prioritizing and weighing personal vs public interest isn't an easy task.
Beside sharing knowledge, I was able to get my current job and freelance gigs due to my blog which is 5+ years old.
It depends on the target, really: consumer blog or professional blog? Value proposition and content seem very different to me... the former geared toward entertainment or synthesis, the latter toward information or analysis?
Any target really. Most of the comments so far are from professional/technical blogs, but if you're maintaining a consumer blog for a personal endeavour I'd be interested in knowing your experience as well.
I spammed enough over here in the last three months but it served me well to calibrate, so thanks HN ehehe. My humble take is that indie influencers from any niche and target audience generally follow each other on Twitter, so a pool of styles / tones is available for direct mimicking while testing waters?
Oh boy, if you're ready to read it... I'll try to keep it brief, but it all seems to tie in. After graduating high school, knowing it all, working security for a few years, and going no where -- I asked for a raise and got a penny, which led me to go to college on company dime. In other words, I'd do my job, but now I fill the majority of my time up with school.
Off to college... wanting to make something more of myself, and as a former PC gamer-addict, and self-taught programmer, I wanted nothing to do with computers anymore. So I went opposite and studied psychology, really enjoyed it, and graduated with a degree in it. During my time there though, save for a year of taking off from work completely which was awesome, I became fascinated with why people go to work, why we do what we do, and how to make the workplace better, seeing and experiencing all that was wrong with it.
Graduated college... went to Israel for a year, teach English, and this company had a website they had "been working on for 2 years" and there was nothing there. At the time, I was just looking for something more to do other than teaching, so I volunteered to build their website and started learning more about web design and development and really enjoyed it. I could see myself doing this. My year is up.. come back home to student loans... apply to every job that requires a college degree. And I get nothing.
I remember as they charged my card coming back home on the plane, for an overweight bag, which took $65 from me, leaving me with $10 in my bank account. Meanwhile, it's been a month and one of my payments is coming up... like $60 was due, so it wasn't too bad. I had a week to get a job and get something into that bank account. I applied across the boards and came across a programming job, visual basic 6.0 fixing bugs and supporting an app that well.. VB6 has been a long-extinct beast, but I knew it from when I taught myself programming at 12. Long story short.... tyrant boss, but it taught me everything I knew and prepared me for programming in the "real world". I eventually passed over a bribe for a lesser paying job, but that catapulted me into the field of web design and web development professionally.
And now I've caught you up. So where does my website, https://confessionsoftheprofessions.com come into play? So I studied some industrial-organizational psychology and social pscyhology course, more than just intro, and that's where I wanted to go, but unfortunately, no one was hiring someone with a bachelors and like I said: $10 in my bank account with student loans due. I had to get back to work. And eventually just saw more ROI in the experience of work than going back for a college degree. I've been in the field over 10 years. I have looked at the salary I'd be making if I had went after the career I wanted and it would've yielded slightly less than what I'm making now -- which is nothing to brag about at all. Keeps me paid enough but under the radar of not being the first person they look at when they need to start cutting salary. But also, considering the cost of college nowadays.. and the amount of credits I'd need for the program I'd want to take for the career I might have a chance to get into? Yeah.. absolutely no motivation. Knd of glad all this happened the way it did too. If I had been in that job sector, I would be out of work right now.
Confessions of the Professions was a blog that came to me one day a little over 7 years ago now when I walked into a bank and saw a teller, and for the first time in my life, I was working two jobs, making nearly a 6 digit figure a year, and sending everything full force at my student loans, paying them off in about 2 or 3 years. Of course, the IRS caught up with me, as I didn't report the job so I could keep the cash and pay it off. To report both jobs would have taken too much from that I would have just been working for free for the government, who'd be taking my entire second paycheck. Eventually, they did. But anyways, that's for another topic. I wondered what that teller of the bank saw: she sees what EVERYONE makes. She saw what I was making at the time, which was probably double or triple her paycheck. And they certainly are nicer to you when you have more of your money in their bank. So what does she get to see on the other side of the screen?
And so... the idea was born: I wanted to hear about what people were doing at work, what their lives were like, if they even liked their jobs. I would listen to my friends and family, take down all their stories, and that's where A LOT of my first few hundred articles came from -- just listening and telling people's stories. The site has since evolved into more than that, but it kept me connected to my psychology field. Of course, I couldn't write all of these stories, so I opened up the blog and started soliciting for guest articles. And while I spent a pretty penny investing in articles in the beginning and making a lot of people on Fiverr very happy, I am happy to say I did that only the first year and never have needed to do it again. The website keeps me busy and there is only so much I can do since it's technically a hobby site that I can only dedicate about an hour a day.
It also has other benefits: it has taught me about web design. It has taught me how to write better. It has taught me how to write for an audience that I could not see. The website got so popular in its heyday and was receiving around 100,000 visitors a month. Maybe not a lot to some of you, but I had never advertised the website--all organic traffic. Today, the website is still going strong, but has settled to around 30,000 to 40,000 visitors a month, though the quarantine has pushed that number up a bit more -- because what does my website focus on? A lot of things that are job and career related and have to do with making money.
Two of the biggest advantages that I hadn't even foreseen was starting it with passion and without thinking about the money aspect. Not making it for money is was has kept it going. I would keep it going for free, though having help to pay the bill to keep it running does help. Eventually, I would figure out how to monetize it to an extent, and to this day, it has pulled in around $1,000 a year, on average. Again, not much by any of your standards, and not enough to quit my day job, but enough to let me know that people validate the idea of it by emailing me new and unique articles. I publish for free and make most of the money by charging people a rush fee on it, or to slap someone's text ad on there every so often. Or some companies will pay you to publish articles, which has definitely helped cover costs of the server. But the ads I put on it do keep a little something coming in.
The other advantage was that before this website, I would have never thought I would be talking to people in India, Australia, South America, Phillipines, Canada, Brazil, Ireland, etc. While I can't say I've "benefitted" from anything personally, it has been awesome to see my website validated by universities, big corporations, law firms, and more. While there are so many other places to publish... my fans do see it as a type of central hub of articles for the workplace. The website is definitely a place that many freelancers and beginner writers like to submit their articles, so that keeps everything fresh.
I have been publishing non-stop between one to three articles per day, five days a week, fifty-two weeks a year. Every week, I've got to go through about 10-20 emails and often get around 25-50 articles per month. I have written a lot of articles because my co-workers, my boss, and the job itself never stops providing me with things to write about. I write a lot about my experiences which are really never ending as long as I'm alive. I wrote about my interviewer's weak handshake... and walking in really wanting the job, but walking out, not really caring anymore. That article actually went viral. Feel free to read it: https://confessionsoftheprofessions.com/power-of-the-handsha...
The website helps me get out a lot of my own thoughts about my experiences in the corporate world, as a college graduate, who came from working dead-end jobs without a college degree to working dead-end jobs with a college degree, but "dead-end" in the corporate world, meaning I'm kept where I am at purposely, but -- it has never stopped me from making the salary I want. It keeps me connected to the web, keeps me connected to a huge part of what makes us human: going to work. The website continues to inspire me and many others who come across it. The times I've wanted to give up on it, just let it go, pay for it--but no longer post, well... the emails have never stopped since... technically day one. So as long as people keep it going, they will keep me going.
As for how it has helped my career, well... I can't say whether it has affected it directly or indirectly, but it definitely has influenced me in my career.
Off to college... wanting to make something more of myself, and as a former PC gamer-addict, and self-taught programmer, I wanted nothing to do with computers anymore. So I went opposite and studied psychology, really enjoyed it, and graduated with a degree in it. During my time there though, save for a year of taking off from work completely which was awesome, I became fascinated with why people go to work, why we do what we do, and how to make the workplace better, seeing and experiencing all that was wrong with it.
Graduated college... went to Israel for a year, teach English, and this company had a website they had "been working on for 2 years" and there was nothing there. At the time, I was just looking for something more to do other than teaching, so I volunteered to build their website and started learning more about web design and development and really enjoyed it. I could see myself doing this. My year is up.. come back home to student loans... apply to every job that requires a college degree. And I get nothing.
I remember as they charged my card coming back home on the plane, for an overweight bag, which took $65 from me, leaving me with $10 in my bank account. Meanwhile, it's been a month and one of my payments is coming up... like $60 was due, so it wasn't too bad. I had a week to get a job and get something into that bank account. I applied across the boards and came across a programming job, visual basic 6.0 fixing bugs and supporting an app that well.. VB6 has been a long-extinct beast, but I knew it from when I taught myself programming at 12. Long story short.... tyrant boss, but it taught me everything I knew and prepared me for programming in the "real world". I eventually passed over a bribe for a lesser paying job, but that catapulted me into the field of web design and web development professionally.
And now I've caught you up. So where does my website, https://confessionsoftheprofessions.com come into play? So I studied some industrial-organizational psychology and social pscyhology course, more than just intro, and that's where I wanted to go, but unfortunately, no one was hiring someone with a bachelors and like I said: $10 in my bank account with student loans due. I had to get back to work. And eventually just saw more ROI in the experience of work than going back for a college degree. I've been in the field over 10 years. I have looked at the salary I'd be making if I had went after the career I wanted and it would've yielded slightly less than what I'm making now -- which is nothing to brag about at all. Keeps me paid enough but under the radar of not being the first person they look at when they need to start cutting salary. But also, considering the cost of college nowadays.. and the amount of credits I'd need for the program I'd want to take for the career I might have a chance to get into? Yeah.. absolutely no motivation. Knd of glad all this happened the way it did too. If I had been in that job sector, I would be out of work right now.
Confessions of the Professions was a blog that came to me one day a little over 7 years ago now when I walked into a bank and saw a teller, and for the first time in my life, I was working two jobs, making nearly a 6 digit figure a year, and sending everything full force at my student loans, paying them off in about 2 or 3 years. Of course, the IRS caught up with me, as I didn't report the job so I could keep the cash and pay it off. To report both jobs would have taken too much from that I would have just been working for free for the government, who'd be taking my entire second paycheck. Eventually, they did. But anyways, that's for another topic. I wondered what that teller of the bank saw: she sees what EVERYONE makes. She saw what I was making at the time, which was probably double or triple her paycheck. And they certainly are nicer to you when you have more of your money in their bank. So what does she get to see on the other side of the screen?
And so... the idea was born: I wanted to hear about what people were doing at work, what their lives were like, if they even liked their jobs. I would listen to my friends and family, take down all their stories, and that's where A LOT of my first few hundred articles came from -- just listening and telling people's stories. The site has since evolved into more than that, but it kept me connected to my psychology field. Of course, I couldn't write all of these stories, so I opened up the blog and started soliciting for guest articles. And while I spent a pretty penny investing in articles in the beginning and making a lot of people on Fiverr very happy, I am happy to say I did that only the first year and never have needed to do it again. The website keeps me busy and there is only so much I can do since it's technically a hobby site that I can only dedicate about an hour a day.
It also has other benefits: it has taught me about web design. It has taught me how to write better. It has taught me how to write for an audience that I could not see. The website got so popular in its heyday and was receiving around 100,000 visitors a month. Maybe not a lot to some of you, but I had never advertised the website--all organic traffic. Today, the website is still going strong, but has settled to around 30,000 to 40,000 visitors a month, though the quarantine has pushed that number up a bit more -- because what does my website focus on? A lot of things that are job and career related and have to do with making money.
Two of the biggest advantages that I hadn't even foreseen was starting it with passion and without thinking about the money aspect. Not making it for money is was has kept it going. I would keep it going for free, though having help to pay the bill to keep it running does help. Eventually, I would figure out how to monetize it to an extent, and to this day, it has pulled in around $1,000 a year, on average. Again, not much by any of your standards, and not enough to quit my day job, but enough to let me know that people validate the idea of it by emailing me new and unique articles. I publish for free and make most of the money by charging people a rush fee on it, or to slap someone's text ad on there every so often. Or some companies will pay you to publish articles, which has definitely helped cover costs of the server. But the ads I put on it do keep a little something coming in.
The other advantage was that before this website, I would have never thought I would be talking to people in India, Australia, South America, Phillipines, Canada, Brazil, Ireland, etc. While I can't say I've "benefitted" from anything personally, it has been awesome to see my website validated by universities, big corporations, law firms, and more. While there are so many other places to publish... my fans do see it as a type of central hub of articles for the workplace. The website is definitely a place that many freelancers and beginner writers like to submit their articles, so that keeps everything fresh.
I have been publishing non-stop between one to three articles per day, five days a week, fifty-two weeks a year. Every week, I've got to go through about 10-20 emails and often get around 25-50 articles per month. I have written a lot of articles because my co-workers, my boss, and the job itself never stops providing me with things to write about. I write a lot about my experiences which are really never ending as long as I'm alive. I wrote about my interviewer's weak handshake... and walking in really wanting the job, but walking out, not really caring anymore. That article actually went viral. Feel free to read it: https://confessionsoftheprofessions.com/power-of-the-handsha...
The website helps me get out a lot of my own thoughts about my experiences in the corporate world, as a college graduate, who came from working dead-end jobs without a college degree to working dead-end jobs with a college degree, but "dead-end" in the corporate world, meaning I'm kept where I am at purposely, but -- it has never stopped me from making the salary I want. It keeps me connected to the web, keeps me connected to a huge part of what makes us human: going to work. The website continues to inspire me and many others who come across it. The times I've wanted to give up on it, just let it go, pay for it--but no longer post, well... the emails have never stopped since... technically day one. So as long as people keep it going, they will keep me going.
As for how it has helped my career, well... I can't say whether it has affected it directly or indirectly, but it definitely has influenced me in my career.
Great story. Thanks for sharing!
- Create a personal knowledge base
- Learn something yourself by teaching it
- Improve your writing skills
- Build a personal brand
Besides that, as someone who started maintaining a blog quite recently (9 months ago), I was curious in what (unexpected) ways writing a blog affected your career, in both positive and/or negative ways. And if it didn't, that would be interesting to know as well.