CM Russell just made my life easier (yours too)

On his SecretsOfTheJobHunt blog (he has various blogs and is turning out to be something of a watchdog for various aspects of the employment niches) CM announces that he is starting a new blog: Blogs for Jobs, a showcase for those who blog to get jobs.

I think its great to have all of these in one place, and even see that he’s featured DaveClick, who was my first ever “You Get It” award winner! That’s pretty cool. So I wonder why he didn’t feature Kent Blumberg who has one of the smartest blogs I’ve seen (and was my second award winner)… the big question is, how does this compare or complement JibberJobber’s monthly “You Get It” awards?

Well, I’m pretty happy he’s put it up because I’m finding it hard to find people who I think to an excellent job in using these technologies for career management. That isn’t to say that I don’t have a dozen or so blogs and sites that I’m watching for the award, but its slow finding new ones. So for me this is great because he’s going to accumulate them in one place, and I can just periodically go through the sites he has listed as I’m looking for someone that should win the virtual high-five (and other things).

I think its great for you because then you aren’t limited to just my monthly pick for a great example – everyone will have different styles and needs and this will allow you to pick ideas from many great thinkers.

But I have this nagging question about my “You Get It” award and his list of blogs by people who “blog to get jobs.” And for now, without knowing where its headed, I’ll say that there is a HUGE difference (at least by our own descriptions – which is enough to prompt this post :)) in purpose.

If he is indeed going to list people who blog to get jobs then he’ll continue to include blogs such as Carolynn Duncan’s limited-use blog which was called “Why Provo Labs Is Hiring Carolynn Duncann,” which got lots of blog press, but once she got the job… um, there was no reason to continue the blog! I personally know Carolynn (I think she owes me a lunch ;)), she has moved on to really cool things, but I’m not sure that she has one central blog to build her personal brand.

I’d imagine that a professional brand expert would say that this absolutely contributes to Carolynn’s personal brand – the question would be if this was a positive or negative contribution. (I’d say positive because she has been able to get use out of it, in a positive way, since she accepted the position at Provo Labs)

I had a guy in the UK on my blogroll that was journaling his job search, and as he got closer to settling into a position the blog went dead. Well, it was interesting to see his though process and experiences, but it really didn’t do anything for his personal brand.

The purpose of the “You Get It” award is different than what CM is logging (which is great)… in fact, many of the people that I’m watching right now don’t even look like job seekers. In fact, they might not be (last month’s winner, Heather Henricks, already has a nice job (and no blog!)!)… but they are all quantifying the breadth and depth of their personal brand through the technology.

I strongly encourage you to consider using some free tools (like blog software that takes 3 minutes to set up!) to begin to quantify your breadth and depth. This is not for a one-time job search. This is not just for 2007! This is to further substantiate your personal brand. This is so that, in the next 3 – 5 years you find yourself in a job search, you are much more than a resume, or a couple of interviews. Show your future hiring managers/companies what you are made of, and you’ll stand out from that pack (er, stack of resumes).

Scared? That’s ok… its certainly a committment – but once you get started, and find your groove, its not that hard. Shoot, I don’t even spelcheck my posts anymoore 😉