I run a blog: should I mention it in my application?

Running a blog can be valuable for your application (CV, interview). Provided you highlight the skills used and the difficulties overcome.

1- Useful when you have little experience
You are starting out. Your CV is only a few lines long and your work experience is brief. Recruiters will therefore focus on other things: studies, hobbies, personal achievements... and blogs. Is your modest blog too amateur to mention to recruiters? No, because it's important to give them a chance to get to know you better, to identify your skills and how you solve problems.

2- Be aware of your skills
You're not that amateur... If you blog, it's because you've already acquired some assisted publishing skills, you know how to define a graphic charter, manage multimedia embedding (image, video, sound) and moderate comments. If your blog is collaborative (you are the sole administrator but posts are suggested by others), it's because you know how to manage a publishing schedule and define an editorial line (since you regularly have to decide whether an article is worthy of publication).

3- What to highlight in your CV
The number of posts published, the number of page views, or the monthly number of unique visitors. Furthermore, if you are a seasoned blogger, you should definitely mention how you developed your online visibility (it shows you master the basics of SEO), or even how you were compensated by your host, thanks to the ads published on your blog and the high traffic you generated.

4- What to avoid
Avoid highlighting your blogs on political or religious opinions. Make sure that the posts you use as examples are not full of mistakes, and that the layout is not sloppy (misaligned columns, photos cut off at the side, missing presentation banner, etc.). Finally, links to other blogs are highly recommended.

Jean Chabod.

Apec.fr