Do employers like to see (programming/computer science) blogs?

Question

I'm wondering if having a blog (with most posts concentrating on computer science/programming) would be a good idea with regards to getting a job. Would a potential employer like to see something like that? What about someone hiring a freelancer?

I'd especially appreciate:

• Responses from people who hire programmers or computer scientists for full-time jobs.
• Responses from people who hire freelance programmers.
• Responses from people who have such such blogs and have noticed their (either negative or positive) effects. Or responses from people with such blogs who have noticed that it's had no effect on their careers.

Thanks! I felt this would probably be best marked as community wiki - please let me know if I was mistaken.

Answer 1

As someone who's been in the hiring process for a large number of people, I've never looked at someone's blog, nor would it affect my decision.

We hire both freelance and full-time programmers.

Your code, your experience, and your interview will say everything that needs to be said.

Answer 2

I would say absolutely yes.

My own company actively encourages its employees to write a blog, and to use their company name and e-mail address with it. Look at some of the stackoverflow greatest members and how they also publish their company name (yes I am gonna mention Jon Skeet, who's profile currently says he is working for google in London). And isn't stackoverflow a kind of blog? What employee couldn't be impressed by some of the people with masses of reputation on here, I know I am floored by the knowledge some people have when answering my meagre questions.

A good blog can say a lot of things about you to a potential employer. It shows you are really passionate about your area of IT:

There was once a reply on stackoverflow to a question (ironically, the original question was by John Skeet) who said that in his/her opinion, not all developers are created equally. As arrogant as it possibly sounds, I absolutely agree. I have worked with developers who show up at 9am and leave at 5am, and care nothing more for their profession. I have also worked with people who will buy a book and study it all weekend purely out of curiousity about something at work that had them stumped. I've seen people at my current workplace examine the assembly code of a program because they are curious to understand why it is behaving in a certain way. These things are hard to show off in an interview. A blog however, providing it's a good one, shows you care enough about IT to share it with the world. If it is well written, it shows you are skilful with prose and gramatically aware. If it covers interesting topics and is written with vigor, it shows that you are willing to put effort in above the call of duty in your field of IT, and that you enjoy it.

Enjoyment is essential, because developers who enjoy their work are far more valuable than those who merely consider it a job that "pays the bills". Unfortunately (and perhaps unbeliavably) there are developers like that out there, and I have worked with some of them, as have we all.

It probably won't be a huge decision in the hiring process, but I imagine it will be a very strong plus if you have put a decent amount of time and effort into it.

I'm a junior technologist producing content. My company works mostly for Microsoft e-learning producing training courses that many people on stack have probably taken in the past, and will probably take in July when the next set are released. It's a small company, but it has an office literally down the road from Microsoft HQ in the US, and one here in the UK. They care about accreditation, and interesting qualifications (like MVP, Student Partner, ImagineCup etc.) more than just your CV (those trendy ones like Google, and Microsoft partners etc.). They barely need to recruit through conventional means because reputation is everything to them. They do not advertise at all and rely on word of mouth - quite successfully so - as they put faith in their employees and their selection process of finding people with a passion. To companies like this, a blog is a huge plus and they garner recognition and even business through blogs of employees. The team here is quite astounding.

These types of companies are superb to work at, and I will look for similar passionate companies in the future, so yes, blogs are great!

Hope that helps.

Answer 3

A blog could either help or hurt your job chances depending on the contents of the blog. I think the comment from @Travis says it very well - if you have something original you can express well and want to express it in a blog format that could help a potential employer get to know you better.

If, OTOH, you copy other blogs content to appear more sophisticated than you are, or blog about problems you are taking a long time resolving that should be easy to solve, then that could be a strike against you in a hiring situation. Another blog no-no is writing about employer confidential work in a blog.

I have seen all of the above over the years. Some of the best people I have worked with are active bloggers, and their original contributions made a difference in their careers.

Answer 4

Posting an algorithm on comp.graphics.algorithms years ago, and having it spotted by an employer, launched me on a career that has worked out unbelievably well and completely changed my life. More recently I've been approached by potential employers as a result of my blog. It's hard for anyone to beat my current job so I haven't changed job as a result. But it has still resulted in a good relationship with one company should I ever need to jump ship.

I think the point is that employers aren't a homogeneous entity. Some companies have employees, with the power to employ others, that notice interesting stuff on the web. I'd rather work for one of the latter anyway.