Using Your Tumblr to Land a Job

When I first started blogging, I never imagined that it would be something that I would use to launch my career. Although it quickly become a big hobby of mine, I always thought of it as just something I would do on the side, and certainly not something I would tell many people about. Now that I am more or less a professional blogger, (no really, I am in content marketing), I figured I would share some of the knowledge I have gained to get where I am today.

So, can your Tumblr page help you get a job? Absolutely. What many consider wasted time, and in the case of social justice “slacktivism,” really can make a difference, especially when it comes to job hunting. People with writing, blogging and social media skills really are in demand. When leveraged correctly and combined with the right experience, you can use your Tumblr page to help find a job. 

Try these tips to leverage your Tumblr page and get you into a real job.

1) Make sure you use your blog appropriately for your career goals

 It doesn’t matter what you are blogging about as long as the topic or skills your blog is giving you are on-target with the jobs you are applying for.  Now there are two ways you can go for this one.

First, if you are interested in marketing, advertising, or writing make sure to use the appropriate tools for your blog that would be applicable to the workplace. I’d recommend enabling the connection to Twitter and using it, using the queue and tagging functions, learning a bit of HTML and photoshop for general upkeep, and hooking up your page to Google Analytics. This will give you a well-rounded set of experience in blogging platforms and the ins-and-outs of using them professionally. Many of these skills will also translate easily to Wordpress, which is something you will likely find yourself needing to know a bit about if you end up blogging in the workplace.

If you aren’t interested in getting into marketing, advertising, or writing your blog can still do a lot to help establish yourself….if you are running a blog on a topic relevant to your professional experience. That means you should not list your fan fiction blog on your resume, even if you have 20,000 followers. Instead, create a side blog on the topic you work in professionally. Write thoughtful posts about the topics that matter to your field and tag them appropriately  Even if you do not end up with a ton of followers, a well curated blog that establishes your knowledge on a topic can go a long way in a job interview. 

2) Create a focused and dynamic resume descriptor for your blog

The way you describe your blog on your resume is usually just as important as the blog itself. To start, make sure to highlight the skills it has given you. Refer to the last point to pinpoint what those skills might be based upon your target profession. 

You should also be sure to list any “deliverables” you have accomplished  on your blog. Now if you have a social justice blog and you are looking to get into a similar line of work, this is something that can make an especially big difference. If you were able to leverage your blog to fundraise $500, have 800 engaged followers, started a campaign that went viral or something else of that nature make sure to highlight it!

Need an example? Check out my resume entry for this blog:

Founder, Because I am a Woman May 2010 – Present (3 years 2 months)  www.becauseiamawoman.tumblr.com

• Founded Because I am a Woman as a safe space to provide information on feminism, sexual health, and 
activism to the online community. It now serves more than 5,500 regular readers.

• Worked with Google Analytics, Adobe Creative Suite, and HTML/CSS to update, maintain, and analyze content.

3) Use your blog to network

This one might be obvious since essentially Tumblr is one big social network, but if you are job hunting and want to use your blog to help find a job, you need to use it to network. There are countless companies and organizations on the site (especially non-profits), and building relationships with them is a great step. There are also a lot of people-who-know-other-people. Put out your feelers to your followers and the people you engage with on the site regularly and see where it gets you!

To summarize, your blog can be a powerful tool when looking for jobs, but only if you are using it in the right way. I hope these tips help a bit in your search! For more specific advice on finding a job in social justice, check out my post Working in the Movement: Finding Employment as a Social Justice Warrior.

As always, if you have any questions feel free to ask or to send me an email at becauseiamawoman.tumblr@gmail.com