11 Things Blogging Has Taught You To Add To Your CV.
So you might not be the next Zoella. So you might not have 100,000,000 pageviews to your name. So you might not be working with Charlotte Tilbury or be the next face of ASOS, but you'd be surprised how much you've gained from your blog.
Whether it's a full time job, a side hustle or just a hobby - your blog has given you a million and one transferrable skills to add to your CV, talk about in your next job interview and give you good stead and experience for your next career move.
Here's 11 things to get on your LinkedIn page immediately;
Copywriting;
Not to be confused with copyright, writing copy is simply the act of writing text for advertising or marketing. You might not think your blog post on your day out fits that bill but everything you write is promoting you and your words and your blog is basically one big webpage of copy. Your ability to write coherently, positively and convincingly coupled with all the editing, spellchecking and grammar checking gives you great experience for effective writing.
Time management;
If blogging is your full time job then your time management and ability to work to your own schedule is one of your biggest talents. If blogging is something you do part time just remember you've having to juggle that with school or uni or work , alongside real life and prioritising it over other activities that take up your time. Managing your time, setting aside time for your blog and sticking to it is a great transferrable skill.
Organisation;
From organising your blog schedule for the month to sticking to deadlines with brands, your organisation has to be on point to run a blog. Maybe it's chasing invoices, maybe it's Blogmas, maybe it's managing advertisers - whatever it is, you can bet your bottom dollar it's given you good organisational skills.
SEO;
The holy grail of all bloggers experience and one you need to add to your CV immediately. Ok so I'm sure we could all learn more about SEO (does the knowledge ever end?) but we're all implementing it somewhere. If you're creating dynamic headings, back linking, fixing broken links, adding alt tags, using key words then you're thinking about SEO and you're using it successfully.
Design;
Website design is a skill and one not to be under rated. Ok so a lot of us buy our themes rather than design them ourselves but if you've ever changed a bit of HTML to make something work better or added that widget you knew would give your blog a lil summin summin or designed how you want it to look only for someone else to code it for you then you've got some web design under your belt.
Social Media;
Something every blogger knows something about. It doesn't really matter the size of your social media following - if you have an account linked to your blog and you're active on it then you have some knowledge of social media. If you have built a following, have an engaged audience, have beaten the Instagram algorithm and battled with your 'theme' then all the better. Do not underestimate your knowledge of what works and what doesn't on social media, especially if faced with someone who hasn't got to grips with it yet.
Marketing;
When you have a blog you're essentially marketing yourself 24 hours a day. You're selling yourself, your words and your opinions no matter how big or small your site and your following. If you are working with brands then you're on a constant mission to market yourself and your worth and if you're not then you're marketing yourself as valuable enough to give a cheeky follow or keep coming back to read.
Branding;
It doesn't matter if you physically created your branding images yourself or if you got someone else to make them for you - you envisaged it and designed it. From logos to your website design to business cards to social media, you have branded everything you do. It's as little as choosing the image to use as your SM icons and as big as creating a globally recognised entity like Zalfie but you're constantly branding yourself and your site across all platforms.
Photography;
Photography is one of the biggest skills I think most bloggers learn that we might not have otherwise. We all know photography is just as important as the words and possibly more important when it comes to drawing people in to get as far as the words and it's something we have all accepted we have to learn to take our sites to the next level. Learning photography and how to better it gives you creativity skills, a good design eye and onto the next point....
Editing;
Photo editing. Half the year yeah sure there might be enough natural light to get a good quality image but the rest of the year we rely on our photo editing skills to make our snaps as crisp and light as possible. You've taught yourself Photoshop, you've taught yourself Lightroom, you've taught yourself how to make the perfect crop or add text to make a Pinterest graphic....chances are you've taught yourself a lot about editing.
Networking;
You've built a community of followers and friends online, you've met people at events, you've built relationships with PRs and brands - you have created a network for yourself through your blog. Networking in this way has opened you up to new people and new opportunities that you wouldn't have had before and has leant you conversational skills, people skills and professionalism.
So what're you waiting for? Update your CV immediately!
