Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Going into Hiding
As almost everyone knows in the blogging world, having a blog comes with certain perils. One of the biggest ones has to do with potential or current employers - a lot of businesses, universities, and other institutions out there are wary of employing people who blog. I get the sense that the main concern is that bloggers will spill insider information, or will expose an aspect of their employment that won't shed a favorable light on the employer.
How does this affect me? Not at all, I thought, until I read "Bloggers Need Not Apply." I'm pretty careful about not posting work-related information, or even information that could be used to break my pseudo-anonymity. But, over the next six-eight months, I'm going to be going up for a bunch of jobs, and some of the interviews for those jobs are coming up very soon. I'm not a good (or comfortable) liar, so I'm not exactly sure what I'd say if I were asked, "Do you have a blog?" Given that employers are increasingly blog- and internet-savvy, I'm not as certain as I once was that that question won't be asked.
I love blogging, and I don't want to close down Commeo altogether. But, it also seems clear that keeping the site completely open isn't an option, at least until I'm in a more permanent employment position.
So, I'm going for a middle ground. I'm going to password protect the site. That way, if asked, I can honestly say that I keep a private site available only to friends and family.
If you are reading this, I would love for you to be one of those friends. Based on my readership stats thus far, I know that I don't know some of you personally. That doesn't mean that I don't want to know you, though, or that I don't want for you to be able to read the site. So, if you would like to have access to Commeo, please email me a couple of sentences telling me that you would like to read the site (and if you like, who you are and if you have a blog) at bella_sultaneATyahoo.com, and I will happily send you a Blogger email giving you access.
How does this affect me? Not at all, I thought, until I read "Bloggers Need Not Apply." I'm pretty careful about not posting work-related information, or even information that could be used to break my pseudo-anonymity. But, over the next six-eight months, I'm going to be going up for a bunch of jobs, and some of the interviews for those jobs are coming up very soon. I'm not a good (or comfortable) liar, so I'm not exactly sure what I'd say if I were asked, "Do you have a blog?" Given that employers are increasingly blog- and internet-savvy, I'm not as certain as I once was that that question won't be asked.
I love blogging, and I don't want to close down Commeo altogether. But, it also seems clear that keeping the site completely open isn't an option, at least until I'm in a more permanent employment position.
So, I'm going for a middle ground. I'm going to password protect the site. That way, if asked, I can honestly say that I keep a private site available only to friends and family.
If you are reading this, I would love for you to be one of those friends. Based on my readership stats thus far, I know that I don't know some of you personally. That doesn't mean that I don't want to know you, though, or that I don't want for you to be able to read the site. So, if you would like to have access to Commeo, please email me a couple of sentences telling me that you would like to read the site (and if you like, who you are and if you have a blog) at bella_sultaneATyahoo.com, and I will happily send you a Blogger email giving you access.
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