For those that attended my talk at Denver Dev Days, here are the slides: BloggingFortheTechPro.pptx

A couple interesting questions that I need to add to the deck.

What do you recommend for a student? (or someone early in their career)

This could also apply to someone changing careers or fields. If you don’t have experience, does blogging help?

It does. A blog is your portfolio and it’s a good way to showcase what you are learning, have learned, what you are interested in. This gives you some way to show “experience” even if you don’t have any.

Build a project, explain how you learned something, document your journey. I might think about a wider set of topics rather than deeper on one here, as it’s hard to know what you want to do early in your journey. It’s also a time when you don’t want to limit opportunities, so showcase a lot of different things you’ve worked on.

How do I get better at blogging?

Build a network of people you trust. Let them see drafts, get feedback, and incorporate the feedback into your writing. I would do that in two different ways:

1. Am I correct in my technical details? To do this, get quality feedback from a subject matter expert. Think senior skilled person evaluating your work here.
2. Am I explaining things well? Get feedback from anyone on spelling, phrasing, grammar, and flow. Think English teacher feedback here.

How do I justify the time to blog when I’m busy at work?

This is an investment in your career. Doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc. need to work on their careers outside of work. Chefs, mechanics, plumbers do this as well.

Technical people can do this. Take 15-30 minutes a week to do this. Over time, it’s a great way to add richness to your resume and stand out from others.

Do you blog at work?

In general, I make notes and sketches of things at work. 3-5 sentences, some bullet points. Then I would spend time outside of work fleshing out my posts. For examples of how long I spend on things, check out the SQL New Blogger series. If you’re starting out, double my times for yourself.