Can Blogging Hinder Your Job Search?

In two pieces appearing in the "First-Person" column of the Chronicle of Higher Education, Ivan Trimble (the pseudonym of a humanities professor at a small liberal-arts college in the Midwest) warns that blogs can hurt a candidate's chances in a job search, especially one in the academic market. He bases his view "on how I saw blogs detract from some candidates in a recent search at my college. A blog was not the only negative in any of their cases, but it was usually a negative." The latest column, "They Shoot Messengers, Don't They?" (Sept. 2, 2005), is a follow-up to "Bloggers Need Not Apply" (July 8, 2005), particularly the negative response it received from the blogger community. He concludes with the following:

As my original column made clear (and many amid the outcry reiterated) when it comes to blogging, I just don't "get it." That's right, I don't. Many in the tenured generation don't, and they'll be sitting on hiring committees for years to come.

If that's bad news, I'm sorry. But would it really be better if no one bothered to mention it? Shooting the messenger may make some feel better, but heeding the warning might help them get jobs.

SOURCE: Virtual Chase Alert