Blogging has done so much for me and my career path and I want it to do the same for you. I am such a proponent of blogging for your career growth and job search.

Being a blogger gives you automatic entrée to write about a sector, interview industry experts, attend conferences in the field and ultimately, define and refine your point of view to get the attention of those in your chosen field who may want to hire you. Being a blogger, in short, provides a credential as well as a reason to explore an area where you may currently be new to.

Here are 5 blogging benefits for job searchers:

1. Discover Your Passion

Blogging consistently helps you discover your passion and your voice. Blogging will help you discover what you enjoy doing and learning about, and it will help you discover what you are not passionate about too. If you dislike consistently writing about something, you will know that isn’t your true passion. You want to find something to blog about that totally excites you and you can do whenever you have a chance and lose track of time.

When I first started blogging I would blog before work, after work and on the weekends. I knew I was passionate about it because I could do it nonstop.

2. Opportunities

Opportunities are going to come your way if you have a blog. If you didn’t have a blog, you would never have gotten those same opportunities. After year of blogging anonymously, I decided to put out a video and put my face and name out there. The following week, I got invited to my first speaking engagement by a reader of my blog. I also have been featured in Forbes, People and invited to Brazil to speak, all because I started blogging on March 20th, 2010.

What opportunities are you going to create for yourself by blogging?

3. Become an Expert

When you write about something everyday you become an expert in it. You WANT to research it, you want to read the books about the topic, you want to learn from other experts in the field and maybe even interview them and become friends with them! You will have this desire to learn and grow more in this field.

4. Meet Amazing People

You can meet amazing people around the other world. You might find that you have something in common with someone who is on another continent. You can Skype, get to know each other and maybe even become accountability partners and travel to meet each other someday. All because you started a blog someday….My  network has greatly expanded by blogging and I can’t imagine it any other way.

Another fun thing to do when you blog is to look at your analytics and see where people are reading. You will be amazed!

Blogging provides opportunities to network. Regardless of whether they are in the same city as you or on the opposite side of the country, Blogging is a good way to gain exposure with companies or foundations that interest you is to follow their blogs and leave thoughtful comments on their posts.

5. Show Your Strengths

Blogging allows you to show off your strongest attributes. Post about your personal successes and model your knack for critical thinking, communication, and community engagement.