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I see where you guys are going with this, and that's a fine place to be, if you're comfortable there. But blogging and putting code up on GitHub IS directly cor

I see where you guys are going with this, and that's a fine place to be, if you're comfortable there. But blogging and putting code up on GitHub IS directly correlated with letting people know who the heck you are, and not just sitting behind the corporate firewall, being a good little human-resource, hoping that your dedication gets noticed and yields good marks on your personnel file, so that you will continue to be employed, and be able to afford a new model steam engine. If you don't blog or use GitHub, or do something similar, then when that mid-life layoff happens, you'll may be at the mercy of recruiters and whatnot, to spice up your resume try to sell you.

gaius 16y ago
I really, really doubt anyone's blog is ever a deciding factor in a hiring situation. Really. Maybe this is different in very web-oriented specialities. Also I am very amused that you think anyone without a blog is a "good little human resource", as if writing a blog was some great accomplishment of individuality. People who don't do it don't do it because they're simply not interested. Doesn't mean blogs are a waste of time or anything, but they are just a hobby. Like stamp collecting. FWIW I have my name on the cover of a book, that was in actual real bookstores, about the main technology I use. I mention it on my CV. Hasn't resulted in any more than a minute's conversation in the (admittedly very few) interview's I've done since then. And as an interviewer and hiring manager, I've never taken a blog into consideration. Apart from for the author him or herself, blogs just aren't important. The bloke I'm thinking of with the steam engines, BTW, is pretty talented. He built his first one with electric tools and his second with tools powered by the first. And he's a great developer. Hiring some blogger over him would be a serious mistake for any organization...
- euroclydon 16y ago
  You're absolutely right in what you say, but I think we're talking past each other. Whether a blog exists or not is meaningless. It's what's in the blog that matters. And really, in this conversation, to me, blog is synonymous with self promotion. It's a topic I've been on the fence about for a while: how necessary, if at all, is self promotion? I think blogging and using github are just modern ways of networking and interacting with more people through technology. Writing a book is great, and so is being good at your work. Furthermore, I think the project nature of software development, lends itself more to developers being free-agents rather than employees, which was my original motivation for commenting here. I just hear so many recruiters and hiring managers pat themselves on the back for "finding a great developer", that I wish more developers would promote themselves in order to make it less of a talent search, and so that they could showcase their knowledge, talent, and capabilities to the widest audience.

gaius 16y ago

I really, really doubt anyone's blog is ever a deciding factor in a hiring situation. Really. Maybe this is different in very web-oriented specialities. Also I am very amused that you think anyone without a blog is a "good little human resource", as if writing a blog was some great accomplishment of individuality. People who don't do it don't do it because they're simply not interested. Doesn't mean blogs are a waste of time or anything, but they are just a hobby. Like stamp collecting. FWIW I have my name on the cover of a book, that was in actual real bookstores, about the main technology I use. I mention it on my CV. Hasn't resulted in any more than a minute's conversation in the (admittedly very few) interview's I've done since then. And as an interviewer and hiring manager, I've never taken a blog into consideration. Apart from for the author him or herself, blogs just aren't important. The bloke I'm thinking of with the steam engines, BTW, is pretty talented. He built his first one with electric tools and his second with tools powered by the first. And he's a great developer. Hiring some blogger over him would be a serious mistake for any organization...

euroclydon 16y ago
You're absolutely right in what you say, but I think we're talking past each other. Whether a blog exists or not is meaningless. It's what's in the blog that matters. And really, in this conversation, to me, blog is synonymous with self promotion. It's a topic I've been on the fence about for a while: how necessary, if at all, is self promotion? I think blogging and using github are just modern ways of networking and interacting with more people through technology. Writing a book is great, and so is being good at your work. Furthermore, I think the project nature of software development, lends itself more to developers being free-agents rather than employees, which was my original motivation for commenting here. I just hear so many recruiters and hiring managers pat themselves on the back for "finding a great developer", that I wish more developers would promote themselves in order to make it less of a talent search, and so that they could showcase their knowledge, talent, and capabilities to the widest audience.