Looking for a job? Start a blog.

On the Django Discord server, I often see people ask for advice on getting a job. Personally, I think the best option is getting the inside track on an opportunity through your network. Whatever you’re doing, you should be maximizing along that path. Unfortunately, a network isn’t something you grow instantaneously. It’s something you cultivate over time. See Jay Miller’s fantastic blog post on how to do it best.

Assuming you’re already doing that, what next? I would recommend presenting what you would bring to your next team. How do you communicate? What perspectives do you bring?

You want to help them envision how their team will be better by you being on it. This is where you can draw their attention to the best aspects of yourself and let their imagination run wild with the possibilities of the future.

More tangibly, if you’re on the team, you’re going to have to communicate with others. The whole process of developing software is heavily dependent on communication.

• Planning: Can you understand what change is being asked for?
• Development: Can you help others understand the changes and trade-offs?
• Retrospective: Can you communicate the results of the change and where to go in the future?

Every part of your role depends on communication. How well you communicate your expectations and understand others’ expectations will determine how well you do at the company.

Obviously, the best way to showcase your communication skills is to… Communicate. A blog post allows a hiring manager to see how you communicate before they ever talk to you. It’s a sample of your soft skills, which form the basis of being on a team and integrating into a company. Beyond showcasing your knowledge, personality and perspective, writing helps you improve your understanding and build your own brand.

So now you may be asking, “What should I write?” If you aren’t, great, stop reading and go write. Then tell me about it. I want to read it. Seriously. I do.

But if you’re one of the folks who could benefit from a little inspiration, here are some topics:

• What’s something you learned recently? Explain it to others.
• What’s a pattern, trick, or habit you have in your development process? Explain what it is and the benefits of it.
• What’s a technical decision you made recently? Explain the trade-offs and your rationale.
• When someone comes to you with an app idea, how do you break it down? Share your process.
• When a colleague asks you to vet their new project, what are you reviewing? Explain your process.
• What’s your code review process? When does something become a required change, and when is it a nitpick? Explain your thought process and rationale.

If you have a different topic in mind that you’re more interested in, that’s great. Write about that instead! That enthusiasm is going to show up in your piece and make it much more enjoyable to read. Your personality is more likely to come across, which again is the point here. You want others to know what it’s like to work with you.

How to get started blogging

Don’t sweat where you host it. The point is to make it publicly available. You can use GitHub Pages. Ken Whitesell does this and it doesn’t impede his ability to share information.

Worried about moving it later? If you buy a domain down the road, you can set up redirects. It’s a solvable, straightforward issue. I promise it’s not a sign of technical debt or being a bad developer.

I personally have a Jekyll site, hosted on Netlify. Others use Pelican. Some, like Django Commons, use Hugo.

If you just want to publish right now (good call!), you can use dev.to or Medium.

The important piece is that it’s accessible and easy to find on your portfolio, socials and resume. Then share it with your network.

A quick word on being judged

You will feel some imposter syndrome here. I’m telling you to write an article so others can read it and conclude that you’d be a great addition to their team.

Yes, this will cause anxiety.

That anxiety is a good thing.

Don’t let that anxiety prevent you from publishing.

However, do let that anxiety help you to do more research and deepen your understanding. Writing can increase your knowledge the same way that teaching material makes you understand it better. When you write out a point, you have to consider, why do I think that? Is there a different way to do that? Answering those types of questions rounds out your expertise, even if you don’t include that in your article.

So please publish; we want to read what you write.

A quick word on using AI in your writing

A key aspect of my point here is that you’re communicating what you understand and what you think. It’s likely tempting to use AI to generate a few blog posts to appear attractive to an employer. However, using AI to write for you creates a facade of yourself and prevents people from actually connecting with you.

Writing is the best passive job-seeking activity

Nothing is going to beat actually applying, reaching out to your network, and writing resumes and cover letters. But if you’re already doing that and want an edge, write.

Write about your interests. Write about your knowledge. Write about your process.

Being vulnerable and showing others how you communicate will help you stand out by letting them see how you could complement their team.