Yesterday, I mentioned we’d be giving our blog and related social media outlets a bit more love.  Maybe it’s dumb to tell you we’re going to do this instead of just doing it, but we’re all for transparency and “hugging it out.”   

As I wrote before, blogging was what got us interested in “making a difference” with jobseekers and employers in the first place.  When we were at Microsoft, we were informally helping applicants and hiring managers alike via our blog, and the feeling was intoxicating.  Our blog also opened doors and fostered connections for others that were equally amazing.  It was a special thing.

The Microsoft blog started as our personal endeavor but evolved into something much more formal (via our pushing it in that direction, of course), but we were also super excited to get back to just good ol’ blogging.

But personally, I felt more restrained on the JobSyntax blog than over on JobsBlog.  Instead of just being a place for us to interact with you and write down our thoughts, there was this pressure to “market” our business.  Not that I’d ever tell you to click over and hire us, but since we set up our company as a business with a blog, it felt odd.  And it took some of the fun, energy, and creativity out of it for us. In hindsight, we probably should have been a blog with a business – and well, that’s what we’re moving toward.  It’s such a fine line and hard to articulate, but there is a difference.

We refer to this renewed focus on the social media aspect of our site as the “academic” side of JobSyntax.  We’re both really interested in how this same social media we’re talking about is shaping traditional marketing and, in particular, personal and employment branding.   How is the use of text, images, video, and audio changing the job and candidate search and experience?  How are greater transparency and open conversations evolving why and how people take new jobs … and stay in those jobs?  Who’s doing it well?  Who’s not doing it well?  And how could everyone be doing it better? 

With these questions as a platform, we hope to use our own social media features to follow the employment industry as it evolves.  (Yes, that means we're going to blog about blogging ... trendy, no?) :) We all know the employment industry is about as old-school as it gets, but today’s jobseekers expect more and need more, and it’s a fascinating journey to follow.  At least we think it is, but we're geeks. :)

I do want to make it clear that the target audience of our blog has always been those interested in employment issues … jobseekers, hiring managers, interviewers, recruiters, employment marketers, and all other innocent bystanders.  That broad audience base won’t change.  Vacuums are no fun, and we want this to continue to be a place where we can all talk about  how it really is out there in the job and candidate market ... especially since all those types of folks I just named are producers and consumers of employment and career-related social media.  This involves everyone.

Finally, those of you reading our blog for resume writing or interviewing tips may not get your fix … unless it is social media related, of course.  However, we LOVE dispensing advice as well as fostering a high quality place to get advice, so we hope to keep this discussion alive in forums.  After all, forums are an important part of social media, too!

We'd be excited to hear what you think about all this, and any feedback or ideas are welcome!

gretchen