1. Starting a Career Services Blog
Alicia Smyth & Valerie Kielmovitch
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
FCPA Conference 2012

2. What is a Blog?
• The term comes from “web log”
• A personal journal published on the web
which consists of entries or posts that are
displayed in reverse chronological order
• Single individual or small group, often with
a theme on a specific subject

3. Key Blogging Terms
• Blogosphere: collective community of blogs,
used by media to gauge public opinion on a
topic
• Blook: blog-based books
• Blogroll: list of links that bloggers share or
recommend to readers

4. Notable Career Blogs
• CAREEREALISM
• Lindsey Pollak - Career Blog
• Dan Schawbel – Personal Branding Blog
• Tim’s Strategy – Ideas for Job Search, Career
and Life
• Gradversity

5. Why Blog?
• Disseminate information to constituents
• Spotlight special populations and success
stories
• Build brand as an expert
• Increase credibility on campus
• Drive traffic to your university/career center
website
• Provide added value to career center resources

6. Getting Started
• Determine the focus of the blog and
brainstorm content ideas
• Decide on a platform
• Identify staff who will manage/edit; get buy-in
from entire team
• Create branding
• Set up blog
• Start blogging
• Market blog to constituents

7. Deciding on a Platform
• WordPress
• Blog.com
• Google Blogger
• TypePad Micro
• Tumblr
• Weebly
• LiveJournal

8. Blog Content Ideas
• Spotlights
 Alumni
 Students on co-op/internship
 Employer Spotlights
• Announcements
• Photos and stories from professional
conferences, presentations, or other events
• Book and/or resource reviews
• Success stories

9. Blog Content Ideas, continued
• Breaking News
• Student and employer perspectives
• Top Ten lists
• Articles
• Aspects of the job search
• Networking
• Economic Trends
• Career fair/event preparation

10. Content Sources
• Career Services staff
• Alumni
• Students
• Faculty
• Employers
• Experts in the college hiring realm
• FCPA members/other university career center
staff

11. Marketing Your Blog
• Send out an initial launch email to all students, alumni, and
faculty/staff
• Send out a regular blog digest to students and alumni who are
seeking a job
• Promote all blog posts on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter
• Personally email faculty when students/alums from their program are
featured
• Make it easy for others to share content and/or follow your blog by
using widgets (Follow button, RSS feed, etc.)
• Ask other departments on campus to cross-promote: alumni
relations, academics, communications, admissions, etc.
• Add link/icon to your website and email signature
• Make sure blog comes up in Google and Bing search results

12. Assessing Blog Success
• Analytics
• Feedback from students and alumni
• Number of comments
• Number of social media shares
• Recognition from external and/or internal
sources

13. Potential Challenges
• Limited resources – time and/or staff
• Spotlights can be difficult to obtain
• Staff may be technically-challenged
• May have to deal with negative feedback
• Institution may not be in favor of blogging
• IT may not support external sites/systems
• Takes time to build a following

14. Blogging Tips
• Choose a template that is clean and visually
pleasing
• Use catchy headlines
• Make posts easy to read and use your own
personal writing style
• Keep post paragraphs short and concise
• Use bulleted lists, bold, or italics for emphasis
• A picture says 1000 words
• Use spellcheck; then re-read content

15. Blogging Tips, continued
• Plan blog posting schedule in advance; allow
everyone in the office to contribute
• Post with some frequency
• Use categories and tags to make finding
content within your blog easy
• Hyperlink when possible and relevant
• Reference works cited
• Keep content interesting and timely
• Don’t be afraid to modify as you go along

16. Special Considerations
Time Commitment
• Initial Set-up: at least 1 day
• Technical Maintenance: 1-2 hours, monthly
• Writing Articles: 2-3 hours, weekly
• Editing: 1-2 hours, weekly
• Logistics: 1-2 hours, semesterly
Note: all are approximate and depend on number of
posts planned/week, technical ability, and time
management

17. Special Considerations, continued
University Policies
• Does your campus have a social media or
blogging policy?
Information Technology
• Does your IT department have a blogging
platform integrated into existing web product,
or is there an external platform they prefer?

18. The Embry-Riddle Career
Services Blog Experience
• Inspired by a tweet
• How we got started
 Collaborated with team to determine blog’s
function and focus
 Identified key players
 Selected a platform and learned how to use it
 Came up with theme and design

19. ERAU CSO Blog Management
Staffing:
• Technical management, writing and editing
• Logistics, writing and editing
Frequency:
• Fall/Spring: 2x week
• Summer: 1x week

20. Career Services Blog Examples
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
(Demo): http://eraucso.wordpress.com
• The University of Vermont:
http://www.uvm.edu/~career/blog/
• Marylhurst University:
http://marylhurstcareerservices.wordpress.
com

21. Additional Resources
• 10 Steps to Creating a WordPress Blog:
http://www.seerinteractive.com/blog/10-
steps-to-creating-a-wordpress-blog
• Recommended Blogging Resources:
http://www.problogger.net/recommended-
blogging-resources
• Books About Blogging (Amazon.com):
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2
?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=blog

22. Questions?
Thank you for your time! If you have
additional questions about blogging, please
contact us!
Alicia: smythc6c@erau.edu
Valerie: kielmovv@erau.edu