I really like this blog, "Laid Off and Looking", that examines eight unemployed MBAs by having them post personal blogs.

Internet privacy experts have warned us all that as we create profiles on Facebook, upload photos, and publish blogs, that all we're doing is making ourselves transparent. That is, the world knows everything about us. And that's a bad thing.

But is it really?

On the one hand, you might argue that those eight MBAs, by having them publish their personal thoughts of being laid off, and looking for new jobs, is actually giving their potential employers too much information. But I think that's what actually helps people get jobs.

There was a time when I was a manager for a software company, and I had to hire people for my department. I didn't really care about how much experience they had. What I REALLY wanted was someone that I could train quickly, could train themselves, problem-solve on their own, actually care about their work, and be responsible enough to get projects completed on time.

In other words, I was a manager who didn't want to manage. And in fact, that's true of every manager. Those kind of employees are golden.

But those are qualities you cannot teach. People don't learn those skills in school either. That stuff gets burned into their psyche during their youth.

The actual job skills, processes and procedures can always be taught.

So if I knew that a job applicant had his/her own blog, I'd read it right away knowing it could tell me a lot of things. How often is it updated? Did they use a defaut template, or customize it? Does it look neat and clean? Do they use proper spelling and grammar? Do they make creative ideas? Do they write intelligently?

Of course, if you have a blog, and still can't do any of these things, then I probably would not hire you. But those things are not really hard to do. The fact that you can do them consistently suggests that you're one of those golden employees. I'd recommend everyone write a blog, of any subject, sign it with your real name knowing that your potential employer will Google you and find it.

Use it to your advantage.