Interview with a blogger - Mike Taylor

Of all the bloggers listed on the UK Recruitment Blogs Feed page I've known Mike the longest.  I met Mike in the mid 90s when he was working in HR at a technologies company in Newbury.  Over the year's we've kept in contact, helped by the fact that Mike is great supporter of our networking events (here he is, beer in hand).  Mike is an online recruitment specialist so naturally his blog covers Online Recruitment and Online Marketing. 

How long have you been blogging?

I have been blogging since 2005 and my current blog has been active since June 2006

Why did you start?

I closely monitor what is happening in the world of online marketing, especially in terms of how it could affect online recruitment. I attended a Search Engine Strategies conference in New York at the end of February 2005 and from what was talked about at the conference I could see that blogging was really starting to take off. 

What do you do, work related, when you aren't blogging?

I run a number of online marketing campaigns for companies as well as providing consultancy to companies looking to improve their online recruitment visibility. I also spend time looking at what is happening in the world of online recruitment to see how it could affect my clients.

Do you think blogging has helped your business?

I think one of the best things about blogging is that you never know who will end up reading your blog? Other bloggers can link to you and as a result you can get enquiries from people who you would never had a chance of meeting before (which has happened to me). 

What do you feel is the biggest challenge about writing a blog?

I think one of the main challenges lies in the terminology of “blog” or “blogging” as it can sound confusing?  A blog is simply an updateable web site where you login with a username and password. People can then subscribe to your blog to be notified whenever you post a new entry and leave comments. The challenge is then to get in the habit of updating your blog on a regular basis.

What's another blog that you read and why do you recommend it?

I read a number of recruitment related blogs, including www.cheezhead.com. The blog is written by Joel Cheesman and covers online recruitment, online marketing and search marketing.

What do you want your reader’s to know about you?

Before I started my online recruitment consultancy, , I worked in HR and Recruitment for companies like IBM and Nokia. Therefore when talking to recruiters I can understand what it is like to work in a HR or Recruitment department for a company.   

If you knew someone was thinking about starting a recruitment related blog, what advice would you want to give them?

Make sure they are 100% certain as to why they want to start a blog, and then keep at it! Don’t have a blog just of the sake of having one. There are millions or examples of blogs where after a strong start they just fade away. 

Is there a question you wished I asked you?

I wished you had asked me about my Online Job Hunting Guide. I first wrote it in 2003 and believe it or not it is an online guide to job hunting or the internet!