Pretty much everything you do while in college is all with the intent of securing a career when you finish your schooling. In addition to focusing on doing well in your classes, joining organizations, and doing community services, there is something that you can do that can make you stand out against the competition when job hunting.

Student Blogging

That important “extra credit” on your resume is a personal blog. If you blog while in college, spending a few minutes each week while in college can create your online reputation and make you look like a professional rock star to potential employees.

Getting Started With a Blog

If you are not already familiar with blogging, it can be very laid back and does not have to be a lot of work or structured. Make a goal of writing once a week, if you can write more often than that, it would be great, if you can only make it to writing once a month, that is alright too. Think of how much you will have written after four years! Blogs are free to set up and are very easy. The most popular free blogs are Word Press and Blogger. Both have templates to customize the blog the way you want it to look. Both types of blogs are very easy to post to, it really is like writing a word document, which does not take a lot of time.

Ideas for Your College Blog

Your blog does not have to be a perfect writing project. There are no grades for each entry, so don’t stress over the grammar and spelling; plus both blogging platforms give you alerts to misspelling and grammar errors just like a word document does. In addition, you will be surprised how much writing becomes easier for you when it is not a paper for a class. When you come up with your own ideas, the writing is done quickly and the ideas flow freely. Wondering about what to write about? There are many things to write about that others will want to read and also establishing you as an authority on the classes you are taking and your major area of study. Here are some blog ideas for your weekly college blog:

• Your favorite class or your favorite professor.
• Something you learned this past week. This can be something new you learned or even how learning something changed your opinion.
• Rant about something. Your entire blog should not be about negative experiences, but everyone likes to read a little controversy every once in a while.
• Write about your favorite college game or event that happened that week.
• Why did you choose your college major?
• Writing about local businesses that offer deals to college students might get you even more deals.
• Write about things for students to do in and around your college.
• Make sure to include positive things and keep it professional. Do not write anything that you wouldn’t want a potential employer or boss to read; and especially do not put anything that you wouldn’t want your professors to read. Include plenty of keywords about your industry, your school, and your major so that your blog shows up in searches.

Amanda is blogger and Brand Manager for RHL dorm bedding. She enjoys writing about college and dorm life.