Home > Articles > Business & Management > Personal Development

Throw Away the Resume!

Like this article? We recommend

Like this article? We recommend

Career Impact of Formal Publishing

The impact of formal publishing on your career can be dramatic. Having an article published increases your credibility—it elevates you from professional to recognized expert. It can dramatically increase your visibility and make potential employers take notice.

This is not a step-by-step approach to writing an article or getting published. There are numerous books covering those topics. The following section simply provides some tips for getting started.

Start with What You Know

This is critical. Although an accomplished writer can and will undertake subjects that require significant research, the best way to get published is to write about a subject you know well. You are probably already an expert in some aspect of your job. Even if it is a narrow specialty, this is where you start. The reasons are simple.

First, this is where you will have more knowledge than a significant portion of the population, which is what expertise actually is. You do not have to know more than everyone to be called an expert—just more than the majority of people.

Second, this is where your career will naturally grow. Unless you pursue writing as a career, your published articles are not about the dollars you earn by publishing them (thank goodness), but about the credibility gained and the opportunities and salary they can enhance. Writing to your area of expertise is important because that is the area in which employers and opportunity will meet you. In effect, your publishing efforts showcase why a company should talk to you.

Know Your Audience

You cannot write for everyone. Is your audience the IT manager, the business executive, the IT professional, or some other reader? Understanding who you are writing to is critical for identifying the tone of the article and a prospective publication.

For instance, most small newspapers are not interested in highly technical articles. Their audience is broader, so your writing has to be correspondingly broad to be published there. On the other hand, a highly technical article on a specific programming language or technique would make a nice fit in a programming journal or an online technology site.

Knowing your audience helps your writing have more impact and greatly increases your chance of getting published.

Read Similar Articles to Identify Tone and Focus

One key to getting published is to understand a given publication’s tone and focus. Whether online or in print, publications have guidelines for article length and how deeply a given topic is covered. It is important that you recognize this if you want to be published.

Almost all publications have guidelines on their websites or have an editor you can contact to get their guidelines. Some publications even have an editorial calendar that identifies the topics they will be publishing in the coming months.

Reading similar articles and understanding editorial needs go a long way toward helping you get published.

Three Main Points

A good starting point for your first publishing attempt is to focus on three primary ideas. Similar to the framework for case studies, narrowing the ideas to three provides a framework for focusing your article. Otherwise, your article might lack impact.

This focus is particularly important for technology-related articles. If you are covering a specific product, for instance, you probably don’t need to write about each and every feature. It is better that you identify three broad features and merely allude to more detailed features.

Ask For (and Accept) Editorial Feedback

Editors are experts who know their audience. Accept their feedback, which might be difficult if you are too emotionally tied to your ideas. I often joke with my editors that they are "killing my baby" when they request changes. However, their insight will make you a better writer, greatly improving your chances for publishing success.

As you continue to work with an editor or publication, you will find that future articles come back with fewer edits. I attribute this to both improved writing and to an editor becoming more comfortable with your style.

Start Small

It is unlikely that you will publish the first article you write, but a simple way to increase your chances is to identify smaller publications. Editors need content. Local publications often struggle to find writers, and they often have less-formal submission guidelines (often allowing you to speak directly with the editor). This type of feedback can help you better focus your article, greatly increasing the chances for publication.

Once you have published a few articles for smaller local publishers, you can use those articles to approach larger publications (they like to know they are working with an experienced writer).

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020