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My friend Amber Naslund had a great post recently about the problems with social media job descriptions. I agreed with much of what she said. So many job descriptions for social media related positions really just make me laugh.
My first reaction is usually to blame the company. They obviously don’t get “it” and are making themselves look foolish with these job descriptions they’re posting online.
But wait…
Why am I blaming the company?
I thought we’re encouraging companies to start to experiment with social media platforms. I thought companies are supposed to open their mind. Now when they take their first step into social media, we judge them for not getting it right?
Amber really got me thinking. How can companies, who know nothing about social media, know what to ask of a social media job candidate? There’s a disconnect there.
How can companies fill this disconnect? Should they start by approaching social media platforms with the employees and resources they already have? Then when they’re a bit more comfortable with it, they can hire and build out a full team? That’s what Lee Aase and the Mayo Clinic did and it seemed to work pretty well for them.
Or do they rely on external recruiters? Hire someone to hire someone?
I have my own ideas which I’ll end up sharing in the comments, but I’d like to hear your thoughts first.
What do you think?
The should write less wordy job descriptions to start. I have a feeling the job descriptions you're seeing don't appear to have an open mind as to what the person in this position could do for the company. By writing too much, they are narrowing the field, their anticipations, etc. From doing quite a bit of job board browsing lately, I see this is a huge problem for lots of postings for lots of jobs.
For social media, specifically, I think bounding into a new realm might be intimidating to the establishment. They'd have to put a lot of trust into a new young kid in an arena they know nothing about.
That's the problem though isn't it? If they open themselves up too much, and they put too much trust in the candidate, they're making themselves an easier target for the snake-oil folks.
The ad I applied to for my current job simply said "Internet Marketing, using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Myspace." I didn't even take it too seriously becuase it sounded like a scam, or something a 12yo could do. I took a risk and found that the position was MUCH more than that, I just think the company simply didn't know what they didn't know.
This position is more of a brand manager/marketing director/social media director/online communication director. It involves managing the brand online, as well as PR, writing, web design, etc.
I think their ad could have turned away other highly qualified candidates because they were not aware of what a person in this key position was capable of doing. They almost lost me from the ad, as well. It all worked out and I couldn't be happier in my "internet marketing" role.
Stop using your companies pre-printed thank you notes. Hand write a thank you note! Hand writing is much more personal and it shows you care. More...
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