Staffing Up For Search - SES NYC 2008
Mary Bowling | 25 March 2008 |
With all the recent news of recession, it’s impossible to predict how things will shake out in the search industry. But right here, right now, it’s increasingly evident that there’s a shortage of good, experienced professionals in all areas of SEO and SEM.
An entire session a the recent Search Engine Strategies Conference and Expo in New York City - Staffing Up for Search - was devoted to attracting and retaining employees in our fast growing industry. Conference organizer and session moderator, Kevin Ryan, called it “the hottest topic in Search today”. When Ryan asked the audience how many of them were ” desperately seeking staff”, nearly everyone in the room raised their hands.
In the packed expo hall, a few exhibitors used significant areas of their display space to solicit applicants by extolling the virtues of working for their organizations. Others passed out slick flyers listing their numerous job openings. The first staffing agency for SEOs and SEMs, OnwardSearch.com, used their own booth at the show to encourage both employers and job seekers to use their matchmaking services. We even found flyers at the Starbucks next door to the conference venue advertising industry openings in New York City.
Other signs of the shortage are the number of job boards springing up across the web- ClickZ, I-Media, SEOmoz, SEMPO and Stuntdouble to name a few. In addition, general online recruiters, such as Monster.com and Indeed.com, typically display scores of openings for online marketers at any given time.
The panelists at “Staffing Up for Search”, Kendall Allan, Frank Watson, Mike Moran and Nell Thompson offered these tips for employers:
Be flexible. Consider part timers, job sharers and flex time.
Consider subcontracting some of your work. You don’t need t do it all in-house.
Use consultants to help you diagnosis problems and develop strategies.
Challenge your current employees to keep them interested.
Pay your valuable employees in order to retain them. It’s much more cost effective than recruiting and training new ones.
Look for creative, driven people with intelligence and the ability to think outside the box. You can’t train people to be curious or enthusiastic, but you can train those types of people to become good search marketers.
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