With social media on the rise globally a lot of new positions have opened up. Job titles like Social media analysts, managers, executives, consultant, catalysts, evangelists, strategists etc have sprung up! Now Job titles might be plenty but key basic skills are common across them. Lots of companies make the mistake of not hiring properly and then end up paying the price of badly done social media campaigns.
Here are a few ways/tips in which I would recommend to hire for social media positions within your company:
1) There is no substitute for smart learners – Social media skills apart one needs to hire smart learners. Social media itself is nascent and if you hire people who can’t learn quickly and implement even quicker then you are making a mistake
2) Understanding is more important than experience - Lots of people claim to have done social media work. I would be very wary of believing that at face value. I believe its important to test understanding of social media and approach more than experience. It would be very hard to find people with continuous experience as well over a long period of time.
3) Creativity is key - A lot of people undermine the ability of a creative mind. I would test the creative ideas (whether social media or offline ) of the person Im looking to hire. 1 creative idea on social media can give your brand or campaign the impetus it deserves.
4) Integrity is paramount – Social media is about conversations in a public domain. Lot of people underrate its influence today but it does have real world impact. Its important to have the highest integrity values on your side while conversing in social media. A person with high integrity and values certainly helps.
Hope you like my points above. Do add via comments if you feel I may have left out any aspect.
