This weekend I had a group of students ask me about the future of careers in social. They love the potential of community managers, social analytics management, and social innovation! But they asked for what we look for in hiring someone social!
Here’s my tops!
- Live it! If you want a social career, and I check out your social profiles and you don’t have a twitter account and haven’t used LinkedIn for a while, you probably aren’t passionate about social as a career!
- Know your social influence. Don’t just have a lot of followers but I want to see your engagement and influence. One young man who interviewed with me showed me his engagement in a “lawn mower” community. It was amazing!
- Empathy. I just watched 60 minutes and they showed that the best designers empathize with their clients. The same is true in social. It is not about broadcasting messages but showing that you understand and care.
- Change the world. Aspire big!. I want those on social to be innovative and think they can change the world. We are just starting in this realm and I am looking for how things can be done. Change is essential in social. A great change management leader for the culture will be a must have.
- Understand the business. I don’t just want someone who understands social but someone who will leverage social in our business. Do you understand our business? Show me that you are not just a social star but can leverage it to grow the business.
Yes, I have more but I’d love to hear your thoughts. What do you look for when hiring social?
I think that Community Management will be a big thing in 2013 as we see companies become more mature in their approach to Social Media.
Thank you for sharing this! It is exactly what I needed to see as I look to launch my career in a social role and it can be challenging for “entry level.” I look forward to learning more from you!
I am so glad it helped. I hope that you let me know what else I could do do to assist!