Want to Hire a Social Media Manager Dont Hire An Expert - Workology

Want to Hire a Social Media Manager Don’t Hire An “Expert - Workology Do you know a good social media expert with 10+ years experience? Me neither, and that’s because social media as a legitimate business tool has only been around for about 3-5 years or so. Businesses that look to hire so-called “gurus” or  â€œexperts in this space are mistaken on two fronts: 1. Social media shouldn’t be someone’s only job. 2. No one can be a “guru,” “master” or “ninja” of something that has been around less than a decade, and at the rate it’s being adopted, calling someone an expert in it is a terrible idea. If everyone is using it, everyone is an expert and you’ll soon find that person obsolete.  Think about it. Hiring a social media manager is like trying to hire a mobile texting manager. It’s a channel of communication not a job. But how do you hire a competent person to manage the social communication and presence of your business? Don’t you need someone for this? Of course you do, but hiring someone to manage social communication and nothing else not only sets that person up to fail, but hinders the potential of your social channels as an organization. Don’t mistake a millennial for a social media expert Too many companies assume that all early talent, millennials fresh out of college, are good at social media and therefore can handle the social communication on behalf of their organization. This isn’t fair to millennials and it isn’t a sound business decision. Sure, young people get social, but how much do they know about communicating about your business? Also, not just young people are  familiar with social anymore. In fact, the largest growing demographic using Twitter are adults between the ages of 55-64 and on Facebook and Google + it’s 45-54. If you’re going to bring an entry-level person to help with this, that’s great, but  bring them in under the wing of a profession like PR, marketing or recruiting which are functions that require such skills because social media isn’t an industry or a careerâ€"it’s a communication skill. Social media as a profession is dying While social media as a communication skill is revolutionizing business, social media as a stand-alone profession is dying. For example, I head up recruiting at Glassdoor, but I use social media A LOT. Many of my friends confuse my career and assume I do social media for a living because I use it to brand my company, myself and as a way to make hiring people more human and efficient. I attract talent and hire talent…I’m in recruiting….not social media. Social media is a tool I use for recruiting. Other teams at Glassdoor also use social media, PR uses it to communicate with reporters, marketing uses it as a channel to get in front of customers, and so forth. If someone was only doing social media at Glassdoor, I’d ask that person…for what? What’s the other half of your job? You’re looking for a chameleon As much as you want many departments to understand social, I get it. You want one person to run the overall show. When hiring this person, look for someone with direct experience in community management or managing the social presence of a brand. If going for someone more  intro  level find someone who knows a little bit about everything. I like to hunt down folks with a background in PR, marketing, journalism or some facet of communicationsâ€"and from there look for other complimentary skills like a knack for data or an obvious multitasker. It takes more wit than you might imagine to say something meaningful in 140 characters but if your candidate is doing that properly among his or her personal social channels, it says a lot about how that skill will translate to your business. .ai-rotate {position: relative;} .ai-rotate-hidden {visibility: hidden;} .ai-rotate-hidden-2 {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-fallback, .ai-list-block {visibility: hidden; position: absolute; width: 50%; height: 1px; z-index: -9999;} Ultimately if you’re hiring someone to manage the social channels of your business, you’re hiring a next-generation communicator. Don’t mistake that to mean just a recent grad with a BA, and don’t make social media that person’s only job. Instead, make sure multiple departments within your organization are using social media to their advantages and if you’re hiring someone to run the overall show, make sure that person knows a bit about each of those departments and is willing to spread their knowledge across the organization. Disagree? Think social media is the new black? Leave it in the comments below.