Hiring content staff – what do you look for?

[Kevin Rapley]

I am going to be putting together my personal website which will work as my CV/Résumé and portfolio of both user experience design and content strategising. Rather than dive into designing and writing — like it seems a lot of people do for their personal space — instead, I am going to practice what I preach and conduct user research around hiring managers expectations of what constitutes a good résumé and portfolio.

So, you lovely people, what do you look for when hiring content staff and what are the expectations of the candidates web presence? If you can take into account that I am coming from the UX/Interaction Design angle too, then all the better. 

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Warm regards,

Kevin Rapley / User Experience Designer
0772 345 7862

[Rahel Anne Bailie]

Too funny - I was just talking with my staff a few minutes ago about my next blog post: Why I'm not hiring your graduates" which would focus on the skills I would look for, and which absent skills, would be deal-breakers for content strategists.

Having said that, hiring managers/clients have different deal-breakers, so it's probably not practical to think in those terms for your site. I'd think your background could be very valuable, and I would emphasize how you apply those skills to content. I've done a fair bit of hiring in my day - both contractors and staff - and what I'd say is to build a distinct "personality" through your resume and blog posts that let people know what they're getting when they sign you up. It tells potential clients/employers what you're about, and distinguishes your particular skill set from others. It may turn off some people, but you don't want to work with them, anyway. So when I'm looking through resumes, a lot of it is comparing people's skill sets relative to the other applicants. If you're up against a strong batch of candidates, you want your site to really demonstrate what you can do that the others can't. Because there are so many types of content strategists, you want to demonstrate your particular skill set, whatever that may be.

Hope that's a helpful perspective - I'm sure you'll get lots more!

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Rahel Anne Bailie (@rahelab)
Content Strategist / Content Management / Information Architecture
Intentional Design Inc. www.intentionaldesign.ca
Content strategies for business impact
http://about.me/rahel.bailie 

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[Carrie-Jean Walker]

Hi Kevin,

Just to pipe in my few cents as a content strategy recruiter, I have to agree with Rahel.

It's fantastic to be able to point people to real examples of what you do, so go ahead and build the website. They'll look. But this is a different tool than the summary you need to give a potential employer about where you've been and the not-readily-visible-on-the-website stuff you know that helped you build that genius site. We don't know the stuff that supermodels get up to to be able to look that way. It's kind of the same with a website (if you'll work with the analogy). Your best approach is the good old-fashioned CV (résumé) for starters.

Potential hirers are going to want to see what you're about in a format they can compare in a pile with the other applicants because, well, that's the easiest (call it "most efficient") approach for them. When your info looks good there, they go look your stuff up.
Unless you have the good fortune to already have name recognition from your blog or social media. Then you're one up in the CV pile, but they'll still go to your genius website. And Google. And LinkedIn... All of it.

Good luck with it!

CJ

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[Caitlin Steele-Williams]

I look for a website/portfolio that uses best practices. If the designer/developer says they know/use a technology but their own portfolio lacks proof, I pass on to the next in the pile.

This is  a great article on why you should implement responsive design when it comes to your web resume:

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/a-case-for-responsive-resumes/

Best wishes, Caitlin

C A I T L I N  S T E E L E - W I L L I A M S
Director of Communications & Marketing
Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory
1055 Ellis Street, San Francisco, CA 94109
415.775.6626 ext. 689  Desk
415.931.6941  Fax
http://www.shcp.edu

On 6/14/12 8:52 AM, "Kevin Rapley" <ke...@digikev.co.uk> wrote:

[Kevin Rapley]

Thank you Rahel and Carrie-Jean for your perspectives. You have provided some great advice. Rahel, I have been checking out your site looking for the new blog post you mentioned — I can’t see it yet — have you published, or am I missing something?

I would really like to hear from some more of the list who hire content strategists on what you look for. Please, please keep them coming.

[Rahel Anne Bailie]

Here's the first of four posts:

http://intentionaldesign.ca/2010/06/09/world-of-content-strategists/ 

When you read this one, you'll get led to the next post.

Enjoy!

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Rahel Anne Bailie (@rahelab)
Content Strategist / Content Management / Information Architecture
Intentional Design Inc. www.intentionaldesign.ca
Content strategies for business impact
http://about.me/rahel.bailie 

[Kevin Rapley]

This is great input Mary, thank you for sharing. On a more general note, I have listed the following as things that employers want to know about a candidate. A lot of these are pretty standard.

Which of these do you want to see on a candidates CV/Website, and which are best to keep until interview?

• Who have you worked with?
• What design problems have you overcome?
• Which tools and processes are you familiar with?
• How many years experience do you have?
• How qualified are you?
• How easily will you integrate with my existing team?
• What knowledge and gaps in my current team will you be able to fill?
• What are your weaknesses?
• How committed are you to work, and what is your drive like towards it?
• How motivated are you towards work, and what is your level of enthusiasm?
• Do you work well in teams? What inputs do you have to teamwork?
• How good are you at communicating?
• How flexible and adaptable are you to work, and working environments?
• How focused are you on customers? (clients)
• How do you learn and progress your career?
• Do you have commercial awareness?
• How do you plan and organise work?
• How are your time management skills?
• What leadership qualities do you have?
• How sensitive are you to work culture?
• What is your level of computer literacy?
• How are your project management skills?
• Are you good at writing reports?
• Are you a risk taker, or more risk averse?
• How do you ensure you stick to deadlines and estimates?

On 15 July 2012 16:08, Mary Ann Geier <maryan...@gmail.com> wrote:

You've gotten some good input here, and I wish you success. I like your idea of getting some input from real "users" out there. 

I've been hiring content staff for about 3 years in a corporate environment that manages several sites, mobile apps, and intranets.  Over that time, the way I hire has changed a bit as I learn from my wins and mistakes.

I tap the local web pro network for candidates, and seek out people who are part of the active local community of learning and idea exchange about web, interactive, etc. (btw, I'm in Philadelphia) Someone who's interested in all of it, not just web copy or some narrow slice of it. I ask others whose work I respect, and I scour the twitters and online group discussions, and follow the links in sigs, etc. I think you need to be kinda hungry just to stay minimally up to date, really. And I seek out content folks who are more than just up to date.

There have been times I've gone outside of that network of necessity, and it's just more difficult and time consuming. I try to narrow the field along skills and work examples. Then I may ask to speak with them on the phone or in person. I want to get a feel for how comfortable they are with advocating for the user, how open they are to change and willing to adopt (or help create) a new process, liiiiiiike...content audits, editorial calendars, etc. 

I want to find out if they can get motivated to participate in or lead regular, periodic user interviewing or testing. If I get the sense that they try to dismiss or avoid this, then frankly it's a red flag. I look for resourcefulness, and an ability to work around obstacles and to bootstrap solutions. I ask for their opinions of other sites, other content creators, designers, book authors. If their aesthetic sense is way out of tune with my strategy, then it's probably not going to work.

Of their previous work, I'd like them to be able to tell me what its purpose was, how did it fulfill that purpose, and how you can tell whether it did or not. 

I onced worked with a really great project manager (as in PMP certified, huge enterprise projects) who described his approach to choosing project partners this way--intentionally look for ways to eliminate them from contention. If you can't eliminate them, then you've got a good candidate. It may sound negative or trite, but I actually think it can be a helpful discipline to prioritize must haves, nice to haves, and the proverbial 'good fit.'

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[Jess Sand]

Hi all,

My day job is hiring a Digital Engagement & Product Director; application materials should go to Liz Maw at car...@netimpact.org, but I'm happy to answer any questions folks might have. The position is a new one, and is based in San Francisco, CA. Please feel free to distribute the link or full description to your networks. 

bit.ly/Od3GZr 

Thanks,

Jess

.         .          .          .         .          .         .         .          .          .        . 

Jess Sand   | http://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicasand

Digital Engagement & Product Director

The Digital Engagement & Product Director is responsible for Net Impact’s web strategy, execution, and digital programming. He or she oversees a team of content producers and product managers to deliver a compelling and differentiated web experience to Net Impact members. Engagement with these products will move people up the ladder of engagement and towards our strategic outcomes, which are focused around inspiring and enabling people to find and use careers to improve the world. This is an exciting opportunity for a sharp, energetic, ambitious person to make a big positive impact. This position will supervise a small but growing team of 1-3 team members, will collaborate across program and marketing teams, and will manage relationships with contractors and vendors.

Direct responsibilities include:

• Develop strategy, products, and content for Netimpact.org that align with our mission and strategy and complement offline programs
• Lead creation, iteration, and management of digital products
• Understand customer needs and behavior
• Design, test, manage, and refine digital products that lead to strategic outcomes (including job board, student project portal, member networking tools, others)
• Monetize products (when applicable)
• Identify appropriate off-the-shelf technology products and manage pricing and licensing agreements
• Oversee content strategy and creation of compelling digital content, both created by Net Impact and curated from its community
• Responsible for “engagement pyramid,” digital user experience and delivering valuable digital tools that drive deeper engagement with Net Impact and membership monetization
• With program teams, set and measure digital outcomes that lead to both online and off-line actions and behavior change

Qualifications and Skills

• Proven record of successful team leadership and management
• 7+ years of relevant experience, including team leadership and people management
• Entrepreneurial and positive attitude
• Demonstrated understanding of web development and design life cycle
• Experience overseeing high quality content production
• Familiarity with product monetization including experience in building financial models, developing tiered pricing strategies, etc
• Deep experience with project management processes and methodologies
• Exceptional verbal and writing skills
• Very motivated, creative and willing to take risks
• Enthusiastic commitment to Net Impact’s mission
• High standards for excellence and exceptional attention to detail
• Flexibility and a sense of humor
• Nonprofit/mission-driven experience strongly preferred

To Apply

Please send the following application materials to Liz Maw at car...@netimpact.org. Please write your name and the title for this position (“Your name – Digital Engagement & Product Director”) in the subject line of your email.

• Thoughtful cover letter explaining your interest in the position and Net Impact, your qualifications, and your salary requirement or history
• Resume

Hours: Full-time
Location: Downtown San Francisco, CA USA
Compensation: Competitive compensation and benefits package

[Jess Sand]

My apologies for failing to change the subject line!

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[Lori M]

Hi Kevin

I am a Sr Content Manager and what I look for in content strategy is

-the ability to write, an English Journalism or Communicatons degree is a good start

-deep knowledge of user experience

-portoflio of work you did...remember-I need to be able to read the writing (so make it large enough to read)

-variety of work in porfolio

-experience with search, taxonomy, etc

-I want to see a twitter handle too and a linked in profile so I can see what you so there too

 

Wish you luck.

On Thursday, June 14, 2012 11:52:37 AM UTC-4, Kevin Rapley wrote: