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SEO News
How To Recruit An SEO - The SEO Industry Leaders Reveal Their Secrets |
| 2011-10-25 01:01 |
Posted by Matthew Ogston This post was originally in YOUmoz, and was promoted to the main blog because it provides great value and interest to our community. The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of SEOmoz, Inc. There comes a point in your career as an SEO when you need to recruit someone else. Whether that's to expand your own consulting firm, or as part of your management role within another company – either way you need to get another human being on-board with what you are doing.
Hiring is important, people can make or break a team, they create a culture and they determine whether your client projects are going to succeed or fail. You get my point, making good decisions when it comes to who you hire is critical. So how do you get good at hiring? Don't believe anyone who tells you that getting good at hiring is an overnight thing; that being said, there is a lot we can learn from people out there doing the hiring right now and I've been lucky enough to talk with some of the brightest minds in the SEO business to get to know their thought processes, insights, secrets, mistakes and tips. I imagine the following individuals need no introduction so I want to jump straight in to the good stuff but before I do I want to say a massive thank you to (in alphabetical order..) Patrick Altoft, Richard Baxter, Will Critchlow, Rand Fishkin, Russ Jones, Rob Kerry, Ian Lurie, Dave Naylor and Ben Norman. All of these guys either run or form part of the leadership team at some of the world's most widely respected SEO companies (mainly agencies, but Rand of course runs SEOmoz) so they definitely know their stuff when it comes to building a team that makes a business successful. Quick Question Links
#1 - How did you 'learn to hire'? Always a fun question to ask people since many will tell you that you can't learn to hire but still some very interesting responses. "You can't really learn how to hire a good SEO from a book or a seminar, some of the worst interviews that I've witnessed have been conducted by highly trained HR personnel. My hiring experience comes from the few interviews that I've had on the other side of the table, and 7+ years of practice in hiring SEOs." – Rob Kerry "There is no special formula or book that can teach that as far as I have seen." – Patrick Altoft "I taught myself through trial and error. I had to learn what a 'bad hire' looked like, first. It's expensive, but a mistake I think we all make from time to time." – Richard Baxter "Primarily from trial and error actually :-) I made a lot of hiring mistakes early in my career and over time, learned from that." – Rand Fishkin "I learnt how to interview from previous roles in other companies along with coaching from fellow coworkers at those companies." – Ben Norman "I don't think I have learnt how to hire an SEO as each experience and case is different. We don't follow typical recruitment patterns really as we hate the recruitment process that seems to be the norm these days with first and second interviews, having to do reports or develop a SEO strategy as people can prep for these things and often it doesn't show their real skills or personality." – Dave Naylor "Oh, I'm still learning. My role models tend to be historical: Abraham Lincoln surrounded himself with smart people he knew wouldn't always agree, but would be willing to say 'You're wrong, Mr. President.' I try very hard to do the same." – Ian Lurie "Like pretty much everything we do these days, I would say we have picked it up from some combination of first principles, trial and error and research. We have read a lot and taken a lot of advice, but you only really learn by doing." – Will Critchlow "I have always been a decent judge of personality and character, which tend to be the most important assets in a small business...the CEO of our company, who has far more experience hiring and firing, has been most useful in shaping who and how I hire." – Russ Jones The key takeaways from this seem to be that 'learning how to hire' comes with experience, a little theory from books and blogs, surrounding yourself with mentors you can learn from and making a few mistakes along the way. #2 – Do you hire with your heart or your head? "Most definitely my heart. It's probably not ideal but genuinely, I look out for people I think will blend in well with the team (a cultural fit) – this can't be measured with facts and figures, at least not in my experience. Obviously there's a requirement to demonstrate previous achievements, but I also look for raw intelligence and problem solving over experience. SEO I can teach, attitude and aptitude I cannot." – Richard Baxter Richard's thoughts on this really resonated with me and his logic rings true across any sector – industry-specific skills can be taught but you can't change how a person is. "Both. Because SEOmoz is such a strong, culture-driven environment, I think it's essential to have great culture-fit and the ability to enjoy one another's company, personally and professionally." – Rand Fishkin "I believe that I hire more with my heart than my head, but rarely do I find that they conflict." – Russ Jones "We use a bit of both really you need to use your head to ensure they are qualified to do the role and to answer the logistical questions such as skills and experience but you need to use your heart to ensure they are a good fit for your team and to understand how much they want the role and how much they are prepared to commit. We find that the people with less experience and more determination and want to succeed often end up doing better in the role as they are more committed." – Ben Norman "I reckon it's neither heart or head...normally it's a gut instinct." – Dave Naylor "I wish I could say my head, but I tend to hire more with my heart. In the end, my gut is always almost right, and my 'business sense' hiring decisions tend to end horribly. I think it makes sense in the end - if you respect and like someone you work with, then you work together through rough spots. If you don't like/respect them, then it's very hard to feel like it's worth working through the rough spots." – Ian Lurie "I would say we as a company are led by our hearts. We don't put a huge stock in CVs or degrees (not even requiring them in many cases). We want to see the real evidence of the right kinds of skills, abilities and attitudes but it doesn't have to be particularly formal. On a personal note, I am perhaps slightly more 'head' driven than the others - I do at least tend to turn to that part of the CV and ask about degrees, previous jobs etc in detail." – Will Critchlow "I always hire with my heart, not my head. If your team is important to you, you want to protect it. This is when you start getting good/bad hunches about candidates. This is another reason why the person heading up an SEO team should conduct the hiring, what's written on a CV is of very little value in an SEO role." – Rob Kerry #3 – In one sentence, and in your view, what makes an SEO candidate very hireable? "A good understanding of the technical aspects of a website, and most importantly a real passion for the SEO industry." – Dave Naylor "A good SEO candidate is passionate about their craft, either running their own test/affiliate sites outside |
