Trends in digital recruitment
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January 19th, 2012 written by
admin in
Business, Candidate Advice, General, Industry Information
The beginning of the year is a good time to reflect on the trends past and present in digital recruitment. Not unsurprisingly these trends tend to follow general shifts in emphasis across the increasingly broad set of digital channels now available.
Search marketing is omnipresent, though in terms of search marketing jobs, the balance has drifted toward natural search. Those gifted with seo skills are able to command a premium over paid search marketers, as demand exceeds supply in this complex profession. Note however that employers are increasingly alert to the dangers of anyone deploying “black-hat” seo techniques, and candidates will receive short thrift if they offer anything other than transparency about how the boost a company’s search rankings.
Email marketing and CRM jobs used to be very much in vogue, and whilst they have not disappeared these roles have evolved and are now more about sophisticated data management. Affiliate marketing jobs appear to be in terminal decline, once seen as a means of acquiring “free” traffic, companies are now more brand conscious and are investing other new channels.
A few years back, Content was King. To many it still is, and content/web editorial roles remain in regular demand, though the emergence of sophisticated CMS has meant these role can sometimes be performed by more of a generalist.
To some extent, the signposting for digital job trends is provided by the rise and fall of specialist digital agencies. As a new digital channels emerge, the best way to test them out is to employ an agency, then as a company spends more and more on the channel it will eventually make sense to bring the role in-house.
And so to current trends. Firstly look at the emergence of User Design and User Experience agencies over the past few years. Businesses on seeing the impact that they can have on conversion has lead to many wanting to bring the role in-house to take greater control over something that can improve the bottom line. Hence an increase in demand for User Experience Managers.
Secondly, look at the number of specialist Social Media Agencies that are popping up. I met two people last week who had both left established search agencies to join social media start-ups. So if you follow the trend, it won’t be long until we see a surge in demand for Social Media Managers.
Mobile is another case in point. Agencies specialising in developing apps and mobile/tablet platforms are exploding, and the clients are not far behind in wanting managers with specialist mobile experience on their payroll so that the knowledge is retained in-house.
The digital channels are constantly evolving as are the types of jobs in demand, and that’s what makes it an exciting space to operate in.