Last month I wrote a blog highlighting a hiring trend I’m seeing recently at Paladin. In short, we found that although a recession typically leads to an increase in mid-level interim staffing needs within corporations and agencies, our clients were disproportionally hiring senior/executive level marketers for both direct-hire positions and for interim roles.

To gain a larger perspective, we asked the marketing community for feedback via a LinkedIn poll. We wanted to determine if what we are seeing at Paladin is an anomaly, or actually a hiring trend in marketing departments.

The Findings:

Nearly 60% of the respondents polled said their companies were not hiring at all in 2009. Not shocking given the current state of the economy.

However, what’s interesting is that 30% of the remaining respondents said their organization was hiring due to one of the following three reasons:

-         The need for a fresh marketing approach

-         A shift in business direction

-         Business growth

We also saw that enterprise and mid-sized organization were seeing the least hiring of senior level marketing talent. Small and large organization were the most active.

So, how can this information help marketers who are looking for work? The good news is that there are opportunities, and in order to find those openings, you should keep an eye out for companies that match the three indicators for hiring.  As you network through organizations like the BMA or CIMA, read key publications such as Crain’s Chicago Business and The Chicago Tribune or leverage corporate Facebook accounts and Twitter feeds, keep an eye out for corporations that are taking a distinctly different approach to marketing or to their actual business model.  As always, those companies that are experiencing rapid growth are ideal opportunities for senior marketers as well.

The poll is still up and active. Feel free to participate and add comments. We continue to be interested in tracking this trend. 

Take the red pill.

In fact, take it now before you really need it.  That’s the lesson I’ve learned about networking.

In The Matrix, our hero is given a choice: take a blue pill and continue on with his life or take the red pill and see life as it really is.  Of course, he takes the red pill (wouldn’t be much of a movie if he didn’t), the veil is lifted and he becomes aware of things that were always there but never seen.

Lately I’ve begun to build on my own network of friends and professional colleagues, coaxing it to take form, and develop.  Actually, I’m helping it grow.  The network was always there; I just never saw it.  Then I took the red pill.

It was April 2006 when I was first asked to join a friend’s network through LinkedIn.  Sounded like fun and a good way to stay in touch with people.  But I rarely looked at it.  The next request came in October 2007.  I was flattered someone would ask me to join a network and, yeah, I felt hip.

But it wasn’t until this past February that I began to build my network in earnest.  I had to; my role had been eliminated and along with so many others folks I was in the market for a new position.

As so many at Paladin attest, you’ve got to get out and network.  This may seem rather obvious but it isn’t something all of us do when we’re employed.  Of course, some roles – from sales to marketing to politics – require networking and maintaining relationships to achieve their goals.  Networking within the organization was key to my last role.

Many job descriptions, however, do not ask you to stay in touch with people who don’t directly affect you or your work.

Because so many people are new to this networking gig, it seemed like a good idea to ask some friends from my network what they have learned along the way.   This list is by no means comprehensive, but it is road tested:

• Get out of the house – My friend Buzz put it as a simple, Nike-esque rule: “You just gotta be out there!  Go out and go to things anytime you can.”

It’s okay, everybody’s doing it.  And by “it,” I mean looking for work.  Here’s the yin and the yang of it: We all know that this isn’t the best time in the history of humankind to be looking for work.  On the other hand, the stigma of being out of work isn’t what it used to be, not when so many people are in the same position.  There’s no shame in being unemployed but somehow it seems a little easier to say “I’m in transition” when the headlines are always talking about yet another round of lay offs.  Just ask all of those former headline writers.

• Don’t be so shy – Of course, once you’re out of the house you’ve got to meet people.  “People want to help,” as my friend Katherine put it, but don’t make it difficult for them.  Give them your personal marketing plan or your newly updated resume to review.  Suggest meeting for coffee so there’s an understanding that the meeting doesn’t have to last for hours.  (And note that just because you say “Let’s meet for coffee” doesn’t mean you need to drink coffee at every meeting – especially if you have several lined up in one day.  Trust me on this one.)

Job seekers and their friends might want to read this article in The New York Times that provides some suggestions for how to give and receive help.  “The most important corollary to this rule,” Katherine points out, “is to thank people for their time and respect their schedules.”

• Be prepared – It’s not just for Boy Scouts anymore.  “Never show up unprepared even for a quick networking meeting,” said Katherine.  “You have to do your research in advance, or you waste people’s time.”  This means knowing about your contact’s business and providing something for them to use (which can be as simple as meaningful article referrals, for example, suggests Leslie).

• Back to basics – It’s all about the prompt follow-up and the personalized, hand-written thank you notes.  Making sure to write down unique reminder information on business cards. (“No,” says Leslie, “you won’t remember who all those folks are when you’re sitting in front of your computer doing the follow-up.”)

• Don’t just do something, stand there – “A lot of people don’t know how to listen,” says Buzz.  It’s not that you just sit back and watch the show.  “If you ask somebody for help, shut up and listen!  Don’t ask for advice and then overwhelm someone with your expertise!”

Here’s a surprise: You’ve already started.  As I mentioned earlier, my network was always there.  Sure, it was a little fallow and needed some tending and weeding.  But at the risk of taking this gardening metaphor too far, let’s just say you’ve bought the land already; employed or not, you need to start tilling the soil.

At a meeting of job seekers I attended, one participant put the benefits of networking this way: “I’ve lived in Chicago for 20 years.  Now it seems like a small town.”

Take the red pill.

Contributed by: Frank McGee
Business writer, trainer, coach

The old adage that “time flies when you’re having fun” really hit home for me this morning. As I was reflecting on the last ten years I’ve spent in the professional working world, I realized that one of the common denominators in each of my positions has been healthcare. 

I began my career on the public relations side, working with healthcare systems and big pharma. That interest has carried over into my role in the recruiting world. In the last four years at Paladin, I’ve worked with nearly 30 healthcare associations, providers, insurers and pharma companies, providing a vast array of talent for marketing, creative, programming, membership, training, event and communications departments.  Working with marketers and creatives in this space has allowed me the opportunity to stay abreast of trends, pressures, challenges and nuances in the field.

To get an even deeper understanding of these trends, I launched a survey of my healthcare association clients last month. The goal was to better understand the marketing, membership and staffing trends within these organizations.  I think you’ll find the survey results interesting.

A few key findings:

- The healthcare association world is a “healthy” one, despite the turbulent U.S. economy. The majority of respondents noted that their overall membership base in continuing to grow and that from an organizational perspective, they plan to continue expanding in other markets.

- As with many organizations, healthcare associations are embracing the new social media movement and offering new online and interactive forums to help their members and employees communicate. Facebook and Linked-In are becoming the top social media tools in the communications arsenal of these organizations.

- In order to remain competitive, healthcare associations are expanding their product and service offerings in 2009, including e-learning programs, online conferences, and social  media tools.

I encourage you to review the full survey findings in the hope that you’ll be able to leverage them as you continue to build marketing and communications campaigns and products for your members this year.

http://www.paladinstaff.com/promo/survey-results/

I also welcome your insights and hope you will help create a larger dialogue on this topic.  Feel free to comment here, or to contact me off-line with questions, ideas, suggestions, requests or additional resources: elise@paladinstaff.com.

We have our very own junior marketing ninja at Paladin by the name of Elizabeth Stiles. Ms. Stiles joined Facebook waaaayyy back in 2004 when she was a freshman in college and now has over 1,000 friends in her network. She mentioned abstaining from Facebook for Lent (which is 40 days long… see her “Activation Wrap-up” http://elizms.wordpress.com/).  I thought it would be a great case study of our need for social media, and so I convinced her to blog about her “deactivation” and then send the link out through Twitter (from the frying pan into the fire…?)

I don’t have to tell you (especially marketers) Facebook is an important way for people and companies to engage on a more individualized basis. The numbers prove that most people are enthusiastic about this: over 200 million users.

Ms. Stiles is a member of Generation Y a group who lives and communicates daily with a rapidly growing network of online friends. She, like millions of others, is apprised of the daily goings-on in her friends’ lives, most often from their updates and photos that are posted several times a day on home Facebook.  In the time she had been writing her Lent-deactivation blog, she received over 1,100 visits — primarily through sending updates through Twitter.

Okay, so let’s get to the deactivation and Elizabeth’s key insights:

 How it began:

“The first week was terrible. I complained a lot, mostly about how I felt like I had no connection to anyone anymore (keep in mind, I have over 1,000 Facebook friends).”

Midway through her Facebook fasting: Elizabeth published a list of the top 25 things she has learned without Facebook. Including reading a newspaper, listening to music,  cooking 3 course meal, sleeping 8 hours and more importantly getting past her PCD (Post College Depression).

As it came to an end Ms. Stiles had learned a few things:

“As the days went by, I found other ways of connecting with friends such as emails, text messages, and actual phone conversations.”

In retrospect:

“What have I learned from being off Facebook for 40 days/40 nights? That I am indeed an addict, no joke about it.” and according to CNN’s 5 indicators you are addicted to Facebook she is.

Marketing:

“Before I deactivated, I never really noticed the marketing techniques that were being used through Facebook (because my focus was solely on checking updated profiles). Now I have a close eye on things like side advertisements, fan pages, or Facebook group companies have started in order to reach out to consumers. The best way companies are going to be able to reach the attention of someone in my generation, or even younger, will be through the various social media groups, Facebook being the number one.”

Other Viewpoints:

Elizabeth’s mom: “Wow, Elizabeth, I haven’t heard from you now that you are back on Facebook.”

 ————-

Elizabeth’s insight cannot be ignored by marketers.  If you want to reach this demographic, you should be plugged-in to social media, and particularly Facebook.

I have personally been using these media channels for the past couple of years and feel I’ve been able to create a personal brand.  Through online media, I promote and represent Paladin in hopes of helping people find work and grow our business.

It can be difficult to learn how effective a marketing initiative like this can be without using these channels yourself.  That being said, Paladin has just recently started our own Twitter @Paladinstaff to engage with candidates and clients alike.  More importantly we have created a Paladin Fan page to help drive awareness of our brand and give people a place to share marketing strategy and community.

Engagement with people on a 1to1 basis is increasingly important in the changing media landscape. For the record Generation Y isn’t the only age group using Facebook just released numbers shows the fastest growing age group on Facebook are women 55+.

Although we sing its praises — Elizabeth, we really hope you called your mom on Mother’s Day.