We have the pleasure of welcoming our newest addition to the Paladin Team and the new voice of Paladin - Cindy-Lee Pijoos. Cindy is taking over my role as Recruitment Coordinator. She will be the point person for our working Associates and initial inquiries from Candidates and Clients.

Cindy’s story about finding Paladin is a classic case study for how social networking can help you find a job. Recruiters, mentors, bloggers, and even Forbes continuously buzz about personal branding and networking through online communities to find a job. After reviewing Paladin’s postings online, she contacted me through a direct message on Twitter. Her social media savvy gained her an interview, and her experience and professionalism won her the role.

Cindy graduated with an integrated marketing communications degree in PR. She comes to us originally from Cape Town, South Africa and has lived in various cities before settling in Chicago. She thoroughly enjoys volunteering, cooking, and networking - so be sure to introduce yourself at the next event.

As we welcome Cindy as the new face and voice of Paladin, I am personally taking the next step in my career. I have recently accepted a position in social media, which will be a new challenge I am very excited to take on. My passion for interactive, online marketing has spooled through my experience at Paladin. I am happy to have had a chance to hone my social media experience in my Paladin role and look forward to staying a part of the extended Paladin family!

The first association I joined was the student chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, the PRSSA, primarily because Al Walker offered extra credit for my journalism class at NIU. While I may not have appreciated it at first, it is here where I built a strong foundation and friendships that I’ve drawn on throughout my career.

There are many reasons to join an association, and there are many for marketing and creative professionals to choose from. The key common thread they offer is a forum to interact with peers facing similar business challenges, and most importantly, an opportunity to further your personal and professional development.

Regardless of the stage you are at – from young professional to mid management, or even if you’ve reached the pinnacle of your profession, there is a wealth of benefits to tap into by not just joining, but actively participating in one or several groups.

Sure there are the tangible benefits of educational programs, access to thought leadership articles, access to member directories, subscriptions to trade publications and the like. But if you talk to long-time members and association leaders, there are far richer rewards and reasons to believe:

• Build a trusted peer-to-peer network to call on to help navigate a particular issue
• Exposure to best practices to benchmark what other companies are doing and spark new ideas for your organization
• Stretch your marketing skills as a speaker or committee volunteer, take on challenges outside your comfort zone or current work responsibilities
• Surround yourself with smart, savvy peers to inspire and encourage your own and your team’s creativity
  
• Be an industry insider and uncover new career opportunities that may be right for you
• Be a mentor – you’ll not only feel good, you’ll likely learn a few things right back!

We are fortunate to be part of a community of communicators, so perhaps one of the best perks I cherish through my involvement is the fun and lasting friendships gained along the way.

Follow Paladin’s association Twitter list for global updates from variety of networks: http://twitter.com/PaladinStaff/associations

Tell us your opinion! How important is it for professionals in marketing or creative positions to participate in associations? Take our Poll

Margaret Essary is Director, Business Development of Paladin and is an active member of several associations, including the Business Marketing Association, the American Marketing Association, and the Chicago Association of Direct Marketing.

On Friday I had the pleasure of taking part in a panel discussion with graduate students from Northwestern University’s Masters of Science in Communication program. The topics covered included: career paths, job search and the effects of the current economy for recent graduates.

Here are a few of the insights that I gathered and shared with them:

 Masters of Communications vs. MBAs:

We ran a quick pool of several senior level marketing and communications professionals to get their take on the value of a Masters of Communications.  As of today 51 have responded. Nearly 50% said it gave a professional a leg up or was “a must”.  Only 17% said other degrees are better.  The poll is still live. Feel free to participate and check out the results: Poll

Compensation:

One of the trends we are seeing is a polarization of compensation. The top 10% of earners within marketing and communications make at least 50% more income than the average earnings of the bottom 90%.  An article in Marketing Week from the UK gives a global view of this trend: ‘A New Age of Austerity Hits Pay Packets Hard‘

 Where the Money is: 

• US owned companies compensate these Marketing and Communications roles better than their European counterparts.
• Digital natives (those who have worked within online marketing from the beginning of their careers) earn a significant premium in compensation.
• High performing employees may be in a great position to negotiate. 70% of companies reported that they were concerned that these high performing employees may leave.

The Economy

Yes, the economy is difficult. But the anxiety caused by high unemployment numbers is often worsened by media oversaturation. The staggering numbers (8.4 Millions jobs lost since the recession began – Bureau of Labor Statistics) do not provide a  perspective on how communication  professionals will be effected. While white collar workers did experience some of the wrath of the poor economy, they were not affected to the same degree as those without a bachelor’s degree. Bureau of Labor Statistics Education Pays Graph.

 On the bright side:

• The Unemployment rate recently fell to under 10%.
• In January there were 5.9 job seekers on average competing for each job -  a significant decrease from the pervious month
• There were 2.5 million job openings in December 2009- a significant increase from November
• Even with 14.8 million people out of work, there are an estimated 137 million employed.
• A Towers Watson survey released Dec. 2009 states that the number of polled companies that plan to freeze or reduce hiring dropped by half to just 33%. Click here to see the Study
• Marketing, creative and communications professions make up only a very small percentage of the total work force and unemployment rates among those ranks are generally much less than the national averages.
• In surveying the January job postings for Communications roles several groups were up. For example- Internal Communications increased 9%, Communications Managers increased by 10%.

So take a deep breath and start regrouping for the big surge ahead that will surely follow this economic turmoil.  It is time to get back to the hard work – figuring out what you are truly passionate about. Trying to guess the direction of the market, following the hot industries of the moment will never create the foolproof career plan. Being passionate about your chosen path will make you more attractive to employers regardless of which way the current trends are blowing.

Employee vs. Contractor

Temporary employment is becoming the new norm. As companies remain fiscally conservative and credit strapped, they are reluctant to bring on a permanent head count. Marketing, creative and communications departments have had experience with this model for years. This will continue to be a growing trend into 2010 and potentially far beyond. From junior assistants and mid-level specialists to the most senior level strategic directors – contract vs. employee is an important part of the mix. Check out two articles on the subject:

‘Temporary CMOs are Here to Stay – for Six Months or So’ - Brandweek

‘Recruiters See Jobs Pickup in 2010 Despite Concerns’ – Wall Street Journal

As always, I came away from the panel discussion super charged. The talent, dedication, drive and passion these professionals have reminded me why I love this field so much- a big Thank You to the school for inviting Paladin to participate.

Lately, I’ve been reminded that business Web sites often come in one of two flavors.  Perhaps you can recognize them:

1. What we do – These are sites that focus on attracting business.  They devote most of their pages to describing their services, human capital resources, success stories and the like.
2. Who we are – These are the sites that have chosen to focus on attracting talent.  A significant percentage of the site is devoted to recruiting, so they showcase the work experience, profiles of their office locations and career opportunities.

These are broad brush-strokes and there’s nothing inherently wrong with either approach.  Of course, some overlap occurs when talking about the work experience (showing a potential client how thorough you are) or describing your services (showing potential recruits the level of impact they can have).  Many sites dedicate space to both services and recruiting.  But they could be so much more.

The best sites offer a third option, one that combines the flavors above with a way that keeps clients, prospects and potential new hires coming back again and again.

The knowledge site

Call it the Neapolitan solution because it’s three flavors in one – services, recruiting and knowledge.

The difference, of course, is in what knowledge you make available.  The idea is to make the knowledge you share valuable and useful without giving away the store.  Give them just enough new information on a regular basis – or provide access to a database of information if that aligns with what you do – to whet the appetite or keep you top of mind when the time comes to actually purchase your services.

If you’re a design firm, for example, you could offer case studies on how good designs have made a difference between success and failure in a campaign, or offer tips for how to approach branding, color or layout.

Professional services firms can present examples of best practices in operational efficiency or performance management.  Publishing companies can offer reviews and insights culled from their latest editions.  Industry news, white papers, articles, summaries of round table events – the opportunities to position your organization as a valuable resource are endless.

This isn’t a difficult or particularly new concept but for some reason it’s a rare one to see being utilized.  But examples can be found: just look at what Paladin is doing by publishing these blogs.

What kind of a Web site are you?

It’s not easy to do this.  It takes imagination, management appetite, resources and, just as important, maintenance.  It takes collaboration over the long haul to create the content and promote its existence on a regular basis.

It’s long past time when a company could get away with being an electronic brochure.  The war for talent and the fight for business demand that you reach out to clients and prospects – or give them a reason to reach out to you.

Small businesses are especially vulnerable these days and are looking for ideas to generate revenue.  The good news is that those ideas are right in front of them, in the knowledge gained through the experience of their people, the tools they use, and the services they provide.  The not-so-good news is now that knowledge needs to be transformed into a format where it can be shared.

But it can be done.

Do you have any examples of favorite sites that exemplify the Neapolitan approach?  Remember what your mother said about sharing…