Wendy Weber on Executive Recruiting

…So begins an intriguing piece in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal.

“In an effort to school senior executives in technology, social media and the latest workplace trends, many businesses are pairing upper management with younger employees in a practice known as reverse mentoring. The trend is taking off at a range of companies, from tech to advertising.

The idea is that managers can learn a thing or two about life outside the corner office. And companies say younger employees not only gain a sense of purpose but also a rare glimpse into the world of management and access to top-level brass.

Reverse mentoring was championed by Jack Welch when he was chief executive of General Electric Co. He ordered 500 top level executives to reach out to people below them to learn how to use the Internet. Mr. Welch himself was matched with an employee in her 20s who taught him how to surf the Web. The younger mentors ‘got visibility,’ he says.”

“There’s an assumption that if you’re senior, you have a lot to teach, and if you’re junior, you have a lot to learn…but one CEO says ‘let’s challenge the status quo’.”

The piece does mention that not all older workers embrace the concept of being mentored by someone younger.

And it raised the question in my mind…in an environment where younger employees are teaching older employees…when layoffs occur, is it “age discrimination” when the older employee is the first to go? Or is it a simple economic decision based on who is bringing the more value – with a lower paycheck – to the organization? (Of course, it’s important to remember that the article is only touting the enhanced value of younger workers in terms of their technology and social media know-how. There are many areas in which a more experienced worker will trump a junior employee in terms of overall value to the organization.)

Here is a link to the piece, written by Leslie Kwoh: click here.

According to ComScore, a firm that measures digital data, Black Friday (November 25) achieved $816 million in online sales, making it the heaviest online spending day to date in 2011 and representing a 26-percent increase versus Black Friday 2010.

Fifty million Americans visited online retail sites on Black Friday, representing an increase of 35 percent versus year ago, ComScore said. All of the top 5 retail sites (Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Target and Apple) achieved double-digit gains in visitors vs. last year.

In what I feel is a bittersweet achievement for us as a society, Thanksgiving Day achieved an 18% increase in online spending, to $479 million. (Do we really have to shop, online or otherwise, on Thanksgiving?)

Fifty million Americans visited online retail sites on Black Friday, representing an increase of 35 percent versus year ago, per ComScore.

I will follow with interest Cyber Monday’s sales.

The debate continues…

Thought this piece about the pros and cons of bringing SEO In-House by Bob Tripathi of Instantetraining.com was worth sharing:

As we move into planning mode for next year, many of you may be debating if you should bring your SEO program in-house. Bringing SEO in-house has pros and cons that you need to evaluate.

Even though the SEO experience is unique to each business, the underlying challenges (and frustrations) that each in-house SEO team faces can be pretty consistent across the board.

As with many things, the decision to move SEO in-house can be relatively easy. The critical question is: what happens once you have gone through the decision of bringing SEO in-house?

So let’s go over some of the pros and cons of bringing SEO in-house.

The Pros of Bringing SEO In-house

1. Culture Change
SEOs are a change agent. For any SEO program to succeed inside an organization, SEO needs a seat at the table. Getting a voice at the table is important as you would need contribution from various stakeholders inside an organization.

Essentially, different teams will start contributing in a common cause when they understand the importance of SEO. This requires a kind of a culture change where SEO has a seat at the table and SEO is inserted into the existing processes of the company.

An in-house SEO need to put this agenda forward and act as a change agent. This change can be brought about by being transparent with your SEO process, expected deliverables, revenue forecast, and how you plan to grow the business. Combine these with continuous education and you can sow the seeds of change as an in-house SEO.

2. Sense of Ownership
The ramp up time could be little slower in an in-house team, but the sense of ownership toward your business is greater.

No offense to my agency friends here, but an in-house SEO team scores higher when it comes to ownership of work. This sense of ownership stems from working towards a common cause, aligning with top-level business goals, and an overall feeling of esprit de corps. These are the intangibles of an in-house SEO model but definitely one of the pros of bringing SEO in-house.

3. Cost Savings
On the face of it, its straight math: cutting out the agency will save monthly billings. Not true, as there is more to it than straight cost savings. Don’t just look at cost savings, but revenues that haven’t yet realized.

Time and again, a lot of money is left on the table because not all businesses realize their full potential with SEO managed externally. Once SEO is in-house, your team can focus on second- or third-level keywords that can be optimized for better results.

The other benefit is few smaller business units inside a organization that previously felt neglected can be brought to fore with your internal SEO team closely together. When your internal search team is closer to the business and overall direction of the company, you’ll discover many new hidden SEO opportunities.

4. Skill Development
Hiring good SEOs is always tough, no matter the size of your organization. That makes employee retention all the more critical.

SEOs or marketers in general are looking for challenging assignments. By bringing SEO in-house you provide that opportunity to employees to develop new skills.

The skills you develop when managing a SEO program in-house is vastly different as opposed to managing a “project” when working with an outside SEO provider. Employees love that challenge and that keeps them engaged with your company. It’s also a great way to recruit employees internally.

5. Collaboration
Collaboration is often used as a cliché, which to some means simply not taking ownership. Real collaboration means getting everyone involved in a cause and getting them excited to pitch in with ideas to solve business problems.

SEO collaboration means training different groups on SEO and then collaborating with them to move your SEO initiatives forward. Even though I’ve listed collaboration as the last point of this section, it’s often the most critical piece that determines the success of your in-house SEO program.

The Cons of Bringing SEO In-House

1. Outside Expertise
Time and again you will encounter some major SEO challenges and you would need an outside expertise. An outside expert or consultant can help you solve a problem or help you approach a problem differently. Those are the time when you feel kind of alone and that is when an outside consultant or a project based agency partner can help you. Just because you are in-house does not mean you don’t need outside help.

The other reason (a bit political) is sometimes management will easily accept an outside consultant’s recommendation just because of the authority that comes with being a consultant. After all, you’re paying them to make recommendations so you’re better off listening to them. And for an in-house sometimes that could be a good political win as well.

2. Link Building
Link building is time and resource intensive and often not the most preferred part of an in-house SEO. Plus, it’s tough to justify an additional head count just to build links.

This is where an in-house team would need to look for outside help. Find a link building company that you can trust and outsource this part of your SEO strategy.

3. Knowledge Decay
The problem of knowledge decay is very real and all in-housers can experience this when working inside the sanctums of a “walled garden.” The knowledge decay effects can happen over time especially when working with the same website and business challenges.

The workaround to that is sending your team to conferences, attending online trainings, webinars, and to local meetup events. Sometimes, bringing an outside expert to speak at your company events can also help alleviate this problem. As mentioned earlier, have a plan for continuous SEO learning and development.

What’s the hottest thing on retailers’ Christmas lists this year?

Heads of e-commerce.

This, according to Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal…(and Crandall Associates)!

According to the article, “Recruiters say they’re spending a lot of their time turning up executives who can build and manage websites, handle increasing complex inventory management, and unsnarl the logistical problems that come with developing a new sales channel. The moves are being spurred by the fast growth of online sales and a realization by some big brick-and-mortar chains that they’re still behind the curve.”

“The rush has created fierce competition for talent. E-commerce heads – who a decade ago made $50,000 to $100,000 a year and lurked in the back offices of retailers’ catalog businesses or in tech support – have joined the C-suite. Their salaries now range between $300,000 and $500,000, on par with heads of merchandise or marketing.”

Stores specifically mentioned in the article are:
Target
Kohl’s
Wal-Mart

We have been contacted by companies both large and small…from 50 person independents to large international companies with thousands of employees, to recruit high level ecommerce talent. You may have read the piece in this month’s Internet Retailer magazine, in which I was quoted about movement at the top levels of ecommerce marketing, and escalating salaries.

At the heart of this is the fact that online sales have continued to flourish, even as brick-and-mortar growth remains sluggish. According to this article, “Between 2004 and 2010, U.S. retail e-commerce spending grew from $66 billion to $142 billion…and expected to hit $162 billion this year.”

One thing I disagree with is that one recruiter is quoted as saying “The dream person comes from Google”…in my opinion, this only holds true for an IT position. Multichannel e-tailers need top talent with a background in marketing for retail or catalog companies, not hi tech companies.

Interesting article. If you’re interested in reading it, here’s the link.

This piece was written by Lisa Vaas, who covers resume writing techniques and the technology behind the job search for The Ladders.com, but I couldn’t have said it better myself:

Once upon a time, resume writers had a fallback format to deal with career-changers, resumes light on experience or clients with gaps in their employment histories: the functional resume. This type of resume format plays up an applicant’s experience and skills instead of showing a chronological work history.

There’s one problem with this approach: Employers detest it. For the most part, when they see a functional resume, they assume the job seeker’s got something to hide. Some of the things you hear them say about functional resumes: “A lot of buzzwords and fluff.” “Utterly unsuitable for my purposes.” “A total waste.”

Read on for this behind-the-scenes look at what employers think of functional resumes, along with their suggested alternatives for how to handle a bumpy career road.

Dialogue-ish prose doesn’t hide lack of experience
Adam Caller owns and runs Tutors International, a company that recruits specialist educators. His job assignments are challenging to fill, he said, so in order to get the right candidates, he plows through a whole lot of resumes.

Caller said he finds functional resumes “utterly unsuitable for my purposes.” Such resumes are so prose-heavy and information-sparse, he said, they actually disengage and distract the reader, giving the impression that the job seeker is trying to cover up limited job experience.

“I understand that covering a resume or CV in prose takes up space and gives the impression that more has been done than may have been done by the applicant, but … I prefer to see resumes and CVs that are accurate and detailed, and where descriptive prose is minimized,” he said.

Caller said it’s far more important that the writer is consistent in terms of layout and style, that she has chosen appropriately professional fonts and borders, and that she delineates header text by position and purpose.

You can’t hide length of tenure
For his part, Bruce Hurwitz, president and CEO of Hurwitz Strategic Staffing, called functional resumes “a total waste.”

“I, and every employer/client I have worked with, reject them out of hand,” he said. The reason is always the same, Hurwitz said: Employers and recruiters have to know how long a candidate stayed with former employers.

Experience is his teacher in this regard: Hurwitz said every time he’s received a functional resume and then decided contact the candidate, they’ve refused to send a chronological listing of positions. “They are hiding something,” he said. “So, in a way, a functional resume is very good; it tells the recipient that the candidate should not be considered.”

Functional resumes don’t tell employers enough
Jillian Zavitz, programs manager for the English-language training company TalktoCanada.com, said functional resumes don’t tell her what a job candidate can actually do. “They tell me what you have experience with,” she said. “For example: I worked in telemarketing for one day once. Wrote it on my functional resume: ‘I have experience in telemarketing.’ Yes, it’s not technically a lie, because I do have experience in it. But not much — and not enough to put on a resume.”

A better way to deal with bumpy work histories
Rather than having to plow through functional resumes to fill his international tutor openings, Tutors International’s Caller would rather see a clear record of key academic achievements; a list of previous employment (either paid or voluntary); and a summary of honors, interests and languages. He also likes to see GPAs, SAT/ACT results and the like. He doesn’t mind a resume being detailed; he just doesn’t want to see it puffed out with prose.

As far as how to treat career gaps or bumpy work histories, Caller prefers that dialogue-prose passages addressing such things go into a detailed application letter that accompanies the resume.

Zavitz also prefers resumes that are “clear, short and don’t include the kitchen sink,” she said. “It is easy to spot which resumes add the fluff and which ones are real.”

Here is one way to retain employees:

Entrepreneur Dan Schneider, Founder & CEO of SIB Development and Consulting, has offered a $50,000 bonus to any of his full-time employees who stay with his company for five years.

Schneider, a serial entrepreneur, came up with the idea when he considered the cost of training his employees. Training can cost a company tens of thousands of dollars depending on the employee’s experience. He is willing to put his money where his mouth is in order to retain staff. “Most people think I am nuts, and I am fine with that.”

No one has received an incentive check yet, because SIB is only three years old. But the bonus announcement is already boosting morale.
“It is nice knowing that you have a tangible reward ahead of you if you work hard and do a good job, outside of the regular raises that a normal company does,” said Kelly Bogdan, a 28-year-old office manager who has been with SIB since May.

So is this an expensive ploy…or turnover reducing, commitment-enhancing bargain?

To read the article in its entirety, click here.

The answer: “It depends.”

So says Deb McAlister, who is working on a book about business/personal legal issues and social media. Her research brings to light some troubling inconsistencies:

“If you were hired to be the company blogger, to create a Twitter account and tweet for the company, to develop the corporate media presence, the work you did while you were employed and those social media accounts you got for the company likely belong to the employer. An exception is probably LinkedIn. They don’t allow profiles for companies – only individual. Your LinkedIn profile is probably yours, even if the company told you to create it while on the job. Just don’t run afoul of your nonsolicitation or noncompete agreement,” according to employment attorney Donna Ballman.

One issue that is coming to light is that according a recent study by DLA Piper, only 25% of American corporations have a published social media policy for employees. And another study earlier this year reported that half of U.S. employees who are aware of their company’s social media policies admit to ignoring or violating them.

Still, a social media policy that spells out the rights and responsibilities of employer and employees may be the best protection for both.

To read more, click here.

This is fun.

When we are asked to recruit for a Creative position, I am always a little surprised that the resumes are not more…well, creative.

Wouldn’t you think job seekers with creative talent would utilize that to market themselves? Here are 13 very creative resumes from BusinessInsider.com:

Click here.

I wouldn’t necessarily get this creative for a marketing role, but one could certainly get some ideas about how to stand out from the pack.

I was at NY’s ad:tech show this morning. Ad:tech is an interactive advertising and technology conference and exhibition. It was a vibrant show, and the exhibit hall was surprisingly crowded, even at 10am.

There were a number of fun, quirky aspects to the show. One nice convenience was a “charging” station, for all types of media. There was also a Twitter screen, scrolling real time tweets about the show.

Another, fun and different concept was the Sticker Page:

We were encouraged to place the stickers that best describe our interests on our badges, to spark discussion. The stickers ranged from eCommerce, to Social Media Marketing, to Location Based Marketing, to Martini!

Follow the Twitter stream #adtech for details about the content of the show.

Internet Retailer chose me as their executive resource about Ecommerce Executive Compensation. The orientation of the article was that professionals with e-commerce experience face good odds that the coming year will prove lucrative.

“There’s been a lot of movement at the executive level among large, publicly traded retailers,” says Wendy Weber, president of executive recruitment firm Crandall Associates Inc. “Salaries are dramatically escalating at the C-level and senior vice president level.”

“We were just contacted by a new client, a major retailer who intends to hire for 30 positions, for everything from director of digital marketing, mobile manager, mobile e-mail manager, web designer, social marketing coordinator, web merchant, senior developer, copywriter and designer,” says Weber. “And the retailer would like them on board by the end of fourth quarter.”

To read the piece in its entirety, click here.