I have built a digital career for myself that didn’t even exist 15 years ago, in a social media industry that is constantly evolving at the speed of sound and requires a finger on the pulse at all times or you get left behind… and I love it!

Unfortunately one of the downsides, eternal frustrations and key elements that comes with the territory of such a career, is the need to be constantly holding the hands of clients and customers (both internal and external), who believe that they understand how to utilize social media for their brand just because they have a personal Facebook account or know how to post a few blurry smartphone images or so-called “inspirational” quotes to Instagram.

So what can we do as recruiters to find people who are the best recruits for social media roles and help ease this pain?

My advice to social media recruiters and even myself a week ago, would be to challenge the status quo of how you are recruiting social media team members for your agencies and small businesses. If you are still receiving the same tired old resumes for social media account management, creative or community management roles, then chances are that you yourself are doing it wrong. A month ago, I threw out a pile of resumes collecting dust from social media industry “professionals”, who’ve followed the same old skool Word doc resume format with zero visuals and little illustration of the personality that I believe is a non-negotiable to be a success in the social media industry. They didn’t stand out in my Newsfeed.

So how can I challenge the status quo?

Check out this ThinkTank Social job advertisement that popped up in my Facebook Newsfeed just a few days ago. I don’t know much about the role myself, but it caught my attention and to me it could indicate that they chose Trial by Snapchat as a way of finding the type of person and personality that they’re after for the position and agency culture. It could quite well be quite a niche role and I know plenty of great account managers who aren’t suited for social media at all.

Looking at it from a birds-eye view I like their choice of application because they’re obviously not only illustrating the personality behind their agency, but challenging the status quo of job advertisements. It stood out in my newsfeed and made me think about/reassess how I have advertised roles in the past and how I will do so in the future.

I’m not saying that Trial by Snapchat is the right solution for your next job advertisement, but I like that Thinktank Social having a go!

Contact Hot & Delicious: Rocks The Planet! for all your business or brand social media needs.

Social media strategy, monthly content calendar creation, community management, specialised team/staff social media training, creation of social media systems/ways of working and speaking engagements for your business, brand, conference or event.

As an award-winning, highly experienced social media professional, Dan Wilkinson has worked with a range of international brands, spoken at Social Media Week – Miami and has had two campaigns from the past year now featured as global case studies on both the Twitter Success Stories and Instagram Business Blog for his work at SapientNitro, working with brands such as Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Peroni Italian Beer and more.

Dan recently wrapped up his position as Social Media Lead for SapientNitro in Australia, to pursue freelance social media contracts, influencer/public speaking opportunities and further build his own brand, Hot & Delicious: Rocks The Planet.