It's our own fault that we can't find a good stream of talent. Here's why and how as an industry we need to do a much better job selling ourselves.
A few weeks ago I was traveling back to Chicago on a motor coach bus after the Chicago Interactive Marketing Association (CIMA) golf outing. The sponsored event was at an incredible golf course with open access to the beverage cart, was full of excellent networking opportunities and resulted in a ton of business conducted by everyone over the course of the day.
As the bus dropped us off in the city and I made my way to the train station, I was thinking, "What a great way to spend a workday. I was able to play golf (even though I'm lousy), hang out with great people and put together a couple of advertising deals that I'm confident will yield a ton of revenue for our company." As I hopped on the commuter train to make my way back to the suburbs, I placed my golf bag on the luggage rack and sat down next to two guys with laptops open. One of the guys looked at my golf bag, turned to me and said, "I don't know what you do, but I want your job!"
Everyone who meets me knows that I absolutely love my job. I work for a great company and I'm surrounded by an amazing team. In addition, I've been involved in the interactive advertising industry for more than 10 years, and have a voracious passion for it. In fact, most of the people whom I meet in the industry have an insatiable passion for it as well. What's not to love? Our sector is growing year-over-year while other advertising media and other job sectors are stagnant or falling apart. We consistently perform interesting, forward-thinking and creative work for our brands and clients. We typically work in collaborative teams where we're able to take an idea from concept to completion and see quick results from our work. On top of all of this, many of us attend industry events where we hang out with incredibly smart and interesting people who work their tail off and know how to have fun with equal fervor.
So, if our industry is so great, why do I continually hear the roar of "I can't find a good stream of talent" emanating from every pore of the industry?
We're not lepers
It's ironic to me that we're in the business of advertising, yet we've done a lousy job promoting our own industry. It's rare for me to find a job candidate fresh out of college who even realizes that interactive advertising is an industry, or even a specialization within the advertising industry. I've spoken with hundreds of recent grads who just picked up their marketing undergrad degree, as well as those with their marketing MBA, and they all look at me like I'm from Mars when I talk about online advertising. It's rare for anyone to tell me that online marketing took up more than a chapter in a textbook in any marketing class.
In addition to the lack of structured education in most marketing programs regarding the online advertising industry, I haven't seen college job placement centers pointing people in our direction either. Does our industry have some sort of stigma? It's not like we're a "fad" anymore, so what's the problem?
It's time to practice what we preach
When you run a campaign, do you leave things to chance, cross your fingers and hope that a cheering audience will flock? Of course not! So don't expect your talent pool to appear out of thin air.
Identify your target and focus on capturing it. Whether this takes the form of more traditional interactive advertising, social media or other tools in your emerging media toolkit, use the assets that our industry has given us. In addition, get yourself in front of your prospective talent pool as often as possible. After all, if you don't tell your story, no one is going to line up to do it for you.
Roll up your sleeves
It's clear to me that despite everything our industry has to offer, people aren't going to coming running unless with bait the lure. Talented interactive advertising professionals aren't born; they are built on a solid foundation.
I hear too many people whining that they want talent, but in the same breath they say they don't want to groom it. My answer to you is "STOP BEING LAZY!" Of course, it's going to take some time and effort, but the result is that you're going to create your own pool of talented individuals that will rise to greatness, if built correctly.
If I look at my own team, almost everyone had less than one year of experience before working for me. In fact, most started straight out of college. The key is that I hired extremely smart people who had a passion for learning and a desire to succeed. Now several people on my team have built up a level of expertise in different areas of the interactive space.
What kind of bait are you using?
The pitch: If you're a college student looking to extend the fun atmosphere of college while growing into a forward-looking career, the interactive advertising industry is your new stomping ground.
Spend your days creating, building, executing and analyzing advertising campaigns with limitless creative potential. A fast growing industry that continues to evolve is ready to welcome its next superstar. Do you have the goods?
Final thought
Do you love this industry as much as I do? If so, wave your arms in the air and shout. As an industry, we need to do a much better job selling ourselves to the pool of talent that is waiting for us to show them the light. If we fail, then we can all look in the mirror and point at the reason.
Sean Cheyney is the VP of marketing and business development for AccuQuote.