Recently a friend of mine who lives several states away asked me for some advice on hiring someone to help with their company's social media. It really got me thinking about the sorts of things I would ask if I were in a hiring position.
So if I were going to hire a social media consultant, I would ask them….
What's the last book that you've read? What blogs do you read? How often?
This question is crucial! If I was going to hire someone I'd want to know that their hunger for knowledge is insatiable. They should be able to answer quickly and tell you something about the things they read and why. They should be able to at least paraphrase a blog posting or two that made an impact on them. They should be able to paraphrase an idea that altered their thinking. One of the big pieces of social media is gathering information, identifying trends and expanding your thinking.
What social networking sites do you use? Are there any new ones that have caught your attention? Why?
This will give you a general sense of the range of what they are doing? At the very least they should be able to speak about the big ones: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube. But a social media consultant who only know those few could just turn out to be a college grad who likes playing on Facebook. Be wary if they don't seem into the discovery of new networks or tools.
What kind of phone do you use?
I know that I would never hire a social media consultant who doesn't use a smartphone. There may be a ton of talented flip-phone-using social media consultants out there but my feeling is if you are going to try and advise a company on social media you should have a smartphone. It signifies that you take technology seriously and you are willing to spend the extra money to have access 100% of the time. You can't really search twitter from a Razr.
How do you measure the results of your efforts?
If the person you're talking to is only focusing on the actions along the way without mentioning how to make sure they are being effective and learning what the next steps should be, move on! Being a social media user is one thing, advising a company is another. Make sure they can show their results.
The final thing I'd be really concerned with is does it seem like they can really "back that up?" Do they sound like a snake oil salesman? Do they refer to themselves as a ninja, expert or guru? Is their enthusiasm tempered with an even-keeled sense of how to use these tools effectively? The extraordinary popularity of social media has given rise to a huge number of people that call themselves experts simply because they figured out how to get thousands of Twitter followers. Generally it is individuals like this that have ruined it for the rest. They have much less interest in authentically creating value than they do being able to get paid for playing on Facebook.
2009 was the year of Social Media hype and excitement. I think this year is when it all gets folded in without the hype. Twitter and Facebook just are what they are at this point. They are accepted channels. Now companies just need to learn how to use all of these channels without abusing these channels. This year is about effectiveness.
That's how I'd go about hiring a social media consultant, lucky for me though, I've already been hired to do that.