Finding Marketing Candidates

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“I need to hire someone to run marketing, but I don’t know much about marketing. How can I find a good candidate and what should I look for?”

This question, and others like it are common on the forums. To be honest, I hadn’t thought much about going beyond the traditional routes to find candidates for open marketing positions.

When I needed to fill a position I’d ask my network if they knew of anyone who was looking. If my budget could handle it and the position was important enough, I’d hire a recruiter. I might use a job board. Of course, I’d put it on my website. Then, I’d sit back and wait and wonder why I wasn’t too excited about any of the candidates that came through.

The truth is, most of the people I would want to hire were employed and probably too busy doing their job to have an updated resume. Of course, I’m sure there were also many great people “in the market” who lost their job through no fault of their own, but they weren’t beating down my door either.

If the role needed to be filled, I’d find myself in the uncomfortable position of trying to decide who was “good enough.” Who wants to hire someone who just meets the requirements? It is hardly an auspicious beginning to a working relationship.

Then, someone on LinkedIn asked this question,

“When recruiting, would you use social media platforms to recruit potential candidates?”

The lightbulb went off. Of course, I would!

For those of you who have marketing positions to fill, here are some ideas on how to use social network to identify the candidates with real potential who may not actively be looking.

1. Use LinkedIn’s job board. And, here’s an off-the-wall idea to go with this. Why not say that you welcome submissions from candidates without resumes who have completed LinkedIn profiles.

2. Let your LinkedIn network know that you have a position to fill and would appreciate any referrals. Tell them that you welcome discussions with any genuinely interested and qualified individuals even if they are not actively looking.

3. Do an advanced people search on LinkedIn. Use “marketing” as a key word and narrow the search to your industry. If you want to find local candidates you can also narrow the search to a specific geography.

Browse through the search results looking for people with positive references. Click their Q&A tab if they’ve asked or answered any questions and see what you thought about the quality of their responses.

Scroll down to the bottom of their profile as see if they’ve listed “job opportunities” as one of the things they are interested in. If so, contact them and let them know you have an open position. If they are not interested, ask them for recommendations.

4. Toss a question or two out into the LinkedIn forums and see what answers you get. for example “What do you think the biggest mistake high tech marketers make?” “What one risk have you taken that made the biggest difference in your career?” “If you had to slash your current marketing budget in half, what would you cut?”

Be creative and don’t worry if you are not a marketing expert. It isn’t so much about what the answer is as much as it is how they approach the question.

For those who answer your question well, start an off-line conversation through email. Ask to connect if they seem open. And, when the time is right, let them know you have a position to fill and ask them if they know of anyone who might be right for the role.

Even if the people who you connect to initially are not interested, good marketers know other good marketers.

4. Finally, use other forums such as MarketingProfs. When you see a good response click on the profile to see if you can get their name. Those who might be interested in new opportunities will have it listed. You can also see what questions they’ve asked and answered and which of their answers have been accepted. Browse through and see what else this person has to say. Then hop over to LinkedIn to see if you can find out more about them.