True or false: SEO is dead.
If you said false, keep reading.
But wait! That’s not all.
You also need to be an excellent writer. Do you love blogging and sharing your knowledge?
Then yay! You might be a good fit for our newest marketing role.
We’re looking for someone who’s equally strong in search engine optimization techniques and content marketing to help our team out with a bunch of exciting projects in the pipeline.
Here’s what you need to know:
- You won't be a cog in ye olde machine. We’re a young, venture-backed software company in the search marketing space. We’re growing really fast. We're winning awards. Everyone who joins WordStream has a chance to make a palpable difference in our success.
- Our marketing team is widely known for performing at a level way beyond our size and years. We have a super-powerful web domain already, and we want to make it even more awesome. So if you apply for this job, you need to truly know and love SEO. Low-hanging fruit isn’t going to cut it here. We already rank on the first page for hundreds of relevant keywords. You’re going to have to compete with other SEO’s, meta-style, on competitive search-related terms. Can you get creative? Are you up for a challenge?
- We’re a content company through and through. We blog just about every day, and we’re always juggling a lot of other content projects, from guides to webinars to infographics and more. If you want to apply for this job, you should have clocked some time in a content production role. Experience with blogging is a must. If you can do video production, web design or have other applicable skills, all the better!
You can read the full job description here. Your SEO skill set will need to include on-page optimization, link building and outreach, social media, A/B testing, PR, brand monitoring and reputation management, analytics/reporting, and troubleshooting. We’ll also want to see some examples of your content marketing mojo – blog posts, slide decks, videos, white papers – bring ‘em on. And because we're a PPC company, we're really looking for someone who has knowledge of paid search marketing too.
Bonus: Check out my post on 50 Things Every Content Marketer Should Know. How many can you check off your list?
OK, So How Do I Get the Job?
Now for some pro-tips from me. I will screen your resume. You will report to me. You should pay attention to this part:
Tip #1: When applying for a job with “SEO” in the title, it’s a good idea to have the term “SEO” somewhere, anywhere on your resume or in your cover letter. Really, even just once. As the wise Dr. Pete pointed out:
@egabbert Pretty sad if you can't even keyword optimize your own resume.
— Dr. Pete Meyers (@dr_pete) November 15, 2013
This may seem like basic advice, but the majority of resumes I’ve received so far do not even mention SEO. That brings me to …
Tip #2: This goes for ANY JOB you apply to, not just this one. Read the job description. Then read it again. If there’s not a lot of overlap between the description and your resume, you’re either not right for the job or you need to revamp your resume. Hiring managers are going to give your application an initial scan and look for keywords that indicate you’re roughly what we’re looking for. Basically, your resume is designed to do one thing – convince me that your skills match up with the role we’re envisioning. So make it obvious and explicit that this is the case. Ideally, you won’t just tell me that you’ve done some SEO or content marketing, you’ll include concrete examples of how you’ve applied these skills in a real role and demonstrate your success. For example, if you executed a project that doubled your site’s traffic or lead numbers, tell me about it!
Tip #3: Include a (brief-ish) cover letter with your resume. This cover letter should tell me two things: 1) Why you want this job and would be particularly good for it. 2) Whether or not you can write. If you can’t compose a decent cover letter, you’re not a content marketer.
A Few More Things to Know
If you live in the Boston area, great! That will make interviewing a snap, and you’ll get to work in our beautiful offices in downtown Boston, with views like this:
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
However, if you think you’re perfect for this job, and you live somewhere else, apply anyway.
I’d love to see some writing samples along with your resume and cover letter. Links to stuff that’s available on the web are ideal, but you can also send files if most of your content assets are not, or no longer, online.
We offer competitive pay and benefits and our "Fun Force" regularly puts together awesome social events, like Boston harbor cruises in the summer and holiday parties in the winter.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Not bad, eh?
Good luck!
This post originated on the WordStream Blog. WordStream provides keyword tools for pay-per click (PPC) and search engine optimization (SEO) aiding in everything from keyword discovery to keyword grouping and organization.