PR Firms starting to hire
Not only are big firms staffing up, they’re also mining social media sites — such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn — for job candidates. “Edelman's in-house recruiters have been trained to use social media to seek candidates, especially for the digital positions,” Edelman’s managing director of U.S. human resources, Laura Smith, told Advertising Age. According to Ad Age’s Michael Bush, agencies are also looking for new types of job candidates. “BBH Labs announced last week on its site that it's ‘looking for a rare breed of person,’ for whom ‘technology is your oxygen — you need it every second of the day and always want the freshest air, but you understand that not everyone is like you, so you can translate it into natural consumable language.’”
While many agencies are still working with recruitment firms, some like BBH and Edelman are relying heavily on social-media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or their own websites.
Edelman's in-house recruiters have been trained to use social media to seek candidates, especially for the digital positions, said Ms. Smith. "We don't put ads in the paper anymore and it shocks me that companies still do."
Agencies are also seeking new types of hires. BBH Labs announced last week on its site that it's "looking for a rare breed of person," for whom "technology is your oxygen -- you need it every second of the day and always want the freshest air, but you understand that not everyone is like you, so you can translate it into natural consumable language."
Ann Brown, founder of recruiter Ann Brown Co. , said it's not just digital jobs that are being filled. "Fortunately there are a number of agencies evolving the way they need to be and are hiring people with 360-degree experience," Ms. Brown said. "They don't want to train anybody in digital if all they have is a traditional background. They want people coming in to look at things from all sides."
Edelman's Ms. Smith said the agency has been hiring people across the board in practices areas such as corporate, public affairs, health care and technology.
Ms. Brown said that while chief financial officers are still keeping the reins pulled tightly on certain aspects of spending, they do appear to be feeling more comfortable about filling some of the slots vacated through layoffs last year.
Harris Diamond, head of Interpublic Group of Cos.' Constituency Management Group, said, "There is and will be hiring going on" in areas such as social innovation. "But there are other areas of our businesses where, frankly, you just lose some people and there won't be replacements for them."
"There are signs of life but I have to be honest, for the last two-and-a-half years we have had little jumps in hiring for four to six weeks and then it will settle back down," said Paul S. Gumbinner, president of recruiter Gumbinner Co. "We do have more jobs in the house right now... I'm just not sure it's going to last."
Article Source: Ad Age
- March 16th, 2010
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