This is what you get when you let HR people take a turn posting to the blog…

It was a long time ago that I took swimming lessons, and I must say that I did pretty well. I didn’t turn out to be Michael Phelps since I sit here writing to you today instead of weighing my endorsement opportunities or hosting Saturday Night Live. What I have found during my HR life is that I continually have to keep going back to recertify my swimming credentials. I’m not talking about the crystal clear waters of a swimming pool, but rather the murky depths of the talent pool.

The shortage of nurses in the United States continues to be well documented as is the trials and tribulations of the people trying to source and hire them. In the mid to late 1990’s you couldn’t help but hear about the dire need for IT people with an expertise in a variety of programming languages or network administration specialties. I am probably not the first think this, but to me that is where search engine marketing is headed. Let’s look some facts about search that can lead to that conclusion:
• Growth – In a 2002 report on U.S. Online advertising spending, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) in conjunction with Pricewaterhouse Coopers offered up that search spending accounted for 9% of online advertising dollars. By their 2007 report, search was accounting for the largest share of online advertising at 40% of all spending.
• Limited Education – While SEMPO is doing their part by providing individual courses for search professionals or those interested in learning more, there are few if any colleges or universities that are dedicating courses much less a concentration in search marketing.
• Sheer Size – In a 2006 Motley Fool article, estimates for the global size of the paid-search industry in 2010 fall between a conservative $20 billion and a more liberal $33 billion.
• Rapid Change – Innovations come about as quickly as new players in search marketing. While some names have managed to stick around longer than others, in one form or another (Yahoo!, Google, MSN, Ask); others have come and gone, or linger in the background (GoTo, Lycos, Excite)

Put it all together and you have a rapidly evolving environment in search marketing that is experiencing tremendous growth year over year with little formal industry education available. That equates to a simple supply and demand equation.

Now I’m more of a glass half-full type of guy, so I fully understand that the supply and demand equation means that we are further tasked with investing in and developing our own employees. I will also remain optimistic that when venturing to the external market, the qualified people are out there and they just need to be found in new (and still some old) ways. The evolution of social networking sites allows for more relaxed introductions to those casually or passively looking for new opportunities. Other ways that Outrider has found to get our staffing message out in a non-traditional way is to partner with industry conferences and have informal discussions with attendees on their timeframe. Coming up on Monday 9/22 and Tuesday 9/23, we will be in New York for the GeneratioNext job fair and AdEx 2008 – Experienced Hire Diversity Recruiting Program events respectively. These two programs represent a unique take on the traditional “job fair”. It will be our first time attending them, but they represent the new way of thinking that you have to at least try out.

So even though the waters in the talent pool may be a little rough, I know how to swim and I’m sure that my water wings will help keep me afloat!

Thank you to millerm217 for the image.