Hiring for social media: When the big picture’s in a small, bent frame

Many companies stressing technical acumen—and low cost—over identifying and engaging the audience

(Editor’s note: We’ve left the job postings as they were written, unedited. Buckle your seatbelt.)

A friend sent me his collection of social media job descriptions that are popping up across the Web as more and more companies jump on the hype train.

Needless to say, many of them are underwhelming. Alarming at worst, eliciting a sigh at best. The poorly crafted job descriptions and even more poorly considered staffing needs are indicative of strategic problems.

Rather than turn this into a useless rant about how people don’t “get” how to look at hiring social media folks, let’s look at some real examples of these job descriptions and where they go wrong.

Misstep #1: Heavy focus on tools

Take a look at these elements of a current job posting:

“Do you Tweet? Have you taken nearly every quiz that Facebook has to offer? Do you strive to create a massive LinkedIn network? If so, then read on!”