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The Search for SEO Skills

By Ashley Rowe on September 30, 2012 in Advertising/Marketing, Sales, Web Development.

It's been a while since we last reported on hiring demand for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) skills. At that time, hiring for SEO skills hit an all new high. Is hiring demand still on the upswing? Or has it calmed down?

In August, there were more than 18,000 job ads posted online that required SEO skills, a 32% increase over the same time last year. As you can see in the chart below, hiring demand continues to increase. The highest point in volume of job ads occurred in July with just under 18,400 ads.

Hiring Demand Growth Chart for SEO Skills

Hiring Growth Chart for SEO Skills

SOURCE: WANTED Analytics

The most advertised positions for SEO Skills are:

  1. Web Developer
  2. Media Sales Consultant Outside Sales
  3. Marketing Manager
  4. Web Designer
  5. Marketing Director
  6. Online Marketing Manager
  7. Sales Representative
  8. SEO Specialist
  9. Marketing Specialist
  10. Senior Web Developer

Most of the advertised positions remain the same with some just switching spots. SEO skills are mostly required in technical, sales or marketing positions. Sales related occupations saw the largest increase in demand, up 124% since last year.

Recruiters are most likely to have a difficult time finding potential candidates with this specific skill set. According to our Hiring Scale™ heat map, Lansing, MI has the least difficult hiring conditions, yet in this location recruiting is still moderately challenging. New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco have the largest candidate pools; however, these metropolitan areas also have the highest demand for SEO skills making them difficult recruiting areas. Youngstown, OH currently has the shortest average posting periods. In this area, job ads are posted online for an average of about 3 weeks, which is 2 1/2 weeks shorter than the national average duration of an online job.

Hiring Scale Heat Map for SEO Skills

SOURCE: WANTED Analytics™

As more companies are realizing that SEO impacts business results by driving more customers and prospects to their websites, competition will be fierce for this talent.

See what hiring demand and difficulty levels for SEO skills look like in your area with a free trial of WANTED Analytics™.

Gamification: Buzzword or Requirement?

By Ashley Rowe on July 14, 2012 in Advertising/Marketing, Sales, Web Development.

Is “gamification” just a buzzword or should we expect to see this in online job ads? Gamification is a growing business strategy since it is used for both customer and employee engagement encouraging game-like behavior in ordinary activities. NBC Universal’s USA Network is one example of this growing trend. They presented a game-like reward program for the Psych TV show that resulted in a 130% increase in page views and 40% increase in return visits to the show’s site.

According to Brian Burke, Research Vice President at Gartner Group, "Gamification could become as important as Facebook, eBay or Amazon… By 2014, more than 70% of Global 2000 organizations will have at least one "gamified" application.” Burke goes on to say that gamification is positioned to continue trending in popularity over the next 5 years.

Based on this, we took a look at the recent online job ads for gamification.

Gamification is starting to appear in online job listings. Over the past 3 months there have been 219 job ads posted online for this and a 313% increase year-over-year. Currently our candidate supply data shows there are about 600 job candidates in the workforce with gamification credentials, about 100 employers hiring for this specification, and about 90 employers that have recently hired.

Online Job Ad Growth for Gamification

Gamification Online Job Ad Growth

Top 5 Job Titles for Gamification:

  1. Account Executive
  2. Social Marketing Manager
  3. Community Marketing Manager
  4. Web Developer
  5. Director Loyalty Programs Customer Engagement

Cities with the Most Job Ads for Gamification Skills:

  1. Redmond, WA
  2. San Francisco, CA
  3. New York, NY
  4. Los Angeles, CA
  5. Chicago, IL

WANTED Analytics™ Hiring Scale shows that it will be difficult to hire someone with this skill nationally. However, the New York Metro is the best location to find people in this ability. If you are looking to fill a position, expect it to take 44 days, which is the national average for gamification.

Hiring Scale for Gamification

Monitor the growth with WANTED Analytics™ of this emerging area. Even if you’re not hiring for this specification, you can watch what your competitors are doing with gamification by details available in their job listings.

Is your company considering a gamification strategy? A free trial of WANTED Analytics™ can show you who you will be competing with to attract talent, insight on where to find candidates, and what skills you need to recruit. Sign up for your trial today!

Already a WANTED Analytics user? Sign in now and enter in the following search criteria: WANTED Analytics > Summary Tab > Enter keyword: Gamification > Hit Enter

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