Help! We (Think We) Need to Hire a Content Strategist

Those of us working in content strategy know that it is a rich and complicated discipline. We understand, of course, that there are different types of content strategists. But we need to remember that outside of our content strategy bubble, the discipline is still pretty new to colleagues and clients. As the discipline matures and more companies are looking to hire for content strategy, how can companies educate themselves on how to use our specific skills?

I’ve recently been on the job market. And so I’ve spent a lot of time wading through content strategy job listings and meeting with hiring managers. My experience suggests that people beginning to actively hire content specialists frequently have little understanding of what their companies need beyond a title. I would even estimate that about half of my interviews over the past few months have consisted of talking through and refining job descriptions with those sitting across the table from me.

Hiring managers at agencies, brands, and startups would do well to hire based on the type of work they want to focus on—not on a price tag or a title. Like experience design (which content strategy is sometimes folded into), content strategy has subspecialties. Some strategists veer more toward the UX side: user research, content maps, content modeling. Others specialize in PR and native advertising (social media, influencer outreach, and content discovery); still others focus more on content management systems and governance.

Some content strategists even overlap with digital strategists (considering the audience, conversion, and the larger digital ecosystem), but then also do some of the more tactical, executional work to bring these digital ecosystems to life. Others may specialize in search and organic growth. Increasingly, former journalists have started to position themselves as content strategists, using their expertise with long-form and mid-length content to cash in on the boom in native advertising work and branded content creation.

And let’s not forget how industry and categories figure into the equation. For example, if you are an ecommerce brand hiring a content strategist for a website relaunch, you may want a content strategist with past experience in ecommerce working on your site, given your specific conversion challenges. Similarly, for highly regulated spaces like financial services, healthcare, or alcohol, a content strategist with past experience navigating these categories makes sense.

If you don’t practice content strategy, talk to someone who does

For any company trying to make their first content-strategy hire, the most logical place to start is talking with a real live content strategist. I don’t mean that you should reach out to a content strategist on the pretense that this is a position for them and then use an interview to pick their brain (and waste their time). For starters, that’s not very nice; furthermore, you don’t want anyone spreading the word that your company doesn’t know what it’s doing and may not be the best place to work.

No, I mean that you should formally engage a content strategist as a consultant. Have them talk to your team, take a look at your business, help write up an accurate job description, and even start recruiting through their network for the specific position you seek to fill. Chances are they know a lot of good people in their community who would be a perfect fit for the role.

Too often, I’ve seen job descriptions written by someone who is obviously not a content strategist and interviews conducted by people who don’t really understand the discipline. This is likely because, depending on the organization and the kind of content strategy work you do, your role could easily sit in Strategy, Creative, UX, Product, Communications, or PR. And if you’re a content strategist more focused on measurement and SEO, a case could even be made for Analytics. While I understand why this occurs, it ultimately means that the candidates won’t be as strong as they could be.

For companies that already have a content strategist or two on staff, it makes sense to engage them as well, even if they’re in a different location or less senior than the role for which you are currently hiring. I guarantee that the kind of feedback they give you will be invaluable.

Don’t look for “unicorns”

Banish the word “unicorn” from your vocabulary—along with, for that matter, “rock star,” “ninja,” and any other ridiculous buzzword of the moment. I’ve worked in the content sphere long enough to know my own strengths and weaknesses. For example, while I’ve certainly worked on content strategy projects that required information architecture, metadata, and taxonomy expertise, I know that my sweet spot lies more in editorial strategy. I’ve learned to position myself accordingly.

Unfortunately, today’s job market sometimes views such candor as a weakness. Ours is a culture that rewards confidence. Indeed, a survey of over 400,000 hiring professionals revealed that confidence is one of the top three traits that employers say they are looking for in new hires. This is particularly true in the tech space, where much has recently been made of the confidence gap and how it negatively impacts women. As a result, during the hiring process, people can feel pressured to claim that they can “do it all” just to nail down the job. And when a hiring manager doesn’t fully understand what they are hiring for, compulsory confidence can be especially problematic.

The thing is, as a hiring manager, you should be skeptical of anyone who claims to do it all. Someone with over five years of experience who says they can do both structural content strategy and editorial content strategy equally well is likely inflating the truth. And while there may be a tiny constellation of people out there who really can do everything, it probably won’t be for the $60 per hour you are offering. Be realistic when you hire. Remember, you aren’t hiring for sales or new business; you’re hiring to get a job done. Don’t fall for the slickest kid in the room—you may find yourself with a mess on your hands.

Ask to see deliverables

As you decide to move forward in the process with a candidate you’ve vetted, rather than giving them a test or a lengthy spec-work presentation, a great way to see if they’re up to the task is to request a package of some of their past deliverables. Here are some deliverables to look for based on the type of content strategist you are hiring for:

• Website relaunch: content audit, comparative audit, content matrix, editorial guidelines
• CMS redesign: taxonomy and metadata recommendations, content models, site maps, workflow recommendations
• Content strategist for an online magazine: editorial calendars, voice and tone outputs, content briefs
• Content strategist with social-media focus: social editorial calendars, examples of social content, measurement reports
• Content strategist with SEO and analytics expertise: SEO recommendations, analytics audit

Where do we go from here?

Knowing that you “need” content strategy at your company is one thing; hiring the right kind of content strategist to suit your needs and goals is another. Stop wasting your and your prospective hires’ time. Ask an expert for help, stay realistic about your hires, and request the appropriate deliverables. Making an informed decision about whom you bring on board will set you and your team up for success.

 

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Why Aren’t You Asking Questions?

This week's sponsor: CONTENTFUL

CONTENTFUL, an API-first, developer-friendly CMS. Build custom content-rich front-end with the tools of your choice.

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Communicating Animation

Another 10k Apart: Create a Website in 10 KB, Win Prizes!

It gives us great pleasure to announce the 2016 10k Apart competition. Create a fully functioning website in 10 KB or less! Amaze your friends! Astound the world! Compete for fabulous prizes!

Why 10k? Why now? It’s simple, really. In the 16 years since we told you about the first contest to create a functioning website in 5 KB or less, countless aspects of web design and development have changed. And, year after year, A List Apart has marked those changes, even instigating more than a few of them ourselves. But in all those years, one thing has remained constant: the need to keep our websites lean. Indeed, in the age of mobile slash responsive slash multidevice design, keeping sites lean and mean is more important than ever.

In 2000, Stewart Butterfield launched the original 5k competition to celebrate the skill, ingenuity, and innovation of designers and developers who wring every byte of performance out of the websites and applications they fashion. Ten years later, Microsoft and An Event Apart launched the first 10k Apart—adding progressive enhancement, accessibility, and responsive web design to the competition’s requirements.

And now, An Event Apart and Microsoft Edge have teamed up once more to entice you, the makers of websites, to improve your performance game yet again by competing in a new 10k Apart that’s even tougher than the last one. Golly!

Ah, but there’s gain for your pain. Besides fame and glory, you could win $10,000 in cash, tickets to An Event Apart, the complete A Book Apart series, and a copy of Aaron Gustafson’s Adaptive Web Design, 2nd Edition, which I consider the unofficial successor to Designing With Web Standards. So what are you waiting for? Hop on over to the 10k Apart website for complete rules and details.

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Google Updates and SERP Changes - August 2016

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Facebook Changes Newsfeed over Clickbait Headlines

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Firefox Wants to Get Rid of Your Custom 404 Error Pages

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Finding Opportunities in the Mistakes We Make

Roughly six years into my software development career, I had worked on interesting projects, met amazing people, and had the opportunity to travel to exotic cities. Yet I was frustrated. I was burning the candle at both ends to get things done. I didn’t look back to see if I could improve on how things were being done; I had no time. Deep down I knew it wasn’t feasible. I was working hard, not smart; I felt like I wasn’t working toward anything; I was falling behind with technology. I was burning out.

I started searching for an opportunity to facilitate my technical growth. Two years later I was based at an enterprise client who adopted agile software development methodologies, and everything changed for me. This new world exposed me to a diverse working environment and new perspectives, and encouraged me to ask even more questions than before. This is when I discovered the power of the words “reflect, inspect, and adapt.”

It wasn’t a walk in the park with unicorns and rainbows, but the experience has aided me in officially branding my career as one exciting journey of professional and self-discovery. Now ten years into my career, I realize that for most of that time I have been in survival mode. After looking back, I’d like to share how I found opportunities in the mistakes I made.

Define clear career and personal goals

Computers weren’t a household name when I was growing up in South Africa, but I was lucky to have access to my dad’s Pentium 386. I was amazed at this technology. When we got internet access, I was immediately hooked on the online world. I taught myself HTML and later built my own machine with the money I made from designing a website for the local newspaper.

When I chose my higher education path I had one goal—I wanted to make websites. I didn’t want a degree; I wanted experience. I studied at a college for two years, then excitedly entered the workforce to follow my passion.

As I entered the workforce, I wasn’t prepared for the politics: managers expecting things to be done almost immediately; clients who don’t engage and are unsure of what they want; clients who express urgency, yet wait for the last minute to provide you with everything you need; an increased workload due to colleagues who stay well inside their comfort zone. These are just some examples of the politics that initiated my frustrations.

I wondered if this is where I’d still be in five or ten years and if I would be able to sustain it. I didn’t know the answer to the former, but to the latter it was definitely no.

Coupled with turning thirty, the new perspectives I developed in the agile environment made me really evaluate my future. I realized that I didn’t have goals; I was only chasing my passion. Granted, it is fun and I gained a lot of experience in many different areas in IT, but I don’t have anything tangible to show for it now.

After much reflection, I discovered these goals for myself:

1. Increase productivity. I minimize distractions like email, social media, and uninvited guests to improve my productivity. To make sure I am working on the right tasks, I need to have a clear understanding about what I am working on and why.
2. Develop software that has a positive impact on people. It is important to understand business thinking and impact on users. I need to ask appropriate questions, and I need to guide and negotiate with product stakeholders.
3. Share my knowledge. I can create an online identity (publish articles, blog), possibly speak at events, and contribute to open-source software. I can find projects on GitHub of libraries and tools that I regularly use and create a pull request.
4. Better my craftsmanship. I can learn through code reviews and peer conversations, listen to podcasts, read up on best practices, read more craft-related reference books, and reflect on my implementation.
5. Learn to live mindfully. To have a positive impact on people, I can make small adjustments and engage those around me to help me grow. Meditation, reflection, and motivational books are tools I could use to guide me.
6. Showcase my career. Create a tangible timeline of projects I have worked on including screenshots, descriptions, technologies, and learnings.

These goals feel more defined to me than just making cool websites. I wish I had set some goals a little sooner but luckily — as cliché as it sounds — it’s never too late. Goals give you direction and purpose. Like me, you may have worked many late nights on personal projects that never materialized. It helps to have focus and something definite to achieve. I find what’s best of all is that I don’t feel constrained by having these goals. They represent what’s important to me now but if my values change, I can inspect and adapt my goals.

Put people before technology

For too long, I worked alone on my own codebases and wondered if I was doing things the right way. I had little to no exposure to working in teams and dealing with industry buzzwords like agile, TDD/BDD, Gang of Four, SOLID, code reviews, continuous integration/delivery, DevOps, and <insert your favorite technical jargon here>. I was in a bubble falling further behind in the fast-paced technical world. I was focused on working with technology and never realized how important it is to collaborate.

If you work in a company with a silo-based culture or one- or two-people teams, try not to accept things for what they are:

• Get involved with your coworkers by communicating and collaborating on projects.
• Try introducing knowledge-sharing sessions and code reviews.
• Reflect on what worked and what didn’t and also unpack why, so that you can learn from it.
• Approach management with suggestions on how you and your colleagues can produce more solid and effective software.
• Attend conferences or smaller community meetups. Not only can you learn a lot through the content but you have the chance to network and learn from an array of people with different skills.

Prioritize your tasks

I often worked about twelve to sixteen hours a day on projects with short deadlines. I spent my official work hours helping colleagues with problems, immediately responding to email, attending to people with queries or friendly drop-ins, supporting projects that were in production, or fighting fires resulting from errors that usually came from miscommunication. This left me with very little time to be productive. When I finally got to work on my project, my perfectionism only increased my stress levels. Regardless, I never missed a deadline.

I thought everything was important. If I didn’t do what I was doing the world would end, right? No! The reality is that when everything is important, nothing is important.

This working behavior sets unrealistic expectations for the business, your colleagues, and yourself. It hides underlying issues that need to be addressed and resolved. If you are working at an unsustainable pace, you can’t deliver your best work plus you end up missing out on actually living your life.

The power of retrospectives

The most important ceremony (or activity) I was introduced to in the agile environment was the retrospective, which is “the process of retrospecting at the heart of Scrum (Inspect and Adapt), eXtreme Programming (fix it when it breaks) and Lean Software Development (Kaizen or Continuous Improvement)”.¹

Through retrospection you are granted the opportunity to reflect on how you — and the team — did something, so that you can improve the process. Let’s run through this technique to identify some pain points using the situation I had found myself in:

• Working unsustainable hours because there was too much to do. I helped everyone else before I worked on my own tasks, I worked on things that didn’t add much value, and I thought that all the features needed to be ready for launch. I was blind to asking for help when I needed it.
• Dealing with too many distractions. I allowed the distractions by immediately switching context to help others because it was important to them.
• Key-person dependency. I was the only person working on one of the projects.
• Miscommunication resulting in errors. Communication was done via email and the stakeholders were off-site. There wasn’t quick feedback to indicate if the project was going in the right direction.

Once the pain points are identified, adjustments need to be made in order to see improvement. Large adjustments could take too long to implement or adjust to, which leads to disruptions. Smaller adjustments are better. These adjustments may or may not work in the long haul, so we can look at them as experiments.

• To work more sustainably I need to know what I need to work on — and why — so that I can add value without wearing myself out. Perhaps I could find out what needs to be available for launch and create a prioritized list of things to do. This list could help me focus and get into the “zone.”
• To manage client expectations, we can try open communication. This can also help me prioritize my tasks.
• To overcome some of the distractions I could reap the benefits of being selfish by saying no (within reason). This could help me stay in the zone for longer. If anything must be expedited I can start offering trade-offs: if I do X now, can Y wait?
• To alleviate the pressures of being the sole person able to do certain things, I could have more conversations with my manager and train a colleague so that they are aware of what is going on and someone can take over in the event that I get sick or am on vacation.
• To reduce errors from miscommunication, perhaps we could create visibility for stakeholders. Introduce a physical workflow board and have constant feedback loops by requesting frequent reviews to demonstrate what we have done.

Experiments run for a period of time and need to be measured. This is a grey area. Measurements aren’t always accurate, but it always boils down to the pain. If the pain is the same or has increased, then the experiment needs to be adjusted or a new experiment introduced. If it has been alleviated, even slightly, then there is improvement.

Learning through experimentation

Many of the experiments mentioned above already form part of the agile Scrum framework, so let me introduce you to real-world experiments we did in our team.

Based on the way our development stories were deployed, we experienced pain with testing stories in the appropriate order. We were using Jenkins for automated deployments and each one got a number incremented from the previous one, but the testers weren’t testing the stories in any particular order. If a story was ready to be deployed, they wouldn’t know if there was another, untested story that they were unwittingly promoting to production along with it, or if the story they tried to deploy was being held back by other stories still awaiting testing.

Without waiting for a retrospective we had a conversation to highlight the pain. We chose to write the build number on a note stuck on the story card on our wall and add a comment to our digital storyboard. This created quick visibility on the chronological order of the possible deployments of our stories.

A change control process was later introduced that required details of a production deployment and a rollback plan for that change. We couldn’t quickly access the last few production build numbers, so we started writing them on stickies and put those onto a new section on our physical board. Now we didn’t have to search through email or log in to Jenkins to find these numbers. One day, we were asked when we last deployed and had to go back to email for the answer, so we started adding the date to the deployment number stickies.

These were simple experiments but they added a lot of value by saving time. We acted on alleviating pain as it happened.

Don’t be afraid to experiment if you are not in an Agile world. If you simply run to business with problems and offer no solutions then business will frown at you. The goal here is simple: identify your pain points and find simple solutions (or improvements) to try to alleviate the pain. Experiment, inspect, and adapt often.

Believe in yourself

Survival mode never did me any good. I didn’t get an award for working long hours to make deadlines. Letting my mistakes and frustrations build up over the years made me stop believing in myself.

I was stuck in a rut; technology was changing around me fast and I was burnt out and falling behind. I’d scroll through Stack Overflow and instantly feel stupid. I’d spend time looking at all the amazing websites winning awards on Awwwards and feel inadequate. I didn’t have a life as it was consumed by my obsession for work. I didn’t know what I wanted anymore, or what I wanted to aspire to.

Introspection helped me. By inspecting my behavior, I was able to make minor adjustments that I would then inspect again to see if they worked. This simple activity can show you what you are capable of and lead you to learning more about yourself and those around you. I am applying what I have learned in software in a personal capacity. I have my life back, and I feel empowered and freed.

My final thoughts

I’ve definitely made a lot of mistakes in my career. What I have shared with you is probably only a fraction of them. I don’t regret my mistakes at all; that is how I got my experience. The only regret I have is that I wish I had begun reflecting on them sooner.

When a mistake is made, an opportunity is born: learn from that mistake to do something differently next time. Take time to step out of the subjective into the objective, so that you can reflect and consider what you could do to change it. (And don’t be too hard on yourself!)

My journey has taught me to implement small experiments that can be measured and to run them for short periods of time. If something works, keep it. If not, adjust it or throw it away. By making small changes, there are fewer disruptions. If you too are in survival mode — stop and breathe now! Reflect, inspect, and adapt.

Footnotes

• 1. From the Agile Retrospective Wiki.

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