You are so right Tom, it's already happening. Although certainly not a CMO, I got my latest job directly because of my work on my blog and on Twitter. In fact I used my blog to let folks know the specifics of what I wanted in a new career move, which lead to a proactive interview process. The days of posting up a resume and responding to job postings is certainly being challenged.

Kyle

So you gotta be either really famous, or you must have been wasting a lot of time on your past jobs, or have been unemployed.

Good point, Tom. However, it makes me wonder if companies are beginning to place too much importance on blogging. Clearly, in your case, it is very valuable, but I shudder to imagine people putting out content simply because it will aid them in a job search. Food for thought...

sign me up..what's the comp

I completely agree. I don't think it is just for CMOs, but anyone. We hire developers and engineers and I am always more satisfied with the ones that take the time to share their craft and connect through blogs and/or twitter. My BS radar is activated when I am hiring a business person who doesn't have a LinkedIn profile...

Great post, Tom. I am assuming a measure of tongue in cheek on this one, but as filters go, this is a pretty good one if you are looking for marketing types that eat their own dog food.

Are you legally allowed to discriminate against introverts for marketing roles?

I exceed the requirements for the job, though relocation from Poland might be awkward ;)

Hey Tom, I completely agree, that’s a valuable metric for evaluating such a candidate since the data will very quickly highlight who is active in proselytizing and engaging with the community at large. And isn’t the personal media footprint you described here just the tip of the iceberg for marketing in the new millennium? As companies strive to gain more edge, I’m sure they’ll look for new media savvy throughout the ranks of marketing, figuring they can always teach folks the rest. To share an experience, earlier this year when hiring for a junior position in the Content Network marketing group at iRise (www.irise.com), I went out of my way to find someone who already had a social media profile. What I was really looking for was a general comfort level in engaging -- as opposed to trying to force that new media openness on someone who just didn’t have the gene. Harkening back to my PR/branding agency days at Niehaus Ryan Wong, we had to take the Myers-Briggs test and anyone whose 4 letter personality type started with an “I” either ended up in Accounting or…not at our firm. ;) So this sort of filtering is nothing new to us.

In hiring for communications roles (I’m biased here!), I’ve found it’s useful to look for what I’d call a personal connectivity quotient – a reflection of how connected you are from a larger perspective: on Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo; contacts maintained in your database; events you attend and organizations in which you actively participate. In addition to your Google ranking, etc., I’d look at the sum of all your networks, and what could be relevant to the role. For example, there are some 4,000+ contacts in my Outlook database, built over my career, but maybe only a third of them also show up in the various social networking circles to which I belong. So the media footprint + connectivity quotient would, in theory, lead me towards my ideal candidate.

Depending on the role, I would augur that one’s connectivity quotient is also a highly important ‘tell’ because it reveals that: (1) you’re always meeting people and keep in touch (this takes constant effort and feeding); (2) you could probably solve problems more quickly (you know whom to ask and built your reputation on also helping others, so when you need help, they reply fast); and, (3) you can get the word out faster (you can Paul Revere news to your 25 most connected contacts) because your social and professional networking branches reach wide and deep.

Carla

p.s. Excuse the long reply…your smart post clearly got me thinking!

Happened to me over a year ago. Blogging led to a column. First column led to a call from the CEO of the company I went to work for as CMO.

There is a lot more to it than the online social networking though. Travel, public speaking, other writing all play a part.

Still trying to figure out how to make Twitter useful and/or interesting to my "followers". I assume they hate updates on what people are watching on TV as much as I do.

-Stiennon

Reminds me of a classified I saw recently. SEO wanted - must be able to reverse Google algorithm.

worked for me, see you can even create a startup with your followers :)

Great post and dead on...

Charlie, perfect ad for an SEO.

Loic: sign me up for any of your new ventures....Your loyal follower on Twitter, Facebook, and Seesmic....:-)

Best from China...

Tom,
It's obviously valuable for marketing managers in certain industries to be socially web-active. But your post ignores several other important hiring criteria like management and people skills to name just two. I'd offer the posted perspective smacks of having been drinking a tad too much social networking cool aid.

I hadn't thought about that to this level of degree before but it definitely makes sense with how quickly most occupations & industries have jumped on this social networking bandwagon. It's a new & very obvious way to check "status."

provocative points, but let's not confuse self-promotion with performance. Great professors can teach business but few have departed academia and have 'practiced what they preached' to great success. I have met plenty of marketing 'blow hards' that know all the latest buzz words but can't execute.

Engineers are different. Their code speaks for itself. You contribute to opensource and the market evaluates your brilliance.

I don't want to sell short the power of having a strong network, it is just one dimension of the job, however.

Uh ... is it just me, or are the comments for this piece necessarily an exercise in self-selection in that those who most buy this line of thinking are those most likely to a) read the article and b) reply to it with florid paragraphs of agreement?

Given what I've seen on most blogs, for every one person with a directly related career win, you have two who have made themselves practically unemployable. Not great, on balance.

Nope: Yes, you are right, commenters do have to read the article, so they are self-selected.
I'm not sure I understand how blogging will make you unemployable.

It's already being done:

http://www.nowpublic.com/tech-biz/most-public-index-silicon-valley

Tedd: Nice list! I'm number 28 on your Silicon Valley top 50 influencers which is cool but Dan Farber is just 39?!

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Spot on.