Scott Monty is Ford's social media guy. It's not his official title, but he accepted a position with Ford Motors several months back and he graciously agreed to an email interview on the process he went through to get hired. The interview is incredibly insightful, because it's unlike just about any other corporate hiring process you'd encounter. There was clearly a lot of flexibility built into the process, and Ford and Scott are still working out how they gauge his success.
It's my hope that as we share information on how social media employees are hired, we'll standardize the process for companies, ensuring the hiring of more of us, and there's also the whisper of the hope that a new kind of interview process unfolds, as knowledge workers help to create their job descriptions during the interview. So here's the interview, and to read more of Scott, check him out at ScottMonty.com, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/scottmonty.
1. What was the process to get hired? Was there a job description you applied for, were you recruited, or did someone just know you and suggest the role?
I was recruited first by the VP of Communications personally (whom I politely turned down) and then by a recruiting firm. I knew Maggie Fox and her company, the Social Media Group, who were working with Ford as their social media agency. There was a job description, but it was provided to me only after a few phone calls.
2. Did Ford have a clear idea what they were looking for, or did that role evolve over the course of the hiring process?
Ford had a pretty good idea of what they wanted, and were prepared to wait until they found the right person who would fit that job. I will say, however, that there is a portion of the role that is open-ended, to allow for evolution as the communications industry changes.
3. I tell candidates they are hired for their background, not their social media chops. Was that true for you? Did your agency and marketing background lead the way, or were they most interested in the results of your social media campaigns?
Since Ford wanted to establish a more cohesive social media program, the focus was on a combination of social media experience, strategic ability and business sense. My position is called Global Digital & Multimedia Communications Manager (rather than anything related to social media) because there's likely a wider potential for influence and growth within the company. So, while social media got me in the door, it's a combination of my skills that sealed the deal. For example, having lots of experience in client service, project management and working with large companies certainly plained into it.
4. Did anyone hold the position before, or was it just created? And in what division do you reside? Marketing/IT/Corporate Communications/Other?
This was a newly-created position, and it's in the Corporate Communications area. The VP of Communications reports up to the Group VP of Marketing, who in turn reports to the CEO, so it's a highly visible position that has access to just about every corner of the company.
5. Did they have a salary in mind when they approached you, or did you negotiate it as the position became clear?
They had a management level that had a predermined salary range. Naturally I negotiated, but in the end, we were pretty much aligned on the amount.
6. Did you find a need to revisit any corporate policies when you got to Ford regarding social media guidelines (employee handbook stuff)?
There are no lack of employee policies at Ford. ;-) Luckily, there's a good blogging and online communications policy in place that is thorough, well-written and easy to understand. We just may need to do a little more work on publicizing them.
7. If you were hiring, would you want to do it through traditional channels or through your social media contacts (Twitter/LinkedIn)? - (readers, this is not an excuse to send him a resume)
Actually, I'm in the midst of hiring for a position, and I used my blog, Facebook, Twitter and a handful of social media job boards. I told HR to completely skip Monster, CareerBuilder and the usual sites. I received between 40-50 resumes and I'm now in the final interview process.
8) Were there any competitors for your job? What strengths did you bring to the table that Ford really liked?
That I'm not sure of. What I do know is that between November (when Ford first approached me) and April (when we resumed talks), they spoke to about 50 people; my name kept coming up, so we started talking again. It was a case of Ford not wanting to fill the position until the right person was found. I suppose they liked my experience with large companies, combined with the thought leadership that I had gained over the previous year and a half of writing my blog.
9) Did you have metrics of your success in place prior to your hiring, or did you write them after you got there?
Metrics are still in the works, because we're trying to figure out our goals first. We do have a Conversation Index(r) that the Social Media Group tracks for us, giving us a sense of how Ford is trending on various topics, and with respect to our competition. And we also have measurements against smaller campaigns. But once we've got our strategy in place, we'll be able to plan our metrics accordingly.
10) Does experience in SEO/PR/Marketing make for a better social media candidate?
It doesn't hurt. :)
