Link building can be a tough role to fill, especially if you don’t quite understand the position.  Last week Rae Hoffman provided us with her guide to Interviewing a Potential Link Developer.  Rae gives some great direction for looking for entry level marketing specialists who will be handling link development.  Included in her guide are the qualities she look for in a candidate, the 18 questions she asks every time, as well explanations as to assessing the answers to the questions.  Her questions range from basic (What is your favorite search engine and why?) to on-the-spot assessments (Can you find me a Canon Powershot SD850 digital camera I can BUY?).  If you are looking to improve your link building and you are unsure of what to look for in a candidate, take a look at Rae’s guide.
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Everyday social networks are getting larger and more people are taking advantage of the tremendous value they offer.  This past week the New York Times posted an article about using The Social Networks as a Career Safety Net.  Currently Linkedin is growing into one of the best tools professionals have for networking.  It simplifies the process of reaching out to old and new contacts and provides quick and simple actions.  In the article they discuss one man needed to find a new job after learning his department was being shut down.  By taking advantage of Linkedin, he was able to score two job offers, and ultimately receive a counter offer from his current employer for a $25k raise with a position in a different department.  By making sure your profile is complete and up-to-date you can be prepared to take advantage of opportunities you might have otherwise missed.

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Yesterday we were pleased to announce a new partnership with SEMPO.  We're really excited to be working with SEMPO to develop programs that help grow the supply of search marketers across the country.

As part of our partnership, we're going to provide SEMPO with content for the SEMPO Institute and other content offerings around career development for new and search marketers alike, as well provide Onward Search employees with $1200 of tuition reimbursement as part of our tuition reimbursement program.  Additionally, Onward Search professionals who complete one year of full-time employment will also be eligible to receive full reimbursement for Individual SEMPO membership.

We've been working on this partnership for a fair amount of time and would like to thank the whole team over at SEMPO for being so great to work with.  The full press release is available for download below.

Onward Search and SEMPO Announce Partnership 8-13-08.pdf (25.55 kb)

For new college grads it seems to be getting harder and harder to find work out of college.  Technology employers especially can be hesitant to hire someone without any real experience, and without an internship, many new college grads are having a hard time finding a job.  Recently more and more opportunities are becoming available because of open source programming.  In Amber Gillies’ article, Open Source Technology is Hungry for New College Grads, she writes of one program at Google, Google Summer of Code (GSoC), which sponsors open source ideas to fruition.  More...

With the demand for SEO professionals growing faster than the supply, many companies are scratching their heads at how to recruit and maintain top talent.  Over at EngineWorks they are developing their internship program to cultivate new talent that understands their practices and techniques.  Their inaugural intern, Courtney Nelson, has questioned the definition of an intern in her post, Is the SEM Intern Today’s Apprentice?  Courtney sought out the advice of the many of the industry’s experts to try and define the two terms and find a difference.  More...