Social Media is NOT a 9 to 5 job. November 20, 2013

Every once in awhile, I will send out my resume. I’ve always been taught that even if you’ve been with the same company forever, you need to keep your resume and interview skills up-to-date and fresh. By the way, resumes have changed a LOT in the past few years. I haven’t needed one in over 3 years, so it was good for me to see the evolution.

I always check LinkedIn first. They have a great advanced search feature. For what I do (Social Media), I don’t have to stick to a specific region, because, well, the Internet. I’ve had a few phone interviews, and I finally got so frustrated with some of them, I kind of went off on a recruiter. I mean, I wasn’t mean or anything, but I needed this guy to hear this:

Social Media is not a 9 – to – 5 job. You may leave the office at 5, but if you really understand Social Media and how it works, most of your work is actually done AFTER 5. People work all day. They don’t have time to really spend on Facebook or Twitter, unless it’s on a break. When they DO check on said breaks, they’re checking their own messages, their own walls, and zipping through their feeds pretty quickly. Do you really think they log on and say “OMG, I gotta check what XYZ company posted today! I can’t live without knowing that!” No. No, they do not.

It’s not until after dinner that people sit down and mess around on Social Media. The dishes are done, the kids are doing their homework. They can finally catch up to Candy Crush. While they are waiting for their lives to replenish, they’re on their home feed. THAT is when you should post. (Check Insights, just to be sure!) THAT is when people have the time to spend on Social Media. Yes, this includes Pinterest. In fact, some of the stats I’ve seen on Pinterest say that you should pin mostly on Sundays.

Your office isn’t open on Sunday, is it? No, it is not. But your Social Media Manager knows that to get the job done PROPERLY, they have to work for a bit on Sunday.

So, while you are recruiting for people to fill Social Media positions, remember this: You need to be flexible on work hours. Is it fair to have someone sit at a desk all day, when most of their work is done in the evenings, and even on Sundays? No way, Jose! Let them work from home. Keep an eye on the activity log. They’re working, if they know what they’re doing.

The Internet doesn’t sleep. Neither should your company’s brand, at 5pm.