How not to hire a blogger

If this is the future of blogging, I sure hope it pays better than this! Check out this job posting a buddy of mine forwarded to me. The company name has been blocked out.

Have you ever considered a career as a Blog Recruiter?

We here at COMPANY X are looking for an intelligent, outgoing, creative and internet savvy individual to come join our team. Do you enjoy visiting chatrooms? Do you enjoy blogging? Have you created your own blogs? If so, then this may be the job for you! This position would be targeted to recruit for Software Developers and Software Testers in the IT Industry. If interested, please apply with a Word .doc resume along with a cover letter explaining why you would be a great fit for the position.

Salary: $12/hr

Hours: 25 hours a week (flexible)

Requirements:

If you are experienced in the following, please submit your resume for review with our Technical Recruiter working on this position. Since this position is urgent you will be given immediate consideration should your resume reflect the following skills sets needed!

• Ability to Blog
• Creative thinking
• Good Writing Skills
• Personable and Outgoing
• Great Communication skills
• Internet Saavy
• Enjoys being online
• Ability to track work

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Why would a Fortune 1000 company hire outside of its company for a blogger? How can you effectively communicate a company culture from the outside? What is the career ladder on this? Blog Recruiter to Blog Recruiter First Class? What do they mean by "track work?" Wouldn’t their work be on the blog for all to see? And $12.00, part-time… Where do I begin?

n my opinion, it was a bad idea to post this job. I would have recommended an alternative strategy.

1. Simply consult Blog Search Engines like Technorati or Feedster for people who blog on your subject.
2. Read what these bloggers are saying and how they are saying it.
3. Read how these bloggers engage the people who comment on their posts.
4. Make a judgment call based on all of the above criteria.

OR

Buy the rights to a blog you feel best meets your needs and then hire the creator of the blog to continue writing it, but under your brand.

Why do it this way? Instead of "hoping" to hire the right person, you are selecting someone who is currently doing it and could (quite possibly) do it for you. Plus, you get the advantage of acquiring a built-in audience depending on whom it is you hire and that can deliver the coveted gift of positive word-of-mouth. And isn’t that the end game of any corporate blog?

And $12.00 an hour? (For a Fortune 1000 company?!) Honestly, I think that is laughable.  It communicates to me that this company does not "get it" when it comes to the blogosphere. The rate of pay tells me that they have heard enough about blogging to know that they need to be doing it, but are not seriously invested in it.

I hope I do not sound overly condescending on how [Company X] approached this position (although I will admit to some poo-pooing), I think that posting like this undermines the value of what a good blogger can bring to a company. I mean, you think you could snag someone like Scoble with an approach like this?

So what is a blogger really worth in dollars and cents? Here is a little food-for-thought:

According to research by Blog Business Summit, the pay for bloggers is all over the map ranging from $4 per post to a flat fee of up to $75,000 for a sponsored site. Full -time, salaried bloggers earn in the $20,000 to $70,000 range, depending on skill level and benefits.

(Want more? Read: As Blogging Goes Corporate, It Becomes a Full-Time Job)

Good luck COMPANY X in filling your job, I think you need it.

Okay, my rant is done.

-Jim