Three Internet Careers That Soon Won't Exist

Earlier this year the New York Times detailed how careers in medicine and law - formerly bankable lifetime gigs - have lost their luster. College grads instead are pouring their resources into trying to create (or join) the next Facebook or MySpace. Maybe it's time to rethink those plans. Digital is going to become part of almost everyone's job.

After climbing to the stratosphere, jobs in Web 2.0 are way off their peak. The following Indeed.com chart shows a steep decline in listings that mention social networking, Web 2.0, Ajax and blogs. Naturally, the macroeconomic climate has a lot to do with this. However, when you look at other jobs that are historically sensitive - such as shipping, advertising or public relations - the slide isn't as dramatic. This (arguably) indicates that perhaps there's still a lot of air in the Internet specialist job market.

"social networking," ajax, "web 2.0," blogs Job Trends

"social networking jobs - " ajax jobs - "web 2.0 jobs - " blogs jobs

The web has finally become the dominant marketing and media platform and where everyone is largely focusing their resources. It's "the new normal." To me, this means that there will be less of a need for digital specialists across many industries. Some of these jobs won't exist in their current form within a couple of years. They will be integrated into broader roles. Everyone will be expected to know how to navigate the online landscape if they want to have a thriving career.

Here are three such jobs that will soon be integrated into other roles...

Social Media Consultant, Social Media Manager, etc.

Things don't fit into tidy little boxes they way they used to. My friend Dave Armano wisely calls this the Fuzzy Tail. He does a good job reminding us of specialist jobs that were big once - like blacksmithing - and are now no more.

On that note, let's take a look at social media. It doesn't have hard edges. For example, is a site like Engadget social media or just media? The New York Times has dozens of blogs. Does that mean it's no longer media? Beats me. Corporate HR will have an even harder time discerning.

This naturally leads to the next question - who should "manage" these sites? Is it the social media specialist or someone in PR with specific vertical sector expertise who also gets digital? My strong feeling is that it's the latter. (Then again, I work for a big PR firm so I should advise you to take this with a grain of salt.)

Net I believe that hiring someone just to "manage" social media is a luxury that companies will integrate into broader marketing communication roles.

Internet Advertising Sales, Online Advertising Sales, etc.

There's no doubt that the Internet is the future of advertising. Last week Advertising Age even dedicated its entire issue to digital marketing. Their coverage included a big section on careers.

Despite the recession (if we're in one), online ad sales jobs continue to climb . However, soon all advertising will be managed via digital technology and platforms, even if they end up running in terrestrial media. This means it will become very difficult to discern selling digital ads from just plain old ads. Clients will want to manage and measure their integrated campaigns through a single point of contact or channel and figure out how offline/online work together.

Just as onlne/print newsrooms have been integrated, so will ad sales. This means that media companies will want people who are cross-trained and thus the need for "online sales" specialists as they are known now will wane.

Digital Talent Agents

During the AdAge Digital Conference last week, a Digital Agent with a major talent agency talked about how they have a group of people who crawl the web in search of undiscovered musicians, artists, etc. These agents then pair promising amateurs with Hollywood or branded entertainment projects. I last wrote about this three years ago. Then it was emerging business. Now, however, it is becoming the norm.

Just as with social media consultants and online ad sales, the need for such specialists will soon fade. Every agent will need to know how to identify and talent from the web. The line between digital and traditional will be obliterated as more amateurs recognize that they can market themselves using the web and will forgo going on auditions.

Next up I will cover three emerging digital career tracks that I think will be hot in the years ahead; jobs that at least I think will have staying power and may remain specialist gigs.

Comments

[Scott Rafer]

The newly integrated jobs, which IMHO will take longer to solidify than you imply, will often go to the dotcommer side of the split. The integration could favor the new, which is not how I reach your piece.

[Bryan Fuhr]

Great point. You're right. Those careers won't exist. It's because those job descriptions were conceived when the internet wasn't a mass medium, say, 18 months ago. Chuckle.

Now that we're mass, I'd like to suggest a couple of titles that should change in the next 18 months:

Experience planner. Really, what's the difference between an account planner and an experience planner? Both advocate the consumer. The experience planner is just the next-generation planner, bridging media and messages. Digital agencies should drop the qualifier and start calling our planners "planners."

Interactive creative director. Do clients really need two creative directors? Shouldn't creative ideas be coming out of the medium through which most people experience brands? Should the title be consistent with the responsibility? Again, we should drop "interactive" from our creative titles and assume that digital is the norm.

Digital account director. Same reasoning as above.

What do people think? Are there other title changes we should consider as digital becomes the norm?

[L.]

Good post. It's amazing to notice how so few PR/communications firms are either just hiring someone to "do" social media or just, well, dabbling in it. PR/communications professionals must understand that this and various iterations are the future of communications - not just a tool or an add on. I agree that the need for hiring specialists will soon fade, but in the meantime, hiring strong talent will become more and more difficult as time goes on. In certain markets, there is a small pool of talent able to do the work.

[Mike Coulter.]

Steve,

Good observations. But writing from Scotland and speaking from my own experience of the UK in general, your point: 'I believe that hiring someone just to "manage" social media is a luxury that companies will integrate into broader marketing communication roles., is not quite valid over here. Most companies haven't/aren't hiring anyone to manage social media because so few companies 'get' it yet. Nor are many assigning the role to an existing employee. Because, as I say the penny hasn't dropped for them yet. However those that do get it, do as you say, expect more (rightly so) than the luxury of that person just 'managing' social media. Usually expecting, (again quite rightly) that the 'Social medium' role also covers internal mentoring/training and client evangelism/education.
cheers, mike.

[Amanda Rose]

Great article and very timely topic (as front headline for the UK version of PRWeek states 'Job losses on horizon for agencies as markets slide' www.prweek.com/uk/) I agree with Mike when he says that many agencies in the UK don't 'get it'. I attended a great seminar on social media a few weeks ago which was organised by a recruitment agency over here struggling to fill their clients needs where this area is concerned. Companies are going to have to get onboard and make sure that everyone in their team 'gets it' before they get left behind.

[Andrew Feinberg]

Fascinating and pretty much spot-on. Ties right into a Politics Online panel I heard at SXSW.

[Joseph Ziongaldo]

with all due respect to the author, please save us from the reign of PR shills manipulating our desires and shading our realities. it would be frightening if your envisioned scenario materializes. i know you work in PR but your profession is predicated on serving as a lacky for corporate interests.

[Mark]

Well, some interesting points, and a few significant factual errors.

First, in regards to online advertisng/pr services etc, it will go the other way. They will be swallowed up by mainstream agencies. Their resources, experience, clout etc make this inevitable. Online media agencies simply don't have the resources to compete with them.

Blogs and social media are currently a fad only among the highly internet savvy demographic, they will fade out, like cb radio, when something new comes along. (And if the internet has taught is one thing, it is that something new always comes along.)

Now few facts to correct some of the blatant errors above.

80% of the world doesn't have access to the internet, so it's going to be awhile yet before it becomes the dominant media.

More than half the global internet population is still connecting via dial up, so advertising that tries to use RIAs is only going to work for a tiny niche markets.

The people who do have access to fast services and are familiar with RIA, web2.0 services are young, affluent, inner metro types. (source www.emarketer.com). Making the niche market even smaller.

Jakob Nielsen is still pointing out that 90% of internet users are still trying to figure out how to use their browser and email programs properly.

Internet advertising only makes up about 6% of total advertising spend (soucrce www.marketingcharts.com), old media still totally dominates in terms of reach and spend.

Internet advertising does not work as a direct response tactic and that is still what marketers want from it. It has 99.9% failure rate in this regard, and that failure rate has remained consistent for the past 10 years. Sooner or later marketers and business owners are going to wake up to this.

(And don't get me started on branding, branding has nothing to do with advertising, and even less to do with online advertising.)

Offline advertising is one of the main drivers of online traffric. (source www.etailer.com)

The people who are clicking on internet ads tend to be spotty teenaged boys. (source www.emarketer.com)

I could go on, but one final point:

Web 3.0 is coming. The data/semantic web is going to leave web 2.0 standing.

[Jung (Jungyul) Kim]

overall internet usage is going up, more businesses are depending on internet for information and transactions every day. once specialist in one specific area, the skills and knowledge are transferable to another.

[@gloriakt]

Interesting post and agree with your perspective. I can see this now at my current agency as everyone scrambles to understand this digital age.

But, also agree with Mark - as there continues to be a considerable gap in two areas:

1) Client v Digital Savvy PR agency - There's a "want to" mentality but a strong "not ready" hesitation. Interesting to see as the next generation of CEOs, presumably more Internet friendly, will approach this arena.

2) Internet savvy demographic v. the rest of the world : Saw this at SXSWi last week. OH from a VC roaming the halls: "These kids have at most 3-5 years before their internet world bursts - again."

[Randy White]

I wrote about this as well, although from much more of an extreme viewpoint. "The State of Advertising as The Dollar and the Global Economy Crashes".

http://lawnstogardens.wordpress.com/2007/08/14/the-state-of-advertising-as-the-dollar-and-the-global-economy-crashes/

[The Baldchemist]

If I may add a bit from my own reseach. Thanks for your stuff by the way.

Computer World recently examined with the help of three research groups, the most sought after IT skills. The findings gave The Baldchemist reason to open yet another bottle of Bollinger.
Sought After IT Skills

*

Basic programming and technical support work are disappearing to automation and outsourcing. The opportunities will be for those who understand business processes, can design and execute technology plans that create business value and can cultivate relationships both in and outside an organisation.
* These hot in demand skills cross traditional boundaries, combine technical know how with a high demand for business and communications savvy.

* Most in demand, those who know how to face clients, design advanced and sophisticated applications customized to add business value in a specific Industry or organisation.

* More collaboration, interdisciplinary and much broader skills than the code crunching programmers presently in abundance are called for.

* The requirement, solid technical competence combined with fabulous business, organisational knowledge as well as outstanding people and communication skills.

Service

What is service you may ask? Well any thing that is economic that cannot be dropped on your foot. More precisely service is the application of skill to solve a particular problem. IT service in particular.

Of course there are those who doubt whether these skills can be taught. That they are the results of years of learning and experience. It remains to be seen.

We are particularly glad to have, over the years, acquired such skills. Much to the joy of our clients, who want to get on with what they do best and leave this type of stuff to us.
The Baldchemist.
Thanks once again for your perspectives. I don't agree fully but then again thats because our business isn't pure IT stuff. Happy Easter

[trypto]

Social networking and digital interfaces will cure aids, malaria, cancer... Doh.

[Jeremiah Owyang]

Steve, interesting perspective as usual, makes sense from the PR perspective.

I've had pretty much the opposite findings in my research, experience, and time watching the roles appear.

Please read from this perspective

http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/03/23/the-need-for-the-social-media-manager/

[francine hardaway]

Ultimately, you are correct. But if you have ever tried to be the social media personality for a company, you will soon realize it's a full time job. It may be a staff role in marcom, but it needs its own person. Very time consuming to sit and monitor conversations all day and respond to them. I used to own a marcom agency, and I would have to give this task to a separate person.

[Jason Dogpile]

"This naturally leads to the next question - who should "manage" these sites? Is it the social media specialist or someone in PR with specific vertical sector expertise who also gets digital?"

The race is on between the corporations who are busy scooping up the marketshare and a new breed of independent online entrepreneurs.

Now that the web is different there are so many opportunities to get a piece of the action!

[Ted Shelton]

Steve:

It seems to me that your argument depends entirely upon an analysis of the way a narrow set of relatively recently invented terms are performing within one particular marketplace.

Surely we need to look at the tasks involved in a much broader way as they are just now evolving and the language to describe these activities is rapidly evolving. Most of the companies I speak with talk about having a "community manager" not a "social media manager" for example.

I'd say this one is way too early to call.

[Peter T - Webshop]

Regarding "Social Media Consultant, Social Media Manager", if you have a useful product, and use "traditional" ways of marketing it, people are going to find out about it, talk about, blog about it and it will automatically take part of the "social network scene". If your product is bad, using SEO, "social networking" and various other means of promoting your site/product is useless. Traffic to your site and people talking about your site doesn't automatically translate to revenue generation.

[chrisco]

Yawn (to put it nicely) and dumb (to not so nicely - sorry).

Technology careers "never" go away. They might change, but they don't go away.

Just like anything else, different sectors and industries ride waves in and out, interest rises and falls, cycles come and go. The technology locomotive will never stop, in fact only accelerates.

Articles like this get trotted out by people who don't know what their talking about all the time. It's a lagging indicator and shows what the masses of herd-following journalists and bloggers are thinking. They just dust off and recycle crap like this and update it every few years. In the meantime, technology and change and the people who make it happen leave guys like this further and further in the dust.

I read this blog once in a while and I have yet to see anything particularly interesting or helpful to anyone except maybe the echo-chamber of consumer-product-pushing Mc P&Gs of the world (and not even really then). It's certainly a place for entrepreneurs to avoid. Nothing but backassward drivel and herd mentality.

[JS]

This type of data comparison should be displayed on a log graph, not linear - which will reverse your conclusion - these jobs are falling at the same rates as other jobs.

[Dave Atkins]

I hope you are right. It reminds me of working as a law clerk in 1991 and being amazed that some attorneys still used dictaphones and secretaries. The atorney role adapted and executive assistant roles grew beyond typing. Agile people seized the opportunity. As a technologist, I'd rather help than serve.

[Josh Bledsoe]

As for online ad sales, the majority of companies in the US still have absolutely no clue about the subject. Major companies still only represent less than 20% of the total market and the other 80% still can benefit from advertising online, they just don't know how. Companies like yellowpages(I have known a few people who have worked in sales there straight out of college) understand that and have been exploiting that niche for a while. We are all far to deep into the information on the subject to take a step back and realize how little the general population actually understands the intricacies of what we all eat sleep and dream about day-in and day-out.

Just my rant.

[Craig]

Nice Post! Based on my own experience and research, I think there are a lot of Social Media related tasks being outsourced to Virtual Assistants and Marketing assistants given the administrative nature of many ongoing web 2.0 tasks.

I look at my own Internet Businesses and would never think of paying someone a big salary to be my "social media specialist", when I could hire a savvy VA and train them on some key tasks such as managing my Social Profiles, commenting on blogs, content creation and social media syndication etc... These are all vital and time-consuming tasks that can easily be done by a more affordable virtual assistant.

So, while I agree that these "stand alone' careers may have a short shelf-life, the tasks and responsibilities involved in Social Media Marketing will be demand for sometime and will be delegated to secondary staff or virtual assistants at a much more affordable rate.

Just my 2 cents.

Craig

[Brian Clark]

Interesting post, Steve. But I'll have to agree with Jason on the independent entrepreneurs.

The sharpest people in social media are not in PR or working for corporations... they're out building media properties (and yes, it's all just media). Most won't even do consulting, because it's just not worth it when compared with building your own assets.

Social media allows people outside of LA, NYC or Corporate America to get in on the game. And we're playing the game at a pretty high level behind the scenes.

[Jim Tobin at Ignite Social Media]

I'm as biased as you are, Steve, although from the opposite perspective. Came out of PR, now do social media work full-time. What I hear more often than not is that PR people don't get social media because they think it's a channel for them to pump out their "news."

To "get" social media, and to make strong recommendations, you have to understand communications, and SEO, and a little bit of programming, and human nature. That's hard for most PR folks who are typically not very technical.

The term social media may go away, but the careers most at risk are those who don't understand the difference between one-way communication and two-way communication. There's a time and a place for each.

~Jim

[Jim Tobin at Ignite Social Media]

Oh, one more point. I highly recommend the book "The Origin of Brands," which argues that divergence is the most powerful force in the universe and specialties of all kinds will continue to fragment, not converge.

You seem to be arguing that the generalist will thrive. That argument, I think, goes against nature, which pushes increase specialization.

Check out the book. It's very powerful stuff...

~Jim

[Workpost]

Looking forward to reading your article on the three emerging digital career tracks. Would guess that they probably have something to do with data, handling data and manipulating data. Data isn't going away.

And regarding social media specialists -- somebody still has to try to answer all the email / maintain a human connection with clients, customers etc.

[Shama Hyder]

Hi Steve,

I think it will be interesting to see how social media evolves.

Someone earlier commented that you can hire a VA to manage social media campaigns, and although a skilled VA can be an asset, it's a bit more complicated that that.

I think while the majority of people are still dabbling in social media, very few actually have a solid understanding.

[CS]

I love how you start your discussion by putting medicine and law in the same sentence as PR work. The former are both careers which require about 15 years of intensive, highly-competitive post-undergrad research or work experience to even get your foot in the door.

What's it take to be a "Social Media Consultant"? In fact, what's it even take to do *any* sort of PR work? An English degree at a two-year college plus some experience in a PR firm? Hah! What chumps.

It's our society's hype, which elevates these vacuous jobs to the level of respectability that's to blame, not so much the dolts that fall for the hype and start calling themselves "social media consultants".

As a matter of fact, it's that hype, and nothing else, that in our country leads my classmates to study "marketing" and "business" while the immigrant undergrads come in and hand us our ass with their mastery of hard chemistry and physics. I shudder to think how many of our students are setting themselves up to be crushed in the global economy because they think they can have meaningful, worthwhile, and long-term careers to design social media sites which allow people to share pictures with each other instead of mastering the intracies of, say, biological chemistry, advanced microprocessor design, etc. (take your pick of any hard science here).

Personally I'm a Ph.D. scientist in bioinformatics, so any of you think I haven't seen this in my own graduate education are just blinded to reality.

I mostly just wish we had more American kids joining us in the sciences than letting their time-wasting Facebook activities dictate their career choices.

[Jan Riley]

Well I must say there are lots of great comments on this post even if I do not agree with all of them

Interesting isn't it that you are only getting these comment thru social media and some kind of social media manager (even if is is the author)

I assume you are writing this blog or article to generate PR or marketing for yourself or your firm.

You have done the work it takes be published in a syndicated format, so that many many prople can read it , share it and respond to it.
otherwise, if these elements were not important you would have written it and left it up to the blog gods to see if anyone would read it. Any one who goes thru this process understands how much time and energy and education it takes to make it successful.

To me this just demonstrates that the need for dedicated personal to perform and organize these tasks. I believe it will be even more critical as more business join in using the present (and future) social media systems.

I have found that PR and Marketing Execs don't appreciate social media because it is not predictable or controllable. These industries have traditionally relied on bombarding, manipulation, hype, persuasion, interrupting and other techniques that only work when you can hold you audience hostage.
The web has fundamentally changed this dynamic
Users are in control

period.

Savvy marketers and Entrepreneurs are discovering how to utilize this shift and significantly monatize it. Social media is structured around this new paradigm. Here are a few

Don't talk at me - talk to me
Don't tell me what you can do - show me
get to know me before you pitch anything
selling = hype
people recommendations mean more than cooperate branding
Don't lie - ever

My question is - will business marketing follow it or fight it?

[Peter Levitan]

Good stuff. I just sent it to my son at University of San Francisco.

As the Internet evolves so will the jobs.

Oh, as a response to some of the posts, I am a nuclear scientist and ALL of my PR friends are smarter than me.

[launchsquadadam]

I didn't see the search term "being Steve Rubel" on that graph...

[Wayne Porter]

Social Media is a pause...this is the Steampunk era of marketing.

[Jason Whitman]

Steve:

In the HR/recruiting space, I think the job will be candidate community manager, as discussed by Shannon Seery Gude and others. Nice post,

Jason

[don davis]

i believe you're mistaken about blacksmiths. thanks to recreational and competitive horseback riding, there are more farriers (horseshoe blacksmiths) in the US than there ever were before cars displaced horses. at least, this is what i was told by a farrier i once knew.

[Rapidshare Movies]

That's quite informative. Thank you :)

[search engine placement]

The internet has definately changed the way we do about everything in life. Our careers, our hobbies, the way we shop, the way we gamble, our vices. Just about everything we do is different due to the net. One thing we will see in the future is jobs changing quickly. No longer will we see jobs phased out. They will go immediately thanks to the internet.

[Robert]

Nicely put. I tend to disagree somewhat however. While in some parts of the world things are evolving very quickly, here in South Africa (and Africa as a whole) things are moving very slowly. Social media although very popular hasn't even begun to show signs of becoming a genuine marketing tool.

I think this is one area that we may see continual cycles in. Much like blacksmiths in the past. At times they were making shoes for horses, other times weapons... etc. (before anyone points out that these are different professions, just see it as a market comparison)

[Dan Thornton]

Interesting article, but I think it definitely overestimates the speed of change within business and large companies - and the speed at which teams which previously had little or no experience of digital will be able to acquire the knowledge and skills to use it without specialist advice.

When I became a social media specialist for a large company, I told people that essentially my role is to get people to the stage where effectively I'd be redundant - but that stage is going to be a long time coming, no matter how inevitable and sweeping it may seem to anyone who lives and breathes social media and technology.

It also ignores the fact that digital might be an integral part of the world now, but it's still evolving into everyday jobs and job descriptions. Let alone logical conceivable metrics and measures of ROI.

Setting aside the fact that someone is going to have to coordinate ongoing digital marketing alongside print, TV, radio etc, and be responsible for content creation, dissemination, locating conversations and making sure that customer service levels are appropriate - they're also going to have to be able to interpret, feedback and justify the metrics and levels of response.

And also keep their eye out for the next big thing.

This will change, and roles will evolve, but the skills needed will be in demand for the next few years as companies slowly embrace social media, see the benefits, and increasingly want to retain more of the skill sets in house. But even then, you'll need someone to focus on specific areas of expertise, or you'll end up spreading people too thinly across all areas...

[Reginald]

This is a very thought provoking post. I especially noted the metaphoric reference to the now obsolete blacksmith. I am not the expert on this issue; however, I cannot deny the obvious logic in some of the point made in this post.

As each year passes, more and more employees are beginning to realize just how mundane, limited, and insecure their current jobs are. In an avid effort to match this emerging revelation, individuals are searching for business opportunities that could be relied upon should one get fired.

Not to mention, with the current economic downturn, being your own boss is becoming more appealing and attractive to the employed masses.

Journalist and TV host, John Daly, used his skill and experience to develop ‘The Real Money Show’, www.realmoneyshow.com, an invaluable online resource that reveals how to search for an online business capable of supplementing an income or even providing much desired financial security.

You can email me for more info at info@johndaly.tv.

The credibility of this online resource is reinforced by the fact that ‘The Real Money Show’ does not endorse anyone or any particular program. These five to ten minute interviews allow people to read, watch, listen, and make an educated decision.

Hope it is helpful for those who need to get their feet wet with the internet, considering its current dominance.

[Mark Ivey]

"...I believe that hiring someone just to "manage" social media is a luxury that companies will integrate into broader marketing communication roles."

This will be a sad day. I think these job roles should be kept separate, period. The reason is that PR and social media mix like oil and water (go back and read ClueTrain Manifesto); it's the antithesis of PR--many of these organizations (as someone said) just see social media as another channel to drive the company's messages. Forget trying to change the way companies communicate to the public through a new social media if it gets sucked into the PR or marketing machine.. Kiss goodbye any chance of a more transparent corporation. It'll be a watered down effort at best

People like Steve prove PR specialists can "get it" when it comes to social media, but most (internally) are hamstrung by organizations developed decades ago that are more adept at defensive maneuvering and control than anything proactive. Meanwhile you have a new generation of semi-independent social media specialists who are trying to do something new—an effort that is clumsy, even messy at times as they find their way. But that’s what change is about.

I know I'm preaching to the wrong choir and fighting a losing battle; these tasks probably WILL eventually get swept up into the broader marketing communications roles. But as I said on my own blog yesterday, for now I'd like to see how it would play out as an independent role with the chance to make a real impact.

[captain flummox]

I'm completely with you on the last point about talent agencies. The old model of a firewall between talent and producer is crumbling except for systems that manage to build themselves as a proprietary gateway to a collection of agents. Then there is some value in simplicity, aggregation and functionality, but even there it seems one can go straight to the source and cut a deal. This is obviously a bit of a generalization, if such a thing is possible, but I think it applies to enough specific creative disciplines to be worth mentioning. This reality I think is largely how Google is "not" getting into the advertising agency business.

[Ryan]

The indeed.com chart shows a rising trend doesn't it? Where is the "steep decline" steve mention. Am I missing something here?