Job Search Success Stories: Passion Blogs Appeal to HubSpot
What works with hiring managers? If it’s HubSpot’s Inbound Marketing Manager Rebecca Corliss, it’s passion. Passion blogs, in particular.
Rebecca sees dozens if not hundreds of resumes. But the ones that stand out have a passion blog that they really are passionate about, not a blog they’re doing because they heard they should.
Rebecca leads the social media, blogging, SEO, and content teams at HubSpot, an all-in-one inbound marketing software company in Cambridge, MA
About seven months ago, Rebecca hired a 2012 grad, Lindsey Kirchhoff, as an inbound marketing manager mainly due to the work she did with her passion blog, “How to Market to Me.”
When I asked Rebecca about how many applicants have a passion blog, she said 50% have passion blogs but only 25% were actually passionate about blogging.
”You can tell — some folks are going through the motions, and some are in love with their writing and their topic,,” she said.
If you don’t want to blog but still be original or just do not do a blog, Rebecca said that she has also received: videos, Facebook ads, Tweet campaigns, etc. She really enjoys seeing what creative things people can think of to get noticed.
So I asked, why did Lindsey’s blog stand out?
“It was her thoughtful assessment of HubSpot on her blog, and the incredible endorsement of David Meerman Scott (via his blog), who is on our advisory board”.
Lindsey wrote multiple blog posts about HubSpot, including: HubSpot: How Authority Translates to Sales, Quick Catch-Up, and 5 Quick and Dirty Tips from Content Marketing World and Inbound2012, among others. She explained in depth why HubSpot was her dream companyand frequently mentioned or wrote about David Meerman Scott.
So, what types of people does Rebecca like to hire? She says she is looking for people who are:
- Smart
- Passionate
- Content Creators
That has been the most sought-after trait I have seen throughout my research on the hiring process.. Businesses, especially inbound marketing companies, succeed based on how much new, creative, and useful content they create. So, they are looking for people who, through their blogs, can prove that they are smart, passionate, and content creators.
For example, one of Lindsey’s latest blogs was on the trending of the word “awkward”! She talked about actress Jennifer Lawrence tripping at the Oscars but then owning her awkwardness; and then Lindsey wrote about the fact that interest in the word “awkward” has shot up over the past four years! Right there, a unique and relevant topic that has you thinking about how both people and the world have changed in terms of what’s trending. “If you have those qualities, you have an awesome foundation that can make you successful anywhere,” said Rebecca. “At HubSpot, it’s the magic combination that makes someone results-driven and incredibly effective”
For my next post, I will interviewLindsey about her blog, (http://howtomarkettome.com), and her story about how and why she thinks she got the job at HubSpot!
Blog post by Kristina Bermudez
Creative Commons Photo courtesy of by toprankonlinemarketing