The Hunt For SEM Specialists

A new and complex industry that has grown up along with the adoption of search advertising finds few qualified people willing to stick with SEM in a firm. Ben Wills' Internet Retailer, makes an interesting point about how demands for techies has shifted to search and marketing pros: In the early days of Internet retailing, experienced programmers, web developers and e-commerce managers were the object of bidding wars as retailers and Internet start-up companies competed for their services. Now recruiters see a similar hot job market in search engine marketing. In particularly high demand are marketing managers, account executives, pay-per-click specialists and organic-search specialists with a retailing background. It's a growing field with substantial demand, especially for the most experienced SEM managers. Finding the right people to fill those needs in-house looks like an expensive prospect for businesses, but the returns of a well-run search advertising campaign should exceed that cost. David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him