Yusuf Mahomedy owns the interestingly named WorkSucks, where he assists people in all phases of their work life. “Essentially what we do is assist organisations to attract and retain talent – we work with small businesses, job seekers and employers”.

Yusuf Mahomedy

Yusuf has an accounting background, but a particular interest in what “makes people tick” led him to work with employees and employers, and being aware of the possibilities online he's done a fair amount of work in the social media scene. There have been a number of interesting posts on the topic recently (see Mike Stopforth's here), and I hoped that Yusuf could offer some insight into how to go about finding talent and being found.

I couldn't help but ask Yusuf if there is a profile for the kind of person interested in social media. (I admit that this was a rather sneaky question to ask, as it's never easy to profile such a diverse range of people, but Yusuf attempted an answer nonetheless).

“Social media has a strong appeal for your 20 something's as a starting point because there is opportunity there.” He went on to describe social media practitioners as self confident people who are comfortable entering a space where they don't know everything, and will thus learn as they go along.

Yusuf said that he sees the number of people in this field increasing in the next 2 to 5 years. Which should be well received, given that there are spaces to fill as entrepreneurs move from consultancies or start ups to larger more traditionally minded corporations.

“It's a relatively new field, but it has been taking off and a lot of local companies are paying attention to it for the first time. Companies want the best and the brightest, and as a result people are being poached. There is a talent shortage, and it is the case that companies have not found enough time to build up their own resources.”

His advice for companies, (and if you work at a organisation with a shortage in social media talent, this means you) is to look at unconventional means in how you attract and retain staff to give your business a competitive advantage. For example, it would be a good idea to chat to and cultivate a talent pool.

“Where companies can really score in the social media space is if they use it as a platform to talk to people who they want to hire.” Building up relationships with the people you are looking to recruit would be immensely useful, albeit quite challenging. It must be done in a genuine way, especially if you're speaking with a mind to hiring at some point in the future, and this is where someone like Yusuf and WorkSucks would come in (ahem).

Yusuf also mentioned that in South Africa, most people's driving force is a desire for money. “We live in a materialistic age, and people are facing a crunch”. Bottom line seems to be that companies should look at what they offer their employees holistically and flexibly.

His advice for individuals and job seekers in this field is simple: build your own brand. Start a blog and use it as a “platform from which to showcase your skills”. This approach worked very well for a man called Jeff Clark, who showcased his design skills on a website and “invited companies to apply for the opportunity to employ him”.

Yusuf believes that companies will probably start looking at prospective employees blogs more than at their CVs, as it is an incredible source of knowledge about someone they would hire. It is also an immensely useful resource for recruitment agencies who want to match individuals to the best environment possible for them.

With all the moves happening currently, I couldn't help but wonder about the effect this change in environment would have on people moving from start-ups to bigger companies. 

“It's going to change how we interact with social media. Start ups have a highly personalised touch, and you feel that communication and you feel it is coming from the heart, for eg. their blog posts. As a lot of companies jump on board however, you get bogged down into formalised structures - many stars jumping across are going to feel stifled”.

The main issue as Yusuf describes it, is that companies who use social media might not understand that their involvement is about a new way of doing business, not just about a “a PR or marketing stint”. The social media “stars” currently making the move, despite being in high demand, might face a challenge in instilling this new mindset in bigger businesses.