The document discusses tips for breaking into an SEO career, including translating job descriptions to highlight relevant skills, building an online presence through social media and a personal website, learning HTML and WordPress, networking at conferences, and staying connected with new contacts. It emphasizes communicating one's abilities rather than just focusing on checking boxes in a job listing.

2. Most SEOs didn’t set out to do SEO – they took a
circuitous path to get the skills they’ve learned.
@ruthburr #MozCon

3. “3+ years SEO experience with medium
to large sites/brands. Experience with
(industry) websites a plus.
Bachelor’s degree in business,
marketing, communications or other
related subject preferred.”
@ruthburr #MozCon
Unfortunately, most SEO job descriptions look
more like this.

4. Build a Website!
@ruthburr #MozCon
A lot of SEO career advice boils down to “just
build a website!” which doesn’t always help you
qualify for your dream job.

5. Time to Give Up.
@ruthburr #MozConSo are you going to give up like this sad puppy?

6. J/K LOL LET’S DO THIS
@ruthburr #MozConOr are you going to make some money?

7. Job Description Translator
“3+ years of
experience”
“Know how to
do this already”
@ruthburr #MozCon

8. Job Description Translator
“Bachelor’s
degree in
Marketing”
“Bachelor’s in
something”
OR
“Know
something about
marketing”
@ruthburr #MozCon

9. @ruthburr #MozCon

10. Your Actual Resume
@ruthburr #MozCon
Use your resume and cover letter to address
where you don’t match up to the job
description.

11. Special Skills: Agency-Side
@ruthburr #MozCon
Be sure to highlight non-SEO skills – at an agency,
written and verbal communication and a cool head
under pressure can be more important than experience.

12. Special Skills: In-House
Edition
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In-house, experience is more important because there
might not be anyone to train you. The ability to get buy-
in and work a P&L are big pluses.

13. Your Online Resume
@ruthburr #MozCon
I KNOW he
can get the
job, but can
he do the job?
Hiring managers don’t actually care if you match the job
description perfectly. They care if you can do the job.

14. Who ARE You?
@ruthburr #MozCon
In addition to whatever you say about yourself, you
better believe I’m going to Google you.

15. @ruthburr #MozCon
Social media profiles
(Yes, LinkedIn counts)
Buy your domain
name (if you can)
Join communities
Don’t forget pictures!

16. @ruthburr #MozConOf course, that’s easy for me to say, because
my name’s not…

17. @ruthburr #MozCon
Choose a brandable version of your name, or a
modifier, and use it everywhere to carve out
your personal niche.

18. @ruthburr #MozCon
And Yeah, Build a Website
@ruthburr #MozCon
And yes, having a website is a great way to try out new
techniques, and showcase your abilities to prospective
employers.

19. HTML
@ruthburr #MozConYou should know some HTML, and know your
way around a WordPress site.

20. Learn HTML
(and WordPress)
@ruthburr #MozConThere are lots of places to learn this.

21. Write in the Wild
@ruthburr #MozCon
Find places where you can showcase your writing ability
in the wild – blogs, articles, etc.

22. Content Strategy and Design
@ruthburr #MozCon
Were you paying
attention earlier?
Or were you on
Twitter?
Your website should demonstrate some thought
around content strategy, which you should have
learned earlier in the conference..

23. @ruthburr #MozCon
User
intent
Local
Search
Penguin Analytics
Anchor
Text
Duplicate
Content Panda Crawl
Keyword
Research
Inbound
Links
Page
Speed
Mobile
Search
Meta
tags
Usability
Free
Space!
And, you know, you should know SEO.

24. What Blogs Do You Read?
@ruthburr #MozConI will definitely ask what blogs you read. Where
do you go to stay current?

25. How I Got My Job
@ruthburr #MozCon
I got my job because I met my current boss at MozCon
2013 and we became friends. By the time he was hiring
and I was looking for a job, we’d built trust.

26. Networking Doesn’t Have to Be
Weird
@ruthburr #MozCon
Networking is about making connections and
friendships to build trust. Over time, your network will
get to know you & how great your work is.

27. @ruthburr #MozCon
Don’t mob the keynote. Take that same time and build
lasting connections with people who have more time to
talk. You’ll get more value out of it.

28. Stay in Touch
@ruthburr #MozCon
After the conference, make sure you keep track of your
new friends – stay in touch!.

29. Speaking of Which…
+RuthBurr
@ruthburr
http://www.linkedin.com/
in/ruthburr
BigWing.com
@bigwingagency

30. Image Credits
• Slide 2: Icons made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com licensed under CC BY 3.0
• Slide 9: www.Quickmeme.com
• Slide 13: Joe vs. the Volcano, Warner Bros. 1990
• Slide 19: www.wpuniversity.com
• Slide 26: Rudy Lopez Photography, Moz at SMX Advanced 2013
• Slide 27: Moz February Adventures! By Moz on Facebook
• All other images via Pixabay