{"id":4504,"date":"2013-08-08T09:08:43","date_gmt":"2013-08-08T13:08:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/?p=4504"},"modified":"2017-04-20T00:24:39","modified_gmt":"2017-04-20T04:24:39","slug":"content-strategist-job-descriptions-in-higher-ed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/content-strategist-job-descriptions-in-higher-ed\/","title":{"rendered":"Content Strategist Job Descriptions in Higher Ed"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_4507\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4507\" style=\"width: 250px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4507\" alt=\"&quot;Help Wanted&quot; sign\" src=\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/wp-content\/images\/jobdesc250.jpg\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/wp-content\/images\/jobdesc250.jpg 250w, https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/wp-content\/images\/jobdesc250-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4507\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">When universities hire content strategists, what are they looking for?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>From conversations with our peers and an occasional scan of the job boards, we observe that more universities are beginning to hire content strategists. This is great news! It means that administrators and senior leaders are recognizing the value of their web content and the work required to manage it well\u2014and hiring accordingly.<\/p>\n<p>But what should go into that job description? What are the key responsibilities and tasks we need to address?<\/p>\n<p>Obviously, any job description will be tailored to the needs of the team where the opening resides. But as higher ed carves a niche for a content strategist, it is helpful to know how other institutions are thinking about it.<\/p>\n<p>To better understand how higher ed institutions are planning for content strategy and filling this role, we looked at the job descriptions they&#8217;re posting and asked three questions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What are the priorities for this role?<\/li>\n<li>What special or noteworthy skills should this individual possess?<\/li>\n<li>What\u2019s missing?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Top Priorities<\/h2>\n<h3>1. Content Measurement<\/h3>\n<p>Measurement, measurement, measurement. It seems that higher ed has heard the gospel, or at least realized that pushing out content without knowing the consequences is neither strategic nor sustainable. The ability to not just pull reports from Google Analytics but to use metrics to inform more effective communications and site experience is a top need throughout these job postings. And of course, web analytics are among the most helpful pieces of information when making the case for content strategy at your institution. Perhaps the work of one staffer will yield future hires.<\/p>\n<h3>2. Content Management<\/h3>\n<p>Content management system wrangling is also a top priority, with some descriptions noting which systems are used in house and others just citing a general experience requirement. In some cases, migrations are in the works. But overall, the need is not just for someone who knows how to use a CMS, but someone who can shape institutional use of the CMS, apply content modeling and other tactics to ensure the CMS is effective, and support users campus-wide.<\/p>\n<h3>3. Relationship Building<\/h3>\n<p>Nearly all of the descriptions evaluated included some degree of emphasis on relationship building, which is great to see. One noted the need to work with a \u201cdiverse population,\u201d another citing \u201cnegotiation\u201d as a desired skill, while another went so far as to express the need to work with people \u201cwho have little or no knowledge about content for the web or web content strategies.\u201d Both of these are good signals to prospective applicants as to the challenges that content strategists often face in higher ed.<\/p>\n<h3>4. Training<\/h3>\n<p>Relatedly, <a title=\"Training: The Missing Element of Content Governance\" href=\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/training-the-missing-element-of-content-governance\/\">training is also in the higher ed content strategist\u2019s mandate<\/a>, which is great. So much of the work to be done involves educating contributors, collaborators, and stakeholders alike, and it\u2019s heartening to see that need for education as a top consideration across the board.<\/p>\n<h2>Noteworthy Skills<\/h2>\n<h3>1. HTML5\/CSS3 and Responsive Web Design<\/h3>\n<p>The ability to poke around in front-end code is still important, as some of the descriptions sought HTML5\/CSS3 knowledge. However, more noteworthy were the couple of job postings that looked for experience with responsive web design. <a title=\"Creating and Planning Content for Responsive Web Design \" href=\"http:\/\/www.slideshare.net\/meetcontent\/creating-and-planning-content-for-responsive-web-design\">Responsive web design requires a content strategy<\/a> to effectively prioritize and focus content. <a title=\"HigherEd RWD Directory\" href=\"http:\/\/weedygarden.net\/highered-rwd-directory\/\">With more and more universities going responsive everyday<\/a>, it makes sense that this is desired experience for the higher ed content strategist.<\/p>\n<h3>2. Information Architecture<\/h3>\n<p>It was interesting to see the emphasis on information architecture. Anecdotally speaking, I haven\u2019t come across many folks in higher ed whose role is exclusively information architecture, so it makes sense to see this fall to the content strategist\u2014better than it falling solely to someone in IT, or a developer who isn\u2019t informed about communications needs. As George Washington University\u2019s Lisa Maria Martin recently blogged, <a title=\"The Biggest Umbrella\" href=\"http:\/\/thefutureislikepie.com\/the-biggest-umbrella\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">the lines between UX, content strategy, IA and the like are becoming increasingly blurred<\/a>\u2014and that\u2019s okay.<\/p>\n<h3>3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)<\/h3>\n<p>SEO skills also emerged as a strong consideration, which admittedly surprised me. I tend to think of SEO considerations as being baked into web writing and publishing best practices, rather than called out as its own discipline, but nearly all of the descriptions reviewed indicated a need for SEO expertise,.<\/p>\n<h3>4. Additional Content Specialties<\/h3>\n<p>Some other miscellaneous and noteworthy skills peppered throughout these descriptions: audience research, behavioral targeting, taxonomy, metadata, and content modeling. Achieving a deep understanding of our audiences and organizing and structuring content to ensure maximum effectiveness are critical, and some real nitty-gritty work is required to help those efforts succeed. A few hiring managers have definitely done their homework.<\/p>\n<h2>What\u2019s Missing?<\/h2>\n<h3>1. News and PR Content<\/h3>\n<p>There is one ubiquitous content type not explicitly mentioned in any of the descriptions evaluated: news and PR content. As I\u2019ve discussed in the past, it is critical that <a title=\"Reinventing News on Your University Website\" href=\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/reinventing-news-on-your-university-website\/\">news content benefit as much from content strategy<\/a> as any other type of web content\u2014perhaps the higher ed newsroom remains the next great frontier for higher ed content strategy.<\/p>\n<h3>2. Multimedia Content<\/h3>\n<p>Also, multimedia content (photo and video, specifically) was not mentioned in most of the descriptions reviewed. These media are not solely artistic enterprises, and they should be managed strategically to make the most of their value.<\/p>\n<h3>3. Community Management<\/h3>\n<p>Similarly, it would have been great to see more details on how the content strategist role influences social media efforts. A couple descriptions referenced \u201ceditorial management, editorial workflow, and production oversight\u201d and \u201cdevelop[ing] meaningful and measurable goals between web content and social media channels,\u201d but a more explicit tie between content strategy and community management would be welcome.<\/p>\n<h3>4. Editorial Style<\/h3>\n<p>Surprisingly, only a couple of descriptions noted the need of the content strategist role to manage web style guidelines. Perhaps this is because institutional style guides are perceived to be \u201cdone\u201d? To the contrary, <a title=\"Style Guide Pep Talk: Rah! Rah! Rah!\" href=\"http:\/\/blog.braintraffic.com\/2012\/04\/style-guide-pep-talk-rah-rah-rah\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">a style guide should be a living thing<\/a>, and the need to educate content contributors about style, voice, and tone is ongoing.<\/p>\n<h2>Help Wanted<\/h2>\n<p>Here is a selection of past higher ed content strategist job descriptions. We collect them under fair use as reference for individuals seeking to hire similar roles or assessing their own job description. Please note that these postings do not constitute an active job board.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/wp-content\/images\/ballstate_contentstrategist.pdf\" title=\"Ball State University - Content Strategist\">Ball State University &#8211; Content Strategist<\/a> [PDF]<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/wp-content\/images\/newrochelle_webwritercontentstrategist.pdf\" title=\"College of New Rochelle - Web Writer and Content Strategist\">College of New Rochelle &#8211; Web Writer and Content Strategist<\/a> [PDF]<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/wp-content\/images\/cornellilr_webcontentstrategist.html\" title=\"Cornell University - Web Content Strategist\">Cornell University &#8211; Web Content Strategist<\/a> [PDF]<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/wp-content\/images\/depaul_associatedirectorwebcontentstrategy.pdf\" title=\"DePaul University - Associate Director Web Content Strategy\">DePaul University &#8211; Associate Director Web Content Strategy<\/a> [PDF]<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/wp-content\/images\/harvard_digitalcontentstrategist.pdf\" title=\"Harvard University - Digital Content Strategist\">Harvard University &#8211; Digital Content Strategist<\/a> [PDF]<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/wp-content\/images\/scad_contentstrategist.pdf\" title=\"Savannah College of Art and Design - Content Strategist\">Savannah College of Art and Design &#8211; Content Strategist<\/a> [PDF]<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/wp-content\/images\/simmonscollege_contentmanagerandstrategist.pdf\" title=\"Simmons College - Content Manager and Strategist\">Simmons College &#8211; Content Manager and Strategist<\/a> [PDF]<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/wp-content\/images\/ubuffalo_iacontentstrategist.pdf\" title=\"University of Buffalo - Information Architect\/Content Strategist\">University of Buffalo &#8211; Information Architect\/Content Strategist<\/a> [PDF]<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/wp-content\/images\/umich_webcontentstrategist.pdf\" title=\"University of Michigan - Web Content Strategist\">University of Michigan &#8211; Web Content Strategist<\/a> [PDF]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>What stands out to you in these job postings? If you\u2019re a hiring manager, have you hired for a content strategist role, and if so, what were you looking for? If you\u2019ve been hired as a higher ed content strategist or are looking for such a role, what are you looking for in these job postings?<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019ve got any relevant job postings to share for reference, feel free to add them to the comments and we\u2019ll add them to this archive.<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/andjohan\/5644714850\/\">Photo by andjohan \/ Flickr Creative Commons<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From conversations with our peers and an occasional scan of the job boards, we observe that more universities are beginning to hire content strategists. This is great news! It means that administrators and senior leaders are recognizing the value of their web content and the work required to manage it well\u2014and hiring accordingly. But what [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[127],"tags":[21,22,34],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Content Strategist Job Descriptions in Higher Ed | Meet Content<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"To better understand how higher ed institutions are planning for content strategy and filling this role, we analyzed an array of relevant job descriptions.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/content-strategist-job-descriptions-in-higher-ed\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Georgy Cohen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/content-strategist-job-descriptions-in-higher-ed\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/content-strategist-job-descriptions-in-higher-ed\/\",\"name\":\"Content Strategist Job Descriptions in Higher Ed | Meet Content\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-08-08T13:08:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-04-20T04:24:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c46e3050ea513291a46336298ee82c91\"},\"description\":\"To better understand how higher ed institutions are planning for content strategy and filling this role, we analyzed an array of relevant job descriptions.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/content-strategist-job-descriptions-in-higher-ed\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/\",\"name\":\"Meet Content\",\"description\":\"Empowering higher education to create and sustain web content that works\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c46e3050ea513291a46336298ee82c91\",\"name\":\"Georgy Cohen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed49bc8dd530713ec3ccdf6523f474b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed49bc8dd530713ec3ccdf6523f474b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Georgy Cohen\"},\"description\":\"Georgy Cohen is associate creative director, content strategy, at OHO Interactive in Cambridge, Mass.. 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