Introduce yourself, your role, and your agency Pure SEO
Hey, I’m Richard Conway, founder and CEO of Pure SEO and founder of Digital Popcorn (enterprise digital marketing)
What is agency life like at Pure SEO? How would you describe the culture?
We live by the overarching ethos of “Doing Digital the Right Way”. Being the largest independent search agency in New Zealand we are extremely selective about who and why we employ people.
Pure SEO is like a family, we look out for each other and genuinely have each other’s back. My personal ethos (which I hope permeates through the company is:
“At Pure SEO we believe in relationships that are based on trust. When we work together, we are going to do our best to serve you – going above and beyond and out of our way to do exactly what we say we are going to do. We will act in a manner that we would want and expect for ourselves, and follow an
ethical path, always keeping honest and leading by example at every turn”
And the fun stuff…. Yearly boat trips, Christmas barbecue with families (kids, partners and parents invited) and Father Christmas. Annual Christmas pod decoration competition (gets pretty serious!) Free drinks and pizza at Show and Tell every Friday. Table tennis competitions and much more.
What sort of roles do you hire for at Pure SEO? Are there some up and coming in demand skills that you look for in new hires or any trending skills that you’re needing more of due to client demand or landscape changes?
Always hiring people. Current roles: Account Managers (Pure SEO and Digital Popcorn), Sales, Social Media Specialist.
We hire on attitude but also need a level of knowledge and understanding. We have brought on a couple of graduates from NZIE.
In terms of graduates/beginners/those with little–to–no experience, what are some must-have skills, qualities and traits that you believe are important?
Be a good person who wants to work hard, have initiative and the potential to be a rock star. Be prepared to learn and above all, respect the people you are working with.
Say you were looking to hire, how can someone stand-out, make a good impression and capture your attention? Do you have any tips of what you may look for in their CV or portfolio?
Know something about the company and express how much you actually want to work for us and why. Do something different, make a mark.
Pure SEO have had some NZIE students successfully gain employment with you, who have you hired and what roles have they gone into? How did you find your experience with hiring NZIE graduates?
Pavlina joined Pure SEO from NZIE, funnily enough she was teaching me Krav Maga privately (I do a lot of martial arts) before she let me know she was doing digital marketing, she then asked for an internship. After the internship she joined the team full time as an SEO Analyst. She stayed with us for a couple of years and then had a baby!
How does an NZIE students’ knowledge measure up as they enter the digital marketing industry and start their journey with Pure SEO? What value have recent graduates provided so far?
Well, you have Lasma teaching you and she worked with the best 🙂
What is your best piece of advice for anyone considering joining the digital marketing industry? Do you believe they would be better equipped with some training or qualifications from NZIE?
Getting hands on work experience is critical. The industry is evolving and AI is doing a lot of work that used to be done by humans. The ability to actually understand the outcomes of the marketing campaigns and relate that to actual business outcomes is now a necessary skill. Hone your ability to understand the data and be able to communicate that in a way that provides value and insight that a business owner will understand is key.
Would you recommend the NZIE Diploma in Digital Marketing and their graduates?
Yep.
