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The real meat and potatoes of the discussion right now isn’t necessarily what standards to employ, but whether we need — or should even consider — SEO standards. In today’s SEM.EDU column, “Do We Need Educational Standards For Learning SEO?,” Ron Jones wonders how we can effectively train people if we don’t have basic guidelines for the industry.

Here’s the best example of misleading statistics we’ve seen, outside of the ads skewering the mythical Cable Corp: “DirecTV - Cable Corp Inc. - Statistics” directed by Christopher Guest) “Whip up some numbers that make it look like we have, like, I don’t know, a thousand HD channels.”

Today the WSJ blogged about the hardest jobs to fill based on an annual employment survey conducted by temp firm Manpower Inc. We all agree with the famous German ad shown here, “Life is too short to be in the wrong job.”

Not surprisingly, the very temp-to-perm jobs Manpower specializes in ended up high on the Top 10 list of the 42,500 global companies surveyed.

Based on the response to SEW Experts columnists Ron Jones (SEM.edu), Fionn Downhill, and William Flaiz, we know better.

In fact, rather than linking to all their columns about learning SEM or how to attract and hire talent, I asked John Skroly, vice president of business development for Onward Search what jobs Fortune 500 companies and top search marketing firms can’t easily fill.

Here’s what Skroly had to say:

Based on feedback from clients this is what we are finding:

1) Qualified Web Analytics professionals – Omniture, Web Trends etc
2) Organic SEO experts with e-commerce experience from top tier IR’s (Internet retailers)
3) Paid Search with vertical experience

So what gives?

Manpower asked companies, “What is the one job you are having most difficulty filling due to a lack of available talent?” The categories were so broad they practically broke down into the age-old categories of white collar and blue collar:

1. Skilled Manual Trades (carpenters, welders and plumbers)
2. Sales Representatives
3. Technicians (production/operations, engineering and maintenance)
4. Engineers
5. Management/Executives
6. Laborers
7. Secretaries, PAs, Administrative Assistants & Office Support Staff
8. Drivers
9. Accounting & Finance Staff
10. IT Staff (primarily programmers/developers)

Do those jobs sound like the future of the American economy?

Has that been your experience? Discuss your career here.

SEMPO has announced officers for its recently elected Board of Directors. The association also revealed a change in the amount of time board members serve. While previous boards served for 1 year, the new board will serve for 2 years. Officers will still serve 1 year terms and next year’s officers will be chosen from this broader gang of 13.

Dana Todd replaced Gord Hotchkiss as Chairperson, while Jeffrey Pruitt continues in his position as President. Dave Fall moved from Treasurer to VP while Ron Jones moves into the role of Treasurer. Chris Boggs is staying put as Secretary.

The 2008 officers are:
Dana Todd, Newsforce - Chairperson
Jeffrey Pruitt, President, iCrossing - President
Dave Fall, DoubleClick, Inc. - Vice President
Ron Jones, Symetri Internet Marketing - Treasurer
Chris Boggs, eMergent Marketing – Secretary

The 2008-2009 Board Members:

Jessica Bowman, In-house SEO Consultant
Massimo Burgio, Global Search Interactive
Bruce Clay, Bruce Clay, Inc.
Duane Forrester, Microsoft
Sara Holoubek, Free Agent Consultant
Gord Hotchkiss, Enquiro Search Solutions, Inc.
Bill Hunt, Global Strategies International
Kevin Lee, Didit

There are both benefits and drawbacks to taking an online SEO training course. In today’s SEM.EDU column, “Online SEO Training Options,” Ron Jones outlines several options available across the Web, making it easy to learn SEO online.

Why would anyone want to become an SEM professional? Well, it’s a hot, growing, in-demand field, and everyone wants a piece of it: corporate clients, interactive agencies, investors, search engines, and traditional agencies. In today’s SEM.EDU column, “Search Engine Marketing Career Development,” Ron Jones explains that what each party wants and how they’re going to get it differs, but those who are trained and prepared can step in, close the talent gap, and benefit everyone involved.

Educating employees in SEO and PPC marketing can seem impossible when they have no search background. In today’s SEM.EDU column, “How To Educate Search Staff from Scratch,” Ron Jones offers advice for those struggling to organize a program to teach employees the fundamentals of search.

SEMPO, the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, has announced the nominees for its 2008 board of directors. The 2008 board will consist of 13 individuals who will each serve a two-year term. Voting runs from February 6 to February 15. Candidate profiles are available to SEMPO members on the SEMPO site.

Twelve of the 13 current board members are running for re-election: Chris Boggs, eMergent Marketing; Massimo Burgio, Global Search Interactive; Fionn Downhill, Elixir Systems; Dave Fall, DoubleClick; Duane Forrester, Microsoft; Sara Holoubek, Free Agent; Gordon Hotchkiss, Enquiro Search Solutions; Bill Hunt, Global Strategies International; Kevin Lee, Didit; Jeffrey Pruitt, iCrossing; Dana Todd, Newsforce; and Tanya Vaughan, Hewlett-Packard. 360i’s Dave Williams opted not to run again.

There are 21 other candidates for the board seats: Damien Anderson, Blowfish Digital Limited; Jay Berkowitz, Ten Golden Rules; Lindsay Blankenship, Avenue A | Razorfish; Jessica Bowman, Yahoo; Paul Bruemmer, Red Door Interactive; Luar Buso, Getupdated; Bruce Clay, Bruce Clay, Inc.; Chris Copeland, Outrider; Marc Engelsman, Digital Brand Expressions; Mark Fiske, Bazaar Advertising; Mark Jackson, Vizion Interactive; Mike Jacobs, iMarketing LTD; Ron Jones, Symetri Internet Marketing; Max Kalehoff, Clickable; John Koehler, VML; Chris Kramer, NETexponent; Robert Murray, iProspect; Steve Riegel, Faction Media; Farukh Shroff, Solid Cactus; David Szetela, Clix Marketing; Lori Weiman, Click Forensics.

You’ll recognize many of the names of the nominees as SEW Experts and ClickZ Experts columnists, including Chris Boggs, Fionn Downhill, Kevin Lee, Mark Jackson, Ron Jones, and David Szetela. Congratulations, and good luck to them and to all the nominees.

SEO can take months or longer to get the results you’re looking for. What’s the alternative? PPC advertising. In today’s SEM.EDU column, “PPC.edu: Learn AdWords, Yahoo Search, adCenter Online,” Ron Jones explains how to use a combination of aggressive bidding, relevant keywords, landing page content, and ad copy to win a top spot in search [...]

Search engines give SEOs the 4 PRs for submitting sites: press releases, product releases, proper rules, and PageRank. But these alone won’t solve SEO problems. In today’s SEM.EDU column, “SEO.edu: Can You Learn SEO From a Book? - Part 3,” Ron Jones takes a look at where to find more information online when things go [...]

The general consensus from the SEO community and Search Engine Watch readers: learning SEO solely from a book doesn’t cut it. In today’s SEM.EDU column, “SEO.edu: Can You Learn SEO From a Book? - Part 2,” Ron Jones advises that if you’re just starting out on the SEO train, picking up a book might help [...]