Search Marketing Specialist @ CAA with Rihanna Hosseini
Rihanna and Blair discuss how being an SEO is the most mysterious job in marketing, the practice of turning an unsuccessful job interview into a moment of reflection; and the importance of using simple words in marketing.
About Rihanna Hosseini
Reyhaneh (or "Rihanna") currently works as a Search Marketing Specialist who’s mainly focused on organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) at the CAA Club Group organization. It was challenging for her to switch fields from polymer engineering to digital marketing a few years ago, but Rihanna says “I'm so glad I did it and decided to pursue my passion which was SEO”. She’s unstoppable when it comes to learning new things and that's why Rihanna's currently learning web development and paid search advertising to develop new skills and become more well-rounded as a Search Marketer.
The Highlights and Hottest Takes 🔥
How Rihanna Got the Job
Rihanna knew exactly what she was looking for. Her job search focused on SEO roles and nothing else. Rihanna found this job posting on LinkedIn and applied to it. She went through the interview process that was based on personality, situational, SEO-specific questions.
“Overall, it didn’t feel too formal with CAA, I really enjoyed the interview process.”
Mistake Made
Using acronyms and jargon without explaining. There are a lot of these in SEO. Use simple words and explain to ensure people understand. This is for both internal and external communication/audiences.
Lesson Learned
Practice patience. If you’re in a larger organization, you can’t expect things to work fast. “Work through multiple people. Process to get approvals to implement takes time. And accept that sometimes your recommendation won’t be supported.”
Pro Tip
Share your ideas. “You’re not supposed to know everything, but you need to be comfortable sharing your perspective.” If you don’t have data to support, say this is my assumption or opinion.
Segments
Rihanna's Year 1ne @ CAA
1:47 | Introduction from Rihanna
2:35 | Overview of CAA
4:50 | Working as a Search Marketing Specialist
9:35 | SEO is detective work
13:20 | Essential human skills
15:10 | Essential software and tools
16:50 | Changing careers from polymer engineering into SEO
22:15 | What’s on your mind in marketing right now?
Getting to Day 1ne: The Job Search
24:50 | Getting hired at CAA
28:00 | Preparing for the interview process
28:40 | Hardest part of the job search
30:40 | The “What’s your favourite brand?” question
33:15 | How to balance user attention span vs. right amount of information for the user
Things I've Learned in Year 1ne
36:10 | Rookie mistake to avoid using acronyms and jargon
38:50 | Lesson learned to practice patience
41:55 | Pro tip to share your ideas
Re(Sources)
- Connect with Reyhaneh (“Rihanna”) Hosseini: LinkedIn
- Brands/organizations: Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) | CAA South Central Ontario | CAA Manitoba | TD Insurance
- Marketing and media tools: Microsoft Excel | Google Analytics 4 (GA4) | Google Search Console | BrightEdge
- Connect with The Year 1ne’s host Blair Smith: LinkedIn
Credits
Created and Produced by Blair Smith
Hosted by Blair Smith
Mixed and Mastered by Ray Harripaul
Sponsor(s)
N/A for this episode...Interested in being a sponsor of The Year 1ne's Show? Drop us a line via email 😀
Reyhaneh Mohammadhosseini
SEO Specialist
My name is Reyhaneh or sometimes known as "Rihanna". Currently, I am a Search Specialist (mainly focused on SEO) at the CAA Club Group organization. It was challenging for me to switch fields from polymer engineering to digital marketing a few years ago, but I'm so glad I did it and decided to pursue my passion which was SEO. I am non-stoppable when it comes to learning new things and that's why I'm learning web development to develop new skills and become more competitive.
