Jobs in digital media buck the recession’s bite

“We have been busy even through the downturn helping customers attract specific types of digital marketing and media talent,’’ said David Hayes, the president and founder of the Cambridge search firm HireMinds. “For anyone who has basic experience in online advertising and marketing, we’ve got junior project manager and account manager roles.’’

Entry-level jobs are available for college grads with as little as six-month internships under their belts. The more specialized jobs include search engine optimization and search engine marketing - one makes sure a site pops up high in a search and the other places ads in the prime real estate alongside those search results. Specialists in user experience and information architecture are prized as companies strive to deliver to customers what they want on their websites. And analysts who can tell companies if their digital efforts are paying off are in demand, too.

Good candidates have analytic, artistic, technically fluent, marketing-oriented minds.

Jeff Cram, the owner of ISITE Design in Cambridge, whose clients include Zipcar, Genzyme Corp., and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has openings for a director of web analytics, web developer, and senior account manager. Technical skills and experience are important, as are customer service and communication skills.

Hayes added varied work experiences or education can be useful in digital jobs. He cited one applicant who had a library sciences background but moved into information architecture. Leigh McKinley, an account director at Media Contacts, the digital arm of Arnold Worldwide, first worked at start-ups during the dot-com era, but became an after-school coordinator after being laid off. When Media Contacts was hiring for its new search department, she jumped back in.

“That’s one of the best things about this industry. You can learn on the fly,’’ she said. “But you constantly have to keep up to date with new technology, with all the new analytic tools that we have.’’

If she were hiring people in her role overseeing online advertising for Amtrak and the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, she wouldn’t look first at the applicant’s college degree. “It would be their experience, the tools they use - knowing Excel is a huge piece of this job. And beyond that it’s really exposure and the interest to learn,’’ she said. “. . .if you have the interest and the stamina to keep up with things changing constantly, as well as an eye for detail, and you can think strategically, then you could do this job.’’