The State of Online Community as a Career
Consider this episode of Community Signal your community career advisor on speed dial. If you\u2019re looking for a new job, growing your team, or thinking about your career advancement options, Patrick,\xa0Daniel Marotta,\xa0Jenn Chen, and\xa0Marjorie Anderson\xa0share great advice and observations from their own career journeys.
What skills and experiences created the foundation for your career in community management? [2:04]
\u201cIf you marry customer service with website release management and content management\u2026 those [skills] are the basis for a great community manager.\u201d \u2013@massmarotta
\u201c[Don\u2019t] just cut and paste a response from some template that your company printed out. Put a little bit of yourself in your responses. Build up a personality that really shines through with how you correspond with your member base.\u201d\xa0\u2013@massmarotta
What makes a good community management job and what warning signs should you look for as you consider new opportunities? [4:42]
\u201cA good community role is one that\u2019s actually community, that\u2019s really about connecting members or customers with one another and not just broadcasting from the brand perspective.\u201d\xa0\u2013@patrickokeefe
\u201cThere has to be buy-in for actual community work at the organization. \u2026 It\u2019s really about an organization that understands the value [of community] and isn\u2019t going to place a burden on community that isn\u2019t placed on other departments.\u201d\xa0\u2013@patrickokeefe
Will having an in-house platform and resources make your\xa0job easier? [16:06]
\u201cBeing blocked by what our platform could or couldn\u2019t do was a bit of a challenge as a community manager. \u2026 A lot of times, you want to advocate for your users, you want what\u2019s best for them, you feel like there\u2019s a great need, but your hands are literally tied, and as a community manager, you have to be very careful about how you communicate that. \u2026 The exciting thing with building our own platform is that the sky\u2019s the limit. I can think of all these different features that would be beneficial to the community \u2026 evaluate it from all perspectives, and then we can either implement it or put it down on the roadmap.\u201d \u2013@jenntothechen
What\u2019s the career trajectory for community professionals? [20:43]
\u201cIt was tough to find a [community] role where I felt like I was moving up and taking a positive career step. I\u2019d say 1 in 10 [roles out there] are senior roles. \u2026 I was okay with [any] title as long as I was top of the department and building something good.\u201d \u2013@patrickokeefe
\u201c[The] role of community manager has a wide salary [and experience] range. [According to the Community Roundtable\u2019s last research study, the] community manager [salary] was an average of $70k, but the range is over $100k. \u2026 There are some [amazing] community managers with tons of experience who are well paid. They just don\u2019t have [a senior] title.\u201d \u2013@patrickokeefe
\u201cI don\u2019t need the title of community manager. I don\u2019t necessarily even need a title that says I\u2019m head of community but what I want to do is continue to contribute to the space, and that\u2019s what\u2019s important to me.\u201d \u2013@MarjorieAyyeee
This episode of previously unreleased clips also includes:
- Emily Temple-Wood\xa0on how community has the power to make room for all voices
- Dave Cayem\xa0on sustainable community metrics and the importance of a viable community mission
If you\u2019d like more behind the scenes clips and the chance to contribute potential questions and conversation topics to the show, please consider backing\xa0Community Signal on Patreon.
Our Podcast is Made Possible By\u2026If you enjoy our show, please know that it\u2019s only possible with the generous support of our sponsor:\xa0Higher Logic.
Big Quotes\u201cYou can be the greatest community professional in the world but if you don\u2019t have resources and support, you\u2019re just not going to be effective, you\u2019re not going to be as successful as you can be.\u201d \u2013@patrickokeefe
\u201cWikimedia found out the hard way that when you focus too much on tech, you neglect the human element and you lose a lot of what makes your community special. \u2026 You need things like invitation culture and funding community members to do cool stuff, simple things like in-person meetups and conferences. All the best stuff that any of us has done has come from just being together in a space and [feeling] safe throwing some spaghetti.\u201d \u2013@keilanawiki
\u201cCommunity guidelines shouldn\u2019t just create this idea of everyone being the same. They create a baseline for us to respect each other and be productive.\u201d \u2013@patrickokeefe
Related Links\u201cYou have to get that intersection between community mission and user need, and you have to figure out what that community mission is before you launch your community.\u201d \u2013@davecayem
- Sponsor:\xa0Higher Logic, the community platform for community managers
- Community Signal\u2019s Patreon campaign
- Daniel Marotta, director of community at Brighter Horizons (Community Signal episode)
- Serena Snoad, online community manager at the Alzheimer\u2019s Society
- Emily Temple-Wood, med student and\xa0Wikimedian of the Year\xa0(Community Signal episode)
- Wikiproject Women Scientists
- Genius: $56.9 Million in Funding, 6+ Years to Add a Report Abuse Button
- Jenn Chen, community manager at CallidusCloud (Community Signal episode)
- Marjorie Anderson, community engagement specialist for the Project Management Institute (Community Signal episode)
- Community by Association, resources to help community pros build thriving communities
- Cindy Au, previously VP of community of Pilotworks and Kickstarter (Community Signal episode)
- Alex Dao, senior manager of research and customer insights at Vimeo (Community Signal episode)
- The WELL, one of the oldest virtual communities still in existence
- Dave Cayem, head of forum moderation at TripAdvisor (Community Signal episode)
If you have any thoughts on this episode that you\u2019d like to share, please leave me a comment,\xa0send me an email\xa0or a\xa0tweet. If you enjoy the show, we would be so grateful if you spread the word and supported\xa0Community Signal on Patreon.
Thank you for listening to Community Signal.