Over the past few weeks we have been in the process of hiring community managers. Here are some tips for those seeking this type of role.

Resume

• Your experience needs to be relevant to the position (it needs to be obvious)
• Include metrics for the impact that you had in previous positions

For example:

• Increased sales by X %
• Increased the community by X %
• Increased participation in the community by X %

Tip: Do not represent consulting as if you were an employee

Your Social Presence

• Google your name: What online presence do you have?
• LinkedIn – Some key aspects:

Do you have a complete profile that is public?

Do you have a number of references from previous employers?

Have you written references for others?

• Twitter presence – quality of tweets and a balance of followers to following

Preparation for the Interview

Research the company that you’re interviewing with. What talking points can you take with to your interview?

Research the person that you will be interviewing with. Do they have a personal blog or are on Twitter? That insight provides great conversation starters.

If your LinkedIn profile set to show  your activity, then the interviewer will see that you’ve viewed their profile.

All of the above interactions happen before the interview ever happens. They are all items that can be used to qualify candidates. If you’re applying for a social media role, take some time to ensure that your application stands out from the crowd.

If you’ve recently hired for a social media position, what additional tips would you give?

Community Manager Responsibilities and Goals

Updated Community Manager Job Description

And I speak about the role from both the employee and employer’s perspectives. So over the past year I’ve been sourcing jobs. Recently people have been asking that I write more. I only have so many hours in a day, so I decided to shift the job sourcing out of my inbox and let it be self serving.

My sister has created a simple job board that allows you to post your information if you’re seeking a job in social media and also post a job if you’re hiring.

To access it, you’ll need to click on Job Listings and register the first time using the Join button.

It’s free and I hope that you’ll make a connection with the many that cruise thru my site. I only ask that your postings be social media related.

I’ve said many times that people should: “Love what you do and do what you love”. So I hope this resource will help you achieve that goal.

If I can work remotely from rural Minnesota and make a difference, then you can too. If you know what unique values you provide, then you too can do so similarly. It’s just a matter of connecting with the right opportunity.

Other job boards:

Jake McKee

Jeremiah Owyang

In talking with people it’s interesting to note that after being laid off some people say they didn’t have the job satisfaction anyway. So maybe that’s the upside of the recession? It’s forcing people to reinvent themselves.

In other cases employers are using the recession as a reason to reduce their workforce & restructure for efficiency. My question on this is what criteria is being used? Are they reducing staff based on performance? or seniority?

This past week found me talking with individuals who are in the process of reinventing themselves. My philosophy is that you can ‘Create your own Opportunities’. Rachel shared her story on how she used resources on my blog to help her find a job. (It’s a must read if you haven’t done so).

As much as I love talking with individuals I was trying to put my finger on how to scale that one on one time. How could I impart how I help people find their path & impart optimism?

Here’s the general path we follow when someone asks for advice:

• Provide your objectives: I ask people to send their questions in advance. I think that this is a good exercise in identifying what it is that you specifically want to ask.
• What are you seeking? ask yourself that & put it in the form of questions
• Find your advisors: When I talk with people I generally share that others have helped me identify what my focus should be. My suggestion is to ask people who know you well – what do you think I’m good at? and explore possibilities with them. Things that aren’t apparent to you will be to them. You just need to ask them to be frank.
• What unique value propositions do I offer an employer?
• What should you be doing? consulting, long term contracting or seeking a job? Please be doing all three. And take it a step further by connecting with people and offering your services. Maybe you can provide 10 hours per week? If you do an outstanding job then it may grow. Maybe it means volunteering your time to prove your willingness & abilities. No matter what it is, you need to be doing something! No one is going to do it for you.  
• Make yourself indispensable. That’s important in any job.
• Put yourself out there. There are many seeking jobs. You need to TELL potential employers that you’re interested & how you can contribute to their business objectives. How do you know who the potential employers are? Look around because they’re everwhere. Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn make it easier than ever to connect with everyone at a company no matter their position. (Tip for LinkedIn – if you don’t know someone’s email address, use Groups & select one that you belong to. Add a note as to why you want to connect.)
• This is the time to stand out from the crowd. Make your success happen.
• I established my mantra of ‘create you own opportunities’ long before the recession. And I believe that life is what you make of it. If you were a statistic change it around and use it as a reason to put your knowledge of social media tools to work. You offer employers something that they may not even realize they need. But it will be up to you to sell your skills. The final question is:
• Why should they hire you?

What are your thoughts? If you’ve shifted into working in the social media space what worked for you?

• Some have been laid off & are considering new options.
• Some would like to work in social media & community building.
• Some realize that they need to create an online presence

Last spring I was in the same position. Because I work remotely my options were really limited. It took me awhile to rethink the whole concept and I’ll admit that I had help from friends. For awhile I was applying for 2-3 jobs a day with no response. I must admit that a major web 2.0 company asked if I’d move to San Francisco, but that wasn’t an option. It was disheartening. (And to my friend who recently emailed me with your news of not getting your position, this post is for you).

For me, it took a lot of talking out loud to rethink things. It’s so important to invest in yourself. And if you’re looking for a position then TELL potential employers that. Now is a better time than ever to be thinking outside the box. This is going to sound really odd, but I have experienced tipping points in a number of areas:

• my social networking has gone through phases & now is building on it’s own – I no longer wonder where all my new Twitter & FB followers come from – I am just thankful
• my personal branding is something I do automatically without thought
• work opportunities now come to me (but I believe that I have planted seeds)

So what are the secrets?

1. a personal advisory board that you trust – only when you share your fears can others help you – choose people that you can give back things to – time is a commodity

2. social networking – hang out with like minded people – is it LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc? But you HAVE to get involved! that’s imperative

3. blogging – you need to establish a presence – what makes you unique & what value will you provide? This is about YOUR brand & what you bring to the company

4. lifelong learning – always keep learning – that makes you flexible & more employable.

5. when you network with people tell them what type of work you’d like Find reasons to network with potential employers.

• Interview them about what their business is about.
• Do volunteer work for them. Help them get to know YOU
• Be interested in their business. Become knowledgeable about the industry
• Evangelize in what you believe in – people will notice you
• Work hard & show that you’re not afraid of digging in

In the last month people have been asking me how many hours a day I work. The truth is that I’m online from 7:30 am to 10-11 pm with 1-2 hrs break during the day. In the morning personal work takes about an hour and in the evening I sometimes work or do personal/professional work. Remember that my daughter is in college, so I have an empty nest.

In regard to my time, there have been a few occasions when I’ve gotten of the phone and my husband would say, were you getting paid for that or not? Most of the time I wasn’t. But in the long run, my advising has now ended up causing a new problem of needing to learn to say ‘no’ (which is another blog post).

My friend & one of my mentors in the branding area wrote a great article on this topic:

The Real Way to Get a Job using Social Media by Dan Schawbel

If you’ve recently found a job leave a comment with your story.

Not long ago Derrick Kwa from Singapore asked my opinion. Derrick was in the US not long ago working with Seth Godin on his Triibes project. Also, Derrick is an avid marketing junkie & started a social media breakfast in Singapore.

Derrick’s question to me was whether he should accept a job offer.

Here are things that I think everyone should consider as they search for jobs. And they are especially true if you’re going to work in social media.

• What is the product?
• Do you believe in it?
• Can you sell it?
• Do you trust the company? the management?
• What is the state of the brand?
• Is the public sentiment justified?
• Do you believe that you can contribute to the brand?
• Does your personal brand resonate with the position?
• Does it contribute to the company’s mission?
• Will the position affect your personal brand positively or negatively?

Even if the position pays well, is that enough? Only you can decide that. Derrick blogged about his decision. He said,

So why did I reject the offer? Because I don’t believe in the product. I’m not passionate about what they are selling. And that’s the most important thing for me.

Yes, I was tempted by the money, I’m not going to deny that. I was definitely very tempted. But after talking to Connie Bensen about it (thanks for the advice, Connie), she helped me realize that it wouldn’t be worth doing if I wasn’t passionate about it.

Do you agree that my questions have any relevance for job satisfaction in the social media world? I look forward to hearing your ideas.

In the last post on the Interview Process I offered tips for both the Interviewer & the candidate. That started some interesting conversations. I predict that recruiting highly qualified community managers is going to be challenging.

In regard to that post, Richard Millington pointed out that the questions aren’t very helpful unless the Interviewer is really familiar with the role. He asked if a Community Manager really needs an interview?

Martin Reed added:

I think it is important to take their previous experience and achievements into account but you should still take the time to interview them or at least engage in a conversation to see if they are a right ‘fit’ – after all, would you still recruit the perfect community manager if you couldn’t stand speaking to them?

I do agree that there should be a formal interview process. That is important for both the employer & potential candidate. Both sides need to be open & explore the following:

• work habits
• company culture
• expectations for the position
• knowledge of social media tools & participation in social networks
• product knowledge & familiarity with customer segments
• communication skills
• ability to mediate & tactfully deal with people
• leadership skills – this can be a powerful position if utilized correctly
• creativity – brainstorming & execution
• open to experimentation & ability to learn from mistakes
• familiarity with analytics
• aspirations

Jeremiah Owyang has many posts on the role. Here are a couple that are helpful:

• Understanding the Role
• Should Startups have a Community Manager

If you would like assistance with any of the following, email me at mailto:conniebensen@gmail.com

• How a Community Manager can contribute to your business goals.
• Assistance with creating a job description that suits your organization’s needs.
• Reviewing & interviewing potential candidates
• Training based on organizational needs
• Exploring alternative options:
  • utilizing someone on staff
  • job sharing the position

What other factors should be considered in the recruitment process?

For almost a decade I reviewed applications, interviewed & recommended to hire candidates. Then I followed up with orientation & training of the successful candidate. Because my Director was 80 miles away I had a lot of independence but that also meant a lot of responsibility to make sure that the hiring decision was the best possible for my team.

Here are some tips that apply to any position:

• Make sure that your resume is well done. Have friends review it & give feedback. It’s the only thing that represents you & your achievements.
• The web offers lots of opportunities to be creative, but be careful about silly videos & things that are too unconventional.
• Use positive action verbs – the BEST book is What Color is My Parachute for resume tips & interview suggestions.
• Make sure that your cover letter & resume provide the requested information

For the interview:

• Dress appropriately & take it seriously
• Be careful about making generalizations & ask questions if you truly don’t know
• The interview should be in both directions (more coming on that)
• Believe in yourself & have confidence

Jim Durbin, Social Media Headhunter, had a post listing interview questions. I think that they’re great & so I’m reprinting them here. He also has some excellent questions about communities.

1.  What communities have you run in the past?  How much control did you have?
2.  What was the purpose of those communities, and did you succeed in the original purpose?
3.  What help did you have? 
4.  Where do you hang out online now? 
5.  What would a search of your name and community turn up on different search engines and/or forum search engines?
6.  Is there a single software that monitors blogs, social networks, forums, and the general web (that answer is no)
7. What is the difference between those types of sites, and how do you monitor each?
8. What tools did you use for online monitoring, and what was their cost?
9.  What was your reporting structure like? How did you communicate with management what was happening, and how did you create relevant metrics?
10.  Flame wars:  How do you/should you stop them?
11. How do you deal with security risks (youth sites)
12.  How do you deal with crazy people? 
13.  Write some responses (forum/e-mail/blogposts) to deal with hostile commenters/users.
14.  Who matters online?  How do you know when something needs attention beyond your department?
15.  What hours does a community manager work?

What tips do you have for resumes & interviews? Does the community manager position require unique preparation for the interview?

Awhile ago I saw this in a job description for a community manager at a well known traditional electronics company.

The Community manager will be responsible for building (company name)online community as a product creating ways to acquire and retain new community members.

ACK! Who would ever say that a community is a product? or even try to treat it as a product? Are they going to package it? resell it? Ok, you can maybe tell that it got me going? Wikipedia’s definition of a product in relation to business:

Product (business), an item that ideally satisfies a market’s want or need.

I think that a community is THE market looking for satisfaction of their wants or needs.

A COMMUNITY IS A FRAGILE ENTITY THAT WILL GROW WITH NURTURING. It is about people & relationships. It is NOT a product to be built in a conventional manner! (I applied to this posting just to see if I could pass on my message. I don’t think I’m a good fit though.)

Now, in contrast – this is the most wonderful, warm fuzzy job description ever!

Description:

crowdSPRING www.crowdspring.com is a private-equity funded startup that has just launched an online marketplace for creative services. Just entering our second month after launch, we’ve already been featured in the Chicago Sun-Times, TechCrunch, Mashable, Springwise and a host of others – so you know we’re on to something here!

We’re looking for a Community Manager to develop an army of stark raving fans of our site. We’re looking for someone who lives and breathes Facebook. We’re looking for someone who can’t get enough of MySpace. We’re looking for someone who loves to blog and comment on other people’s blogs and talk to people who knew a guy who had a blog once.

If this sounds like you, read on…

What you’ll do:

• Post ideas, stories, random thoughts, dirty jokes, videos, and recipes for the perfect banana daiquiris to our blog, forum and anywhere else you can think of
• Moderate our message boards and public comment areas
• Reach out to influential sites, blogs, creatives and small businesses and share the crowdSPRING love
• Dream up, execute and promote community events
• Be the voice of crowdSPRING throughout the internet (yes, the whole thing)
• Be vocal and fight for the needs of the community within the company
• Track the performance of, and report on, your efforts using metrics from web traffic, events, forum and blog activity, etc.
• Be a general, all-around grassroots/social media marketing goddess (ok, or god)
• Attack inbound customer service requests and respond with cat-like reflexes
• Assign, track and follow up on customer service issues assigned to others within the company (programming stuff, marketing stuff, etc.)
• What you’ll need to bring to the table:
• Undying, passionate, over-the-top love affair with all things web
• Absolutely, positively outstanding writing skills
• Interest, curiosity, advanced degree or mild obsession with any/all of the creative arts (graphic design, web design, writing, photography, video, music – anything creative will do)
• Experience with WordPress and vBulletin is nice
• Experience building online communities is a huge plus
• Experience with MySpace, Facebook and Twitter an absolute must

What we’ll bring to the table:

• Competitive compensation, including an incentive plan
• Full benefits
• 401(k) investment plan with matching contributions
• Unlimited ping pong
• Strict shorts and flip-flops dress code

So, do you have what it takes to be on Facebook and MySpace all day, every day? Can you handle the crushing responsibilities of having to be ‘fun’ and ‘interesting’? If so, you really ought to let us know. We’re holding your place in the ping pong tournament…

http://crowdspring.com

crowdSPRING is an equal opportunity employer.

To Apply:   169994-crowds@jobcoin.com

Kudos to you crowdSpring & your HR department! I still remember the day when my sister & I were referred to as ACDSee Goddesses. Customers truly love getting help.

So if you’re going to advertise for a Community Manager, I challenge you to write a job description that really represents the position & expresses your culture. It will make it easier for job seekers to apply for the ones that fit them.

There are a number of factors that add to the usual challenges of a job search. It’s an emerging role and there is a broad spectrum of expectations for responsibilities & qualifications. As with the salaries I’m starting to see some trends. Most positions are for the type of position I talk about. Only a few are looking for programmers. And working remotely is another factor that is a personal choice for some of us.

So you’ve decided that you want to be a community manager, where should you look? As with anything you need to be proactive! So let’s do this -

• Let your personal network know that you’re actively seeking a job
  • 80% find jobs through people they know
• Jake McKee’s job board is great
  • for job seekers
• Jim Durbin (Social Media Headhunter) has one also
  • job seekers can post your info
• Simplyhired.com – set up ongoing search for ‘online community manager’
• Indeed.com – set up ongoing search for ‘online community’
• Jeremiah Owyang has a list most Sunday’s (some are listed above)
  • and he has a job board
• Social Media Job Seekers Board

Please share if you have others.