Community Manager Question:

As an online community manager, you’ll need to have a strong degree of initiative. It isn’t the type of job where you’ll wait for tasks to be assigned to you—more likely, you’ll be determining the necessary actions required to achieve the goals of your new organization. Chances are, you’ll probably have more experience with online communities than anyone else in your organization, so they’ll be looking to you for answers.

In order to be an effective online community manager, you need to have a firm understanding of the pillars of online community management. You might find yourself in a situation where you need to call on that understanding to stand up for yourself and your job. Being prepared with a concrete plan for the future helps establish your purpose and relevance.

All of this starts during your job interview. Since online community managers are leaders before they are doers, it is more than likely that you’ll be interviewed by someone looking for your guidance and initiative to meet the organization’s goals. Here are effective ways to set yourself up for success both during the interview and once you have the job.