07.22.2007 | More On The Perfect Job
Late last week I wrote a quicky little post about Seth Godin’s article about the number one “Job of the Future” being an “Online Community Manager”. I thought I would revisit it in better detail this time around as it’s something that I’ve been thinking a lot about lately.
This summer seems to be the summer of the infamous question: “So, what do you think you’re going to do after college?” It’s a question that I really hate having to answer, but at the same time, each time someone asks me, I’m forced to think a bit more about what exactly I’m looking for. I don’t think I’ve given the same answer more than once. Nearly every day since I’ve arrived here I’ve had to opportunity to meet people with such diverse careers, yet they’re all centered on computers, and they’re all really cool!
Being the obsessive list-maker that I am, I’ve started to put together a bit of one with some things I’ve come to learn about what I’d really like to have in my future career. I’ve decided to store it on a separate page, but here’s a “top 4″ as the list stands right now:
- Internet-based company
- Interaction with users
- Get to be creative, but not necessarily a visual designer
- Involves some sort of social system
Based on that list, and comparing it to what Seth named as key skills for a “community manager”, I’ve come to think that it would be a pretty awesome job to have, and one that I’m more than qualified to do. Seth mentioned these qualities:
- Understands technology
- Be able to write.
- Be able to understand a marketplace, do outbound selling and non-electronic communications.
- Balance huge amounts of inbound correspondence without making people feel left out
- be willing to try new things
- Be self-starting
- Obsessed with measurement
That said, it’s something I’m definitely going to keep in mind as I pursue my search for the ideal career. I thoroughly expect this list to continue to evolve over the rest of this summer and maybe even straight through to the day I sign the dotted line on my first job offer (fingers crossed!), but I think it’s a great jumping off point and even a guide to remind me of exactly what I want and even what’s out there.
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Jul 24th, 2007 at 11:25 am
eek! everybody found my secret! being a community manager is the best job ever.
Jul 26th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
A community manager is essential in pretty much any social business these days. You really need someone to stoke and keep alive your community. Seth is a marketer, so he focused on outbound marketing, but I think it’s also about making a high quality community within your product. (the best photos on flickr, the best dialogue on a forum, etc). Truly a cool job and a great way to become essential to the company you work for.
Sep 9th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
If you’re interested, I’ve recently launched a (free) community/social media job board for employers and job seekers that helps bring the two together.
http://www.communityguy.com/jobs
Hopefully this helps some people find their own “best job ever”