Naelle Bernard

Communication 1010
Assignment 6
Carrer interview project

Assignment #6: Career Interview Project

COM 1010

Social Media Manager/ Community

Manager
Table of contents

Report………………………………………………………………………….….1-2

Interview……………………………………………………………….…………3-10

Appendices……………………………………………………………………..11-13

1
 Report

This report is an analysis of my experience and my process in order to complete

this project. It will regroup all the steps that I followed and the obstacles that I

could face in the process of identifying the contact, making contact, scheduling

the interview, and following up.

To identify a subject, I had to focus on a field I am interested in. I am really

interested in the communication area and community manager is a job that I

always wanted to know more about.

I first started looking through my contacts to see if I knew anyone working in this

area. I then realized that my friend that is now a youtuber used to be a

community

manager for a french company located in Paris, France. I contacted him and

asked for an interview that we scheduled. I decided to give him a call and send

him the questions ahead of the interview.

The problems that I faced while doing this project was scheduling the interview .

In fact my subject is from France, and they are 8 hours ahead of us. I had to
wake

up early in the morning in order to interview him.

 2
It was also pretty hard for me to find interesting questions. Some questions came

immediately to my mind but in order to get a sufficient amount of questions I had

to get help by asking around me what kind of questions were interesting and

appropriated to this job area.

I learned a lot of things about this career. First of all, I learned that there are
many

ways to get this job. There is not only one path to follow. Some people study

communication, some other marketing, it all depends and varies according to the

study area followed. I also learned that in order to succeed in this job,

perseverance is the key, there are a lot of obstacles to surround and the process

is not going to be easy. As in a lot of jobs, the salary will increase with
experience

and good performances.

This assignment reinforced my will to be a social media/ community manager. I

have an excellent mastery of social media, I know how to use it, especially as a

company. I know what customers want to see, I am really creative and like to

create any kind of content (videos, photos, advertising). I am the CEO of a

famous

french instagram page that regroups 20k followers. By doing this interview, I

realized that this is the job that I am made for, and that I want to do.

If I could do this assignment again, I would do it the same way because it was
effective and I feel that I got the information that I needed for the subject.

3
Biography / Interview

Valentin Turgot, Ex community manager from France, that is now using his

knowledge and experience to make his way as a youtuber and social media

influencer.

When did you decide that you wanted to be a community manager, or work
in this area?

It wasn’t a job that I always thought about doing because it didn’t exist back when

I was a student. I wanted to be a copywriter and write slogans. But the mass

arrival of social media was a big opportunity to me, in fact I was rather
comfortable

with managing social networks.

Why did you decide to be a community manager, what interested you about
this job in the first place ?

I am really creative and in this job, whichever social media we are using, a

creative process is still the same. You have the company’s requests (which

message they want to convey, how…) and you have to find an original way to do

it and do it your own way. That’s what I like, creating , not having days that are

alike, having ideas that I can develop, writing, and combining my dream that was

to write slogans for companies but in a funnier way on social media.

What study did you pursue ?

I did my studies in France. I have a marketing baccalauréat, which is equivalent
to

a high school diploma specialized in marketing. Then, I studied information,

4

communication and advertising at the university for 2 years. I went to Austria for
a

year to teach french and make money in order to apply for one of the most

prestigious creative writing competitions in France. There were only 24 spots

available a year in this school. We were divided in two categories, the

creators-editors that are more comfortable with words, and the artistic directors

that are more comfortable with appearance and image. We were associated in a

pair and we had to create an advertisement during 2 years. At the end of the 2

year I got my master and I then started to work.

Can you precisely describe what you were doing throughout your career ?

At the beginning of my career I was writing slogans for posters, and I really
started

to start on social media by doing newsjacking just for fun and I became viral and

started to work for big french companies as a social media manager and content

creator.

How was your first experience as a Community manager ?

My first experience was pretty good. I am lucky that I’ve always been able to do

the internships that I wanted, the studies that I wanted and I am really grateful for
that. I did my second internship in a prestigious international company (Havas)

and they hired me at the end of my internship.

What was most challenging ?

To be honest, I had a smooth journey, but to me the most challenging part was to

accept that 95% of the ideas that you are going to produce in your career will go

straight to trash. One day, someone told me that “Most of the people who hold
onto

their ideas, are afraid of not having others”. It was revealing to me, and it allowed
me

to not have frustration when my ideas were not accepted, and I learned that

sometimes, the best way to do better is starting from zero.

Did you face any type of failure ? If yes, tell us more about it and how did
you overcome it ?

Unfortunately or fortunately, I don’t really have any failures to share with you. I
would

have liked to because I think that failure gives you that mentality that you always
want

more, always want to win. I think that it is why I don’t really have this mentality
and
that rage to win.

What did you like the most about this job ? What are the positive points ?

I like the fact that you have to show a lot of empathy, either for a company that
sells a

product or a good. Because if you want to do things right, you have to go back

throughout the history of the company, know what are its values,and what fights
it

defends. None of my days were alike, and I didn’t have any pressure.

What you didn’t like ? What are the negative points ?

To me it’s not really a negative point, but I would say that the constraint was the

amount of work and the time I had to devote to it. Obviously it wasn’t totally a

constraint to me because I loved what I was doing, but for certain people it can
be a

negative point.

What was your biggest accomplishment in your career ?

I won a prize for the campaign of a big french company to make people aware of

Écological issues.

How can you qualify your career ?

My career wasn’t really long (4 or 5 years) but it was a really good beginning and
I
am pretty proud of it.

What was your average salary ?

I have a master degree, and in France when you have a master degree in this
study

area, your minimum wage is estimated at 1900 euro. However, at the end of my

internship when the company hired me, they proposed me only 1500, but I was
pretty

young and it was my first time in a big company so I said yes. Two years after
that, I

decided to resign to go to another company as director of communication, my

salary

was 2300 euros. I then decided to come back to the other company and they
were

paying me 2300 euro as well.

7
Did your salary augmented as you gained experience ?

I would say that my salary increased when I changed company. You have a
value in

the market, and you have more value for companies that want you than the one
you

are already in.

Why did you decide to stop doing this job ?

I wouldn’t say that I totally stopped doing this job because indirectly I’m still
practicing

it, but basketball has always been my biggest interest. While I was working I was
playing basketball beside, and one day I decided to reverse everything and to
focus

on basketball by creating my youtube channel, but at the same time continuing to

exercise my profession for the benefit of my youtube channel and social media.

But also there are things that I don't like in the advertising industry. Of course we
have

the right to complete freedom in the expression of our profession, but we are also

exposed to several social issues that are hard to face such as sexism.
Unfortunately,

in this industry, sexism has become commonplace and women are almost
adapting

to it. That is, they are ok with it and they know it’s part of the scenery. Me, I don’t

agree with that at all.

8
With the new path that you have chosen, do you think that your career as a
community manager was helpful ?

Of course, it’s helping me a lot everyday because unlike my counterparts, I know

how

to discuss with brands and it's giving me a big advantage.

What would you have liked to know as an apprentice community manager ?

I would have liked to know that this job does not prevent me from doing things
beside

it. It took me a long time to really develop my real hobbies. Since I started
university, I

was working from 8am until 2am everyday, I was writing everytime, postulating
for

schools… I wouldn't open my mind to other things. Being creative is cool, but if
you

don’t have other inspiration, if you aren't interested in other universes, you won't
be

able to optimize your creativity.

If you could give any advice to a young person that would like to be a
community manager what would you tell him/her ?

My advice for anyone who wants to work in the communication area would be to

alway be curious, but above all curious about something other than your own

hobbies. For example if there is a topic that you think is boring, try to understand
why

you think it’s boring, what is it about, how could it be less boring… Be
passionate,

patient, and don’t forget that all long your career the trash is your best friend. Put
your

ego aside, put your ideas toward, learn how to sell your ideas because a bad
idea

sold well can be better to buy than a good idea badly sold.

9
Each profession has its advantages and disadvantages, concerning that of

community managers the advantages that stand out the most are contact with
the

community, the exchanges that are created and personal enrichment through

interactions with the public. Also,You are free enough, we let you take initiatives.
You

are generally independent. Every day the work will be different, impossible to fall
into

the routine with this kind of job.You will be able to interact with many people.
Working

from home is possible, perhaps not every day, but more than for a “traditional”

employee…

For the disadvantages, this job takes a lot of time, but you have to be available
for the

brand you represent. The lack of recognition for this function is also a weak point

although it is increasingly present in companies. Moreover, it is a profession that

is

still too little known.It is also a constantly evolving profession. If you've been
enjoying

the same task for 10 years, this job is not for you. New techniques, new tools, are

appearing day after day and while not all of them will be useful to you, you must
be

able to bounce back.Finally, the tasks of a community manager are vast and

extensive. It can be just as exciting as it is exhausting.This kind of job requires

you in
some cases to combine jobs! Indeed, if you are the community manager of an
SME,

you run the risk of not having enough work to fill an entire week. You will
therefore

have to combine jobs in order to get a "full" week.

10

I think that this job fits me because I am comfortable with social media, managing

communication. Also I’m a really active person and I can’t support being in a
routine,

doing the same things again and again. I like the fact that there is always
something

new to do, any day would look alike. Furthermore, I love communication, and
human

contact.
 Appendix

Introduction to Social Media/ Community Manager

Table of content

What is a community manager?

…………………………………………………………..11

How to become a community

manager………………………………………………….12

Is community manager a job that will last?

………………………………………………13
 11
Social media manager/ Community manager

This social media expert is responsible for defining the best strategy to develop
and

improve the overall visibility of the company. A strategy that should make it
possible

to transpose the company's marketing objectives into "digital" objectives

(acquisition

of qualified traffic, online purchases, contact requests, etc.)

For any business with an online presence, contact and interaction with Internet
users

is a very important lever in the web marketing strategy.

Whatever platforms are used: blog, website, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn ... the

Community Manager's mission is to unite communities around the values of

the
company or the brand. His work is reflected in particular in the creation of
unique

and original content, interaction with users and animation of various media. He

must master the workings of these tools and be responsive to allow the
company to

gain visibility.The Social Media Manager has solid experience in management

and

project management around social media. Finally, he must constantly be on

the

lookout for new technologies and constantly monitor social media uses:
algorithms,

tools, advertising, among others. It requires specific skills such as a web

culture

and knowledge of the business sector, a knowledge and mastery of different

social

networks (and their tools), sense of customer contact, community relations and

compromise, writing skills, adapted to the business sector, understanding of

the

12

principles of marketing, e-marketing, and communication, foolproof and

frankness,

great responsiveness, efficient crisis management and diplomacy appreciation

of

the company and its values, but sufficient hindsight when speaking.

Usually, to become a community manager, it is necessary to have a bachelor’s

degree in a relevant field such as marketing or communications, and gain

experience
with marketing, sales or social media.

An early career Community Manager with 1-4 years of experience earns an

average

total compensation of $49,265. A mid-career Community Manager with 5-9 years

of

experience earns an average total compensation of $54,911.

A few years ago, the profession of community manager was ideally not the first

position sought by companies. Indeed, they wondered about having an in-house

Community Manager, realizing that it may be better to create the function by

recruiting

among their existing employees rather than hiring a young graduate who knows
the

ropes of social networks, but not those of the company or its sector of activity.
Thus,

they no longer necessarily favored junior profiles, but favored those who have a

varied professional experience, very gifted for writing and communication and
above

all who demonstrate a passion not for the company, but for their field of work
activity.

However, in recent years the popularity of social networks has increased more
and

more and companies realize that this represents a great opportunity and that
they can
13

take advantage of it by developing this sector. A large part of communication,

promotion, and branding goes through social networks and companies have

understood this. For this, companies know that now, a good community manager
is

an invaluable part in their team. A good Community Manager is extremely

important

nowadays for a company, he must be able to navigate between the different

groups

that make up his company and who likes to work above all in contact with others.
A

good Community Manager must know how to handle information, content, in all
its

forms: text, image, photo and video and beyond the skills that are described

everywhere on the internet (mastery of the main social media platforms, listening,

watching…) he must also be comfortable with the main performance indicators

(statistics) which will be used to measure the effectiveness of his actions. He

must

also know the main principles of communication and information management.

From

now on, companies are paying more attention to hiring qualified community

managers, which makes the future of this profession rather optimistic.