The One Skill You Need to Master to Get Hired as a Community Manager
If you want to break out of the cycle of rejection, you have to fix your positioning. Here is how to do it.
If you are deep in the job hunt right now, you are probably feeling the immense pressure to get it right. But before you send out another application, I want you to pause and master one essential thing so your applications actually get seen.
If you want to break out of the cycle of rejection, you have to fix your positioning. Here is how to do it.
4 Steps to Master Your Positioning
1. Decide who you are targeting
Before you do anything, you need to decide what you actually want. Do you want to target absolutely every CM role out there, or do you want to niche down?. While you don't necessarily have to niche down right at the beginning, having relevant experience in a specific industry can make you a more obvious choice for those types of roles. Take a moment to think about what you want your role to look like and what industry you want to be in.
2. Stop listing everything
This is simple, but so many people struggle with it: you need to position yourself toward exactly what the role is asking for, and nothing more.
- Keep your resume to one or two pages max.
- The first page needs to feature the relevant skills that specifically connect with the job description.
- If the role asks for someone who can run events, make sure your resume highlights your event experience and the metrics behind it.
When you give them exactly what they are asking for, both the ATS (AI resume readers) and the human hiring managers will immediately recognize that you are the person they need to talk to.
3. Find their actual problem
Job descriptions tell part of the story, but you need to assess the whole picture. Make an educated guess about what the company's real problems are and how your role as a Community Manager would solve them.
- Do they want to generate more sales? Think about how a community could generate leads.
- Are they in education? Think about how a community manager can contribute to student success.
If you can figure out what problems they want to solve before you even meet them, you will have a massive leg up.
4. Be the obvious choice
Top off your application with a "purple cow", something that makes you entirely unique to that specific company. Ask yourself what specifically connects you to them outside of your standard skills.
- For example, if you are applying to a gaming mod company like Nexus Mods, mentioning that you use the platform and have downloaded 600+ mods shows you are already heavily invested.
- If you are applying to manage a community for people going through a divorce, and you have personal experience with that, it suddenly becomes highly relevant and sets you apart from the rest.
Take the first step to fix your positioning, find the right opportunities, and actually start converting them into roles.
Why Aren’t you Getting Community Manager Roles?
💬 And if your serious about securing the role you want, apply now.