It has been a boom, trend or profession arisen from a need, but the truth is that  Community Manager  is one of the professions most sought after by companies today and of greater prospects for 2013.

The  management of the online communities  of companies or individuals has a career exit and future projection, that is why many professionals in communication, journalism, marketing, economics, computing, etc. Have reoriented their careers towards this profession.

But at this point the main problem of the sector is precisely the lack of professionalization and regulation to work. And is that  the training modalities are almost limitless for aspiring Community Manager. Free online courses, online courses with “bargain” discounts, semi-face courses, subsidized courses, expert seminars, Masters courses ….

And more chaotic is even for a person who seeks the services of a specialist in SocialMedia since you can find from specialized  agencies  (with prices that will appear high) to  freelance  that reduce both their fees that cause the complaints of the more expert.

So until the sector is regulated, there is a question that remains open. What does it really take to be a Community Manager? Can you be a self-taught Community Manager and learn on your own? 

Here are 3 arguments for the two possible answers:

Yes

The main values of the Community Manager are innate:

If we read the opinions of the experts we see that they agree that the main values of all good community managers are the  attitude , the ability to  communicate  and  listen  and the  empathy  and  common sense . And are not these values unique to people who are not learned in books?

Being self-taught involves more involvement and gives you a criterion of your own:

Another argument in favor of self-taught learning is that when we have a fixed curriculum and methodology we make the mistake of sticking to it and not looking further. We read the manuals they give us, we make the case studies and we stand there. By not having a fixed material, the self-taught CM is obliged to investigate on his own , and this involves finding more and more material and reading diverse opinions until creating his own criterion.

Experience and continuous learning is what makes the professional:

Neither book theory nor the theory of community manager tools? What really makes a professional is practice and experience. The trial mistake, walk and stumble to learn real. The self-taught  (of the profession that is)  do not believe professionals from the second after they give the diploma of turn,  they believe professionals when they have advanced and learned with the experience.

Do not

Being self-taught does not allow you to learn directly from professionals:

Undoubtedly, one of the keys in any learning is the teaching staff. Being self-taught limits your ability to learn directly from teachers who have years of experience in the profession and who are the ones who really know and can teach you. Even more so if a course or Master of CM is face-to-face , the relationship you can establish with your teacher will open the doors of  professional contacts  in the future that are always a great opportunity.

Companies will always look for qualified professionals:

You have to be practical. You can not exercise as a Community Manager if your training is not guaranteed, since  even if you think you are a real professional because you have internalized knowledge, you will always need a document to prove it . Any of us, if we had to hire the services of a doctor, plumber, architect, or mason, would we need more than blind faith in knowing what he does?

The unskilled prevent the professionalization of the sector:

The main complaint of the most experts is not so much towards self-taught professionals, but the  intrusismo  of who call themselves Community Managers and believe that the job is to open a Twitter account and a Facebook account and write four or five comments a day And a contest per month. And rightly so. Being a Community Manager is being active, generating community around the brand, internalizing the corporate identity and being prepared for any response. That is the theory and if you do not learn, you can not do the practice well.