ABSTRACT
Once people decide that they want to pursue this career, it can be daunting to figure out where to start. This chapter tackles that by answering some of the most relevant questions newcomers or career changers surely encounter. Since the author can only provide lived experience from a singular path into the industry, she combines this with observations she made in numerous conversations with people who recently broke into the industry, and interviews with community management veterans in various studios across multiple countries. An obvious assumption on people's minds may be that a job in the gaming industry requires a university degree. The chapter will examine whether an academic degree is necessary and what alternative pathways into this role exist. It examines the value of acting as a moderator on forums or social media channels, maintaining game wikis, or otherwise supporting existing game communities. Moreover, there are both hard and soft skills that aspiring community managers should possess or aim to acquire over the course of their career to be successful and great. This chapter presents some of the most cited ones in relevant job listings across the industry and offers insights about how to improve them.
