amanda.k
Community Manager
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Meet Tiana Dame! Tiana is an Industry Community Manager with Autodesk and has been with Autodesk almost 4 years. In those 4 years she has had two different roles – originally starting her career as a Technical Support Specialist. Outside of work she’s focusing on learning American Sign language and keeps busy with her adorable Golden Retriever pup named Appa.

 

 

 

 

Question:  What degree did you graduate with, and how has it affected your career? Or, what education / training do you have that has helped with your role?

 

Tiana: I got my degree in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Mathematics. Right after school I took an internship that led to a full-time position as a Design Engineer at a Lockheed Martin company in Connecticut, USA. This was a very typical engineering role that college prepares you for if you go into engineering but about two years into the position, I realized that it wasn’t for me. Around that time is when I realized that you could do a lot more with engineering that isn’t the “traditional” route. That led me to Autodesk, and from within Autodesk I realized that Community Management was the career path I wanted to follow!

 

Question: How would you describe your role as Community Manager at Autodesk? What does a typical workday look like? Which skills and qualities are important to be successful in your role?

Tiana: Community Management is truly a role where you never have the same day twice. While there are certain operational aspects that I repeat daily, Communities are dynamic and always changing, so you must be able to adapt to those changes.. Skills and qualities that are important, in my opinion, include being organized, having patience, embracing problem-solving, and being adaptive, creative, and understanding. Even though you may not be directly engaging with customers every day, the user experience should always be on your mind.   It’s also critical to be authentic – no one wants to talk to a robotic person that has template responses and no individuality.

 

Question: What do you find interesting about your role? What are the challenges? What do you find satisfying about your work? 

Tiana: I love how much this role changes, and this is also probably the biggest challenge. Every day I am not sure if I’m going to come in and wear my customer service hat, or my analytics hat, or  my creativity hat. They all lend themselves to improving and growing and engaging a community – but every community is different so you have to approach each one in a different way. It can be challenging because it will feel like you are juggling a million different things at once – and usually you are – but it all comes together in the end. It feels great knowing that you are helping people find what they need and feel welcomed in the communities that you run!

 

 

Question: What advice would you give to a student who is interested in pursuing a role like yours?

Tiana: Honestly – do your homework. This goes for students interested in any role, whether it is in engineering or community management or even outside of these two careers. I think it is really important to do your research, not only on the role itself, but also the company that is hiring. It took me a while to realize that when you align yourself with a company that has a great culture code it can really make a difference in your day-to-day. If you are working somewhere that you feel comfortable and welcomed it will make whatever role you take that much better!

 

Remember to add any questions or comments to the thread below for @Tiana.D to answer! She’ll be around all week checking in.

Comments

You're learning ASL, @Tiana_Y, I had no idea! What an awesome thing to do.

Community Manager
Community Manager

Thanks @MarkGunnAutodesk! Yes, I started about a year ago but really starting to focus on it this year :slightly_smiling_face: 

Community Manager
Community Manager

@Tiana_Y what a great way to get us started! 
How / what happened for you to know that you wanted to be a community manager? I know that loads of students are often unsure about what they want to do for their career and life after they graduate so it would be really interesting to hear how you figured it out! :smiling_face_with_smiling_eyes:

I see you did your Degree in Mechanical. So is your Current work in-line with it..? Or has the Domain changed..?

If not at Autodesk, what would have been your Dream Job..?

Community Manager
Community Manager

Great questions @o.briggs and @rushabhthakkar_910!

 

Okay, so let's start with, how/what happened to know I wanted to go this route - it was a mix of a few different things! If I am being honest, I didn't really know what Community Management was until I started at Autodesk. When I started my support position at Autodesk I was able to get involved in what was called our "Staffed Forums" program and I started helping users and getting involved with the Community. At the same time, I started really exploring my career options, and Autodesk does such a wonderful job with career planning, that after looking and exploring other ways to use my engineering knowledge Community Management stood out to me! So it was not a role I really knew a lot about, but once I started helping on the forums and seeing what our Community team took part in, it sort of just clicked for me! :slightly_smiling_face:

As far as using my degree - I still utilize a lot of the knowledge I learned in college - it is just different. Instead of using my engineering knowledge to run simulations and analysis on loads, as I used to in my design role I had right out of school, I use it to understand Autodesk Products in-depth and I can bring my knowledge into the Community and share it with others in new and innovative ways! 

OOO dream job - that is a great question! If I am being honest my dream job would probably have nothing to do with engineering - I would love to run an animal rescue or a winery! 

Winery, fancy!

I too got the chance of managing a community a fraction of this size, and I can totally agree, I too am a mechanical engineering degree student. and yes I use the core concepts to breakdown cad problems at times or even suggest possible alternatives etc.

The point on no two same days is something I stand by, including the robotic posts, that is why my style is mostly pictures with hand annotations. just avoid any possible doubts. along with other material and some text to explain what is going on. At times text cannot help in which case I switch into small solution videos, those work out great.

That's Great @Tiana_Y.. 

 

I also Love Animals.. But unfortunately haven't Adopted one Yet. 

 

But I Plan to get one for Sure in Future.. 

Oh man that is a nightmare to me, I'm scared of all irrespective of if they are domestic and wild. I cant get into 6ft of any animal specially dogs and cats since they tend to come close to strangers. I could nearly pass-out from that

Contributor
Contributor

@Tiana_Y  thanks for sharing your experience . All dreams can be possible , we only have to decide wich . 

Thanks, @Tiana_Y, for sharing such valuable insights!
Is it better/necessary to first do a job in the core engineering domain during early career days? As I believe, the role of Community Manager requires experienced professionals, or are there opportunities for early-career/graduates in community management?

Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi @bharat.borate.27 - that is a great question and to answer it honestly - it depends! I can speak to my role specifically, being an Industry Community Manager, one of the requirements was to have expertise in the industry. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean a core engineering role prior, but perhaps a degree, certifications, etc.

 

I think that you need at least some sort of knowledge in the Community that you are managing, it can make your interaction be more authentic, also Community Members like to see their Community Manager has a deeper understanding as to what they are discussing. I think that as an early career/college graduate you have a lot of knowledge and experience! You just want to make sure that the Community Manager role you are looking into aligns with that knowledge you have in your early career! :slightly_smiling_face: 

 

I hope that helped answer your question - I feel like I rambled a bit!

Hi Tiana, 

 

What other Roles are present for Freshers at Autodesk..? And what do you need to become a Community Manager at Autodesk..? (Experience outside Autodesk, Experience in Autodesk, Etc)..

Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi @rushabhthakkar_910 - great questions! I am not sure what we have open right now as far as entry-level goes. Off the top of my head as far as roles go, they might not have any open you'd have to look on your own for that, but any Technical Support, Client Services, or customer-facing role is usually a great stepping stone to get into Autodesk and then begin networking and looking for internal roles from there. Plus those types of roles help you understand our products and customer base a bit more which is always very valuable knowledge to have to move your career forward! 

As for experience to become a Community Manager at Autodesk, the biggest thing is understanding Community and our members, how to grow and engage and nurture the Community to make it feel like a welcoming and helpful place. The next would be at least a level of Industry knowledge, but that is also because my current role is an Industry Community Manager, so it requires a certain level of expertise. 

 

Hope that helps! 

 

Thank You @Tiana_Y for such Valuable Answer..!!

Thanks, @Tiana_Y for the clarification. This will definitely help to make some clear goals and plan accordingly for an early career.
Have a good day ahead!