Community Manager
🏘️Builds and keeps a community around a brand, game or service: answers in chats, runs contests and meetups, defuses conflicts and passes users' pain points to the team.
Prospects & pay
What the work is like
💼 Job market
🇺🇸 $111.8k a year on average · +1.8% jobs by 2035 · 23,000 openings a year
Public relations specialists — US: Census ACS 2020–24 (full-time), BLS projections 2025–35
🇬🇧 £33.4k median a year · 102,000 jobs
Marketing associate professionals — UK: ONS ASHE 2025 (full-time)
🤖 AI & automation
AI bots take over moderation and FAQs. But trust, live events and the feeling of belonging in a community are created by a person.
Who it suits
Interests: 📱 Media, content, advertising, 🤝 Helping and caring, 🗣️ Persuading and negotiating, 🧠 Psychology.
Key strengths: understanding people, speaking and writing.
Where to study
- Bachelor's BA Marketing, Communications or Media (optional)
- Course Social media and community management courses
Key school subjects (A-level / IB / AP): English Literature, Psychology, Languages.
🧗 A degree helps but isn't essential (marketing, communications, media). Many start as active members or moderators; in games, as players and streamers.
Universities
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- City St George's, University of London London
BA Journalism; Attestat + foundation; IELTS usually 6.5–7.0; site not reachable * - Cardiff University Cardiff
Journalism and media; Attestat + foundation; IELTS usually 6.5; site not reachable * - Goldsmiths, University of London London · €27.5k/yr
BA Media & Communications £23,900 (2027/28); IELTS 6.0 (writing 6.0, others ≥5.5); integrated foundation year option
🇺🇸 United States
- Northwestern University (Medill School of Journalism) Evanston, IL · €63.6k/yr
Common App; TOEFL/IELTS/DET for non-native speakers; aid for internationals limited (need-aware) - University of Missouri Columbia, MO · €34.5k–38.1k/yr
international rate $39.7–43.8k by major; TOEFL/IELTS/DET for non-native speakers - Syracuse University (Newhouse School) Syracuse, NY · €60.2k/yr
Common App; TOEFL/IELTS/DET for non-native speakers; ≈ $96–99k/yr with housing
🇩🇪 Germany
- LMU Munich Munich · free
No tuition; DSH-2, TestDaF 4 in all parts, telc C1 Hochschule; without it at least B2 to apply; medicine: non-EU quota - TU Dortmund University Dortmund · free
No tuition; German C1 (DSH-2/TestDaF 4x4); journalism has its own selection * - Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Mainz · free
No tuition; German C1 (DSH-2/TestDaF 4x4); Russian certificate: via Studienkolleg Mainz *
🇳🇱 Netherlands
- University of Amsterdam Amsterdam · €17.5k/yr
Certificate + usually 1 university year (Diploma finder); IELTS 6.5 (PPLE 7.0); medicine is Dutch-taught, numerus fixus, €34,700 - Erasmus University Rotterdam Rotterdam · €13.5k–32.2k/yr
Certificate + usually 1 university year; IELTS ≈ 6.5; medicine is Dutch-taught, numerus fixus (400 places), €32,200 - Fontys School of Journalism Tilburg
Dutch-taught HBO: certificate equals HAVO, Dutch NT2-II *
🇫🇷 France
- Sciences Po Journalism School Paris
Master's only (journalism); first do a bachelor's elsewhere * - École supérieure de journalisme de Lille Lille
Concours after a bachelor’s (bac+3); in French * - CELSA – Sorbonne University Neuilly-sur-Seine
Entry into licence year 3 (after bac+2) by concours; in French *
🇮🇹 Italy
- IULM University Milan
Private university: 12 school years, B2 in the language of study, entrance test * - Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Milan
9 English-taught bachelor's (Communication Management, Finance, Psychology etc.); English B2, selection by documents - University of Bologna (Communication Sciences) Bologna · €1.2k/yr
Taught in Italian: Italian B2, TOLC test; 12 school years *
🇪🇸 Spain
- University of Navarra (School of Communication) Pamplona · €13.9k–17.5k/yr
Private: own admission process; year 1 €13,900–17,500 (2026/27) - Complutense University of Madrid (Information Sciences) Madrid · €6.8k–8.2k/yr
Spanish B2 required; homologation + UNEDasiss, PCE; non-EU pay 4th-attempt rate - Autonomous University of Barcelona Bellaterra · €1.8k/yr
Homologation + UNEDasiss, PCE for score; some classes in Catalan; non-EU €30/ECTS *
🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- Charles University Prague · free
Free in Czech (Czech ≈B2 + exams, ÚJOP course); English programmes €40–30,620/yr - Masaryk University Brno · €0–16k/yr
Free in Czech; English €2,700–7,500/yr (Informatics €4,500), Medicine CZK 380,000; Czech ≈B2 + entrance exams - Palacký University Olomouc Olomouc · €0–14k/yr
Free in Czech (Czech ≈B2 + exams); in English: Medicine €12,500, Dentistry €14,000/yr
Things to know
🪑 Sitting at a computer all day
Similar careers
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