Transferring Your Community Skills to Advance Your Career

Oh, hey! Welcome to the community.

Residence Life has been building effective and strong communities for years. The concept of community is not new to you, and you can see how bringing people together over a shared experience is valuable. Schlossberg educated student affairs professionals about Marginality and Mattering over 30 years ago. Community formation and development is at the heart of student affairs and especially the foundation of the work of residence life professionals. That said, for many years, professions related to community building were viewed as fluffy occupations that focused on friends and fun; a chaperoned and facilitated role that was organic to the adolescent experience. 

Corporate Community

We’re passionate about community at eRezLife. Our team members all have experience in student affairs and can appreciate the value of community firsthand. We’ve been where you’re at, building relationships among individuals who can educate each other, finding companionship, and creating members who belong to communities where they feel they matter. Community is central to our philosophy and mission at eRezLife, and we value the power of our members and their voices. In the past, this was not common in the corporate world; however, the emphasis on community is shifting into focus for many organizations now.

Transferrable Skills in Community Roles

As we think about the transferability of the skills that both students and staff gain from their work in Residence Life, it’s prudent to recognize the interest that companies and organizations now place on community. Companies of all sizes are recognizing the value and importance of community and allocating funding to developing and fostering communities in a corporate setting.  We’re seeing community specialists pop up in large and medium-sized companies, and what’s interesting is where these people are coming from. It seems like the individuals hired into these roles have experience and education in marketing and business, rather than a foundation in mattering and marginality. It’s a valuable opportunity for residence life professionals looking to diversify their experience and break into the corporate world. In a corporate setting, community is often viewed as a marketing tool, so when applying to a community specialist role, you need to think like a marketer would.

You have the skills, ability, and experience that can greatly benefit the broader population. Not only have you used your knowledge and education to build communities in the past, you’re able to use data to prove the effectiveness of your work, even when building on a small budget with limited resources. Your knowledge will benefit community specialists around the globe. You can effectively pair your expertise with experience in equity and diversity, conflict management, and team facilitation.

Talk the Community Talk

So why are marketing and MBA trained professionals getting these jobs? It could be that they are better at selling their skills in a corporate setting. In thinking about the way you articulate your skills in your application and on your resume, consider using powerful and compelling phrases like:

• Runs thriving communities where members go to connect, learn, and give back.
• Creates and scales the student experience. 
• Develops event management and facilitation resources.
• Manages all content for our largest communities on campus.
• Facilitates student programs that help students learn in-demand job skills and connect to opportunities, from mentorship to employment and academics.
• Builds a global program to attract, skill up, and place net new talent across all audiences at the institution.
• Helps students build productive, engaging communities. 
• Develops strategy, builds concrete tactics and engagement, and develops skills in teams.

Keep Doing Great Things

All of this said, you’re doing great things to build communities in residence and show students the power and value that comes with inclusive communities. Articulating this experience in a meaningful and relatable way will not only advance your own career, it will advance the respect and social capital of Student Affairs professionals everywhere. We know that community is so much more to our stakeholders than a marketing tool, and your work will showcase the value of resilient and intentional communities. 

Welcome to our community. We’re glad you’re here.

Tags: career, career shift, community, corporate communities, Residence Life, residence life professional, student affairs, transferrable skills