ABOUT

So what do you actually do?

My job supports people in creating, building and engaging their communities.

What has your career path been?

I’ve been working since I was 16. Being from a low economic background, I worked through education so that I could afford life in London.

My most notable role during this time was working in the Apple Store as a technician where I supported customers in repairing their relationships with their broken Apple products. It was a great taste of the tech world even though I wasn’t a particularly techy person. It taught me how to explain complicated issues to any and everyone which is an amazing skill. 

During this time, I was studying Media, Culture and Identity at University in the hope that I’d graduate and get into my desired industry at the time - advertising. I actually did get a role before graduating, working in a youth marketing/advertising agency, coordinating their engagement of their network of 16-25 year olds. Unfortunately, the company wasn’t in a good way and I was made redundant after 7 months.

After being made redundant, I moved into a community operations role at Bumble where I supported the team in keeping users safe through the management of moderation, dealing with escalations, reporting bugs etc. It was my first role in tech and really opened my eyes to so many other teams. I worked closely with product and developers for our internal tools. I got a real taste for tech during my time at Bumble which originally was supposed to be a stop gap until I could get back into advertising. There was so much opportunity in tech, you’re able to shape your own role in a lot of ways unlike advertising which was very traditional.

After some time at Bumble, I got an opportunity to lead community efforts at an app called Peanut, and there I played a key role in building and scaling their user support functions and processes. Peanut is a start up so it was a great experience working somewhere where we were so small that it was so easy to get a hold of one another. As I was the only person working on community managing both user support and our ambassador programme, I got to experiment a lot. During this time, I was involved in a lot of community work outside of my job and really wanted to move into something more community building/management versus community operations. 

A little after a year at Peanut, I was headhunted and recruited for my current role contracting at Facebook via LinkedIn. It turned out to be just the role I was thinking about where I am supporting a community programme. I am now at a point where I have found my niche which is being in roles where I support people by building, maintaining and nurturing communities.

What is the best part of your job?

I love that my work is all about bringing people together! For a while, I worked with people building and running fun communities. Now I’m supporting and teaching folks how to create and engage communities. My current role allows me to do this on a global scale, I’m supporting community leaders across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Everyday i’m learning and I love it.

Why do you do your job?

I have always been in communities for as long as I can remember, and meeting new people gives me so much energy and perspective.

I was very interested in the inner workings of setting up communities and environments where people can connect with one another. I also knew what community did for me, it took me out of my lil bubble in Newham and opened up London for me,. It was revolutionary to me as a working class child.

It’s really important to me to give back by creating this experience for others.

One piece of advice for someone starting in your role?

Listen more than you speak and ask lots of questions. A huge part of community and programs work is being an advocate of the people you’re working with. As an advocate, you need to know your audience inside out and relay their wants and needs to the wider organisation. I also highly recommend not only being a member of communities outside of work but also being a part of the team running the show.

You don’t always get the opportunity to experiment and gain new experiences in your day to day jobs. It’s so important to have other places in which you are challenged as a leader and coordinator. You can mention this in your job application and interviews, I absolutely always do.

Check out Faisa’s Twitter below!

DAY IN THE LIFE

Morning

I get up an hour or two before work depending on whether I am doing a workout beforehand. My days tend to go far better when I have worked out, pre lockdown I’d go to a spin class or a boxing class. I then have my morning coffee, I can tell how much brain power I’ve used if I need a second one during the day. I tend to start my work day at 9am, my last couple of roles they’ve been flexible with working hours but I stick to my 9am starts because I know I’m most productive in the mornings.

When I’ve switched on my laptop, I first pull up my calendar, emails and work chat. Super important I review my calendar to understand how much time I have in the day. Where I work we love meetings so I have to be proactive about my work time. I even check my calendar the night before so that there aren’t any surprises such as a 9am meeting. Based off of my emails and any pending messages on the work chat, I build my to-do list for the day. I usually use Google Keep for this which is really handy and has a tick feature.

Afternoon

I spend most afternoons in a meeting or 5 (no joke). I have a role that requires me to often be in communication with people, running ideas and feedback past the relevant teams. I’m very big on having some kind of hour break in the afternoon, it's not always at lunch but I try to make it around then. As I support communities across Europe, Middle East and Africa I can sometimes be supporting or hosting calls later in the day which is often the best time to catch people.

I try to finish my days by 6pm latest, it’s been difficult with the pandemic. It's been too easy working through till 8 or 9. It’s not a good habit, I’m aware and work do well telling us to get off and rest.