A community management internship is a unique opportunity for students to gain hands-on experience in digital marketing. As a community developer assistant at Ubisoft Mobile in Paris, Maria, an MBA student specializing in Digital Marketing at EMLV, pivoted into a digital career in the mobile gaming industry.
I have always been a fan of video games since I was a little girl. However, I studied Geography at Universitat de Barcelona, where I did a couple of internships related to meteorology and climate. After my degree, I did a short postgraduate course in Digital Cartography and a Master course in Travel Agencies. My background includes various customer-facing roles in multiple industries: tech, travel agency, banking.
Choosing the right Digital Marketing program in Paris
I looked for MBA programs in Ile-de-France in English, but very little are focusing on Digital Marketing, complementing my previous professional experience.
The first time I heard about EMLV was thanks to an acquaintance who was already studying a Digital Marketing program at another school in French and had a friend who talked very well about EMLV and its MBA specialised in Digital Marketing.
I looked for highly rated schools in Île-de-France that had training in English and found that EMLV met most of my criteria.
Then I looked for MBA programs in Ile-de-France that were in English and focused on Digital Marketing, which would complement my previous professional experience, and that’s how I finally chose EMLV and its MBA program!
One of the things I appreciate most in this program is the variety of subjects it covers, the combination of tools we had access to, the professors’ different backgrounds.
We also had French lessons and coaching to prepare CVs and interviews, which were helpful.
Doing an internship in Digital Community Development in Paris
I got my current internship indirectly: I applied for a different role that I wasn’t familiar with. As another candidate already filled the previous one, the HR Campus Manager talked to me about the one I am doing right now and asked me if I would be interested. So, of course, I said yes! I love Community Management!
I am still in it until the end of the year, and I am handling a game’s community communication, engagement, social media communication.
I am in charge of managing one of Ubisoft’s mobile games social media accounts: Facebook, Instagram & Discord mainly, but I also handle bug reporting, benchmarking and regular community and mobile store reporting.
Community Development is a very varied role where you have to mix soft skills, project management and digital marketing, mainly social media marketing.
The focus on each game is different, as it depends on what stage of the lifetime of the game you are at present. For instance, handling a new game can be more creative and focus more on social media content than working with a well-established game. Additionally, you have to be part of your audience to know your audience slang and make catchy updates that engage them.
My internship at Ubisoft: feeling “at home”
I am in the Live Ops team for a fun RPG mobile game that is helping to learn how mobile games environment is. I mainly worked on PC games, and now I have learned more about the Apple Store and the Google Play Store. I am also learning to do benchmarks, which is new to me.
Ubisoft takes care of its interns. So first action to help us is an onboarding presentation to introduce us to the intranet and procedures.
We also participate in some HR meetings where they check how we are doing if we face any difficulties during the internship. Another thing that surprised me is that the company is very transparent with the interns. They treat us like full-time employees, and many former interns are hired after their internship. So you have access to all information available for all employees. Of course, you also sign an NDA, but you are not treated differently from full-time employees.
Everyone is amiable and eager to help at Ubisoft, my managers are great, the team is accommodating, and I like it here. I feel at home.
Community Development & Engagement as a career option in Digital Marketing
So, in the future, I would like to continue working at Ubisoft. I want to work in a Community Engagement or Influencer Management role, and of course, I would consider a role in the esports side of a video game, which is an industry that is rapidly growing and making millions of dollars every year. I am also interested in doing Cybersecurity community management and HR Branding, which are also relatively new roles. Finally, I like to use my soft skills, creativity and social media knowledge in my work.
My piece of advice for digital marketing students: Tailor your CV for each role you are applying to and adapt your background story and pitch to each position. Start looking early for an internship, ask your connections and use your networks. The EMLV’s faculty can also help with tips and recommendations.
