Four Common Operations Positions

Operations is a vast job category that can generally be divided into four major types: content operations, product operations, user operations, and event operations. Today, Aniday will share the differences between these four types of operations positions and the corresponding job requirements, with the hope of helping those who are interested in operations.

1. Content Operations

Content operations are a significant branch within the operations industry. In general, content operations involve building and maintaining a healthy content ecosystem through content creation, curation, and user engagement. To achieve this, content operators need to create, organize, and publish content to increase viewership and interaction with followers. Content operations encompass both a method and a functional division. With the evolution of the internet industry, content operations have moved beyond simple editing. 

Content operations are generally divided into two major categories:

a. Content Platform Operations

As an operator of a content platform, creating content is not the primary focus. The emphasis is on making the existing content more appealing to users, ensuring high-frequency consumption, and encouraging users to actively share and contribute content. Typical companies include Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

b. Content Production Operations

In contrast to platform-based content operations, another common category is content production operations. The primary role of content production operators is to create high-quality content, considering how to organize and present content effectively to attract user attention and achieve product conversion. Regardless of whether you choose a position in platform-based content operations or content production operations, they both rely on content as their foundation. If you're interested in content, either role could be a good choice when looking for a job under operations positions.

2. Product Operations

The definition of product operations is quite broad since product models vary, resulting in a wide range of operation methods. Therefore, product operations require a strong combination of skills. To excel as a product operator, you need to understand the product, various operation methods, user research, and possess strong data analysis skills. Many top companies like Google, Shopee, and Unilever offer various product operations roles. The following job description for product operations clearly outlines what this role involves.

To become a successful product operator, you need a logical mindset and strong analytical abilities. You'll use data and feedback to improve and optimize products, connecting users and products to enhance product value and generate continued business value. If you enjoy problem-solving and logical challenges, product operations might be a suitable role to pursue top secure a role in operations positions.

3. User Operations

If content operations revolve around content and product operations around products, user operations focus on people. User operations encompass activities that impact key user metrics, such as user acquisition, retention, engagement, and viral sharing. User operations can be broken down into three main steps:

1. Increase User Metrics: Users' relevant data are enhanced through various methods, with a strong focus on the operational details.

2. Enhance User Activity: Engage users in various ways, such as interaction, content creation, or task completion.

3. Promote Viral Sharing: Encourage users to invite others, promote user-generated content, and establish a user community.

The responsibilities of user operations, as outlined in the job description below, confirm the focus on these areas.

A product without users remains an empty shell. User operations play a direct role in engaging users, understanding their needs, and continuously optimizing products to promote user engagement, thereby driving product iteration. A good user operator is often empathetic and plays a crucial role in user satisfaction and product development.

4. Event Operations

Completing objectives through events can be broadly interpreted as the essence of event operations. Event operations are a relatively vague concept since they often involve content, product, and user operations to achieve specific goals through events. The core of event operations lies in planning, resource management, promotion, and effectiveness to ensure the event's successful execution. In internet companies, event operations are just one of the many operation methods. Therefore, positions solely dedicated to event operations are relatively scarce. When such roles are available, they may require a wide range of skills.

Event operations primarily focus on coordination and execution abilities. This role is highly proactive and often requires mastery of various operational techniques.

Differences and Connections Among the Four Categories

After discussing these four types of operations, it's essential to understand what kind of problems they address and how they are interconnected. Regardless of the type of operations, the ultimate goal is to establish a strong connection between a company's product and its target users and create a healthy operational cycle. Product, user, content, and event operations use different methods and approaches to achieve this goal. If you want to differentiate and classify these operational methods, you can generally consider the following:

• Product Operations and User Operationsprimarily focus on improving core product metrics, such as user retention, acquisition, and engagement.

• Content Operations and Event Operations emphasize user participation and conversion for products or events.

Due to variations in a company's business, product, and user profiles, you may find that these four categories of work often overlap in practice. The emphasis is on the objectives and implementation methods of each category of operations. These four main categories of operations each have their unique aspects, and careers in any of them hold great promise.

Aniday hope you found this information useful and all the best in your job hunt!