5,000 words to tell you what is the fastest way to enter the operations industry?

In his book "Outliers", writer Gladwell pointed out that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in a certain field. Calculated proportionally, if you work eight hours a day and five days a week, it takes at least five years to become an expert in a field. This is the 10,000-hour rule.

There are two things to note about the 10,000-hour rule: One is that 10,000 is not an exact number. It does not mean that you need exactly 10,000 hours. This can be understood as an average of 10,000 hours. For example, studies have shown that to reach the level of chess grandmaster, the time required for deliberate training ranges from 3,000 hours to 25,000 hours, with an average of about 6,700 hours.

The second is that you need to practice deliberately, rather than just for inner pleasure. For example, some people have been playing basketball for more than ten years but still cannot become top players. That's because most of us play for exercise or just for fun, not to become basketball masters!

The same goes for those of us who are engaged in product operations . When we enter this industry, we also need to practice and learn deliberately, only then can we become operations experts! But before becoming an operations master, many friends need to get started, and you need to enter this industry quickly!

When I really started to share my operational knowledge with more friends last year, the question I heard most was how to build my own operational knowledge system? How to quickly enter the operations industry and so on. In fact, this is not surprising. In the past two years, operations have been mentioned many times. In the environment of serious product homogeneity, operations have begun to highlight its important role. In addition, the threshold for entry into the industry is lower than that of product, technology, design and other technical positions. Therefore, more and more people are beginning to want to enter the operations industry.

However, the emergence of operations has only gradually become a system in recent years. In fact, many companies have not yet set up operations positions, which has led to a lack of consensus in the industry. A lot of knowledge on the Internet is very scattered , causing cognitive errors for many partners who have just entered the operations industry. Now, although the more senior people in the field of product operation are also working hard to build a complete system framework for operation positions, the progress is always very slow. I also believe that the progress will gradually accelerate in the future, because more and more friends are joining this industry and constantly working to improve this industry!

Having said so much, for those friends who are preparing to change jobs or enter the product operation industry, what is the fastest way to enter the operation industry? I believe that many people also came here for this title . After all, in this impetuous society, everyone is looking for a quick way to wealth. I won’t keep you in suspense and will get straight to the point: Is there any way to quickly enter the operations industry?

We are now entering the misunderstanding of the product operation industry

1. Now many friends who are changing jobs or preparing to enter the operations industry will first go to Zhihu or various forum websites, type in "book recommendations for Internet operations ", and then read many books about Internet operations recommended by so-called big names. When they get home, they will go to the website to buy various operations books, and then start to slowly read these books. I wonder if any of you have had such an experience? I wonder if you have a deeper understanding of operations after reading this? 2. I feel that my theoretical level needs to reach a certain level before I can put it into practice. Many of my friends now have this misunderstanding: I need to read a lot of books and read many articles and theories from celebrities before I am qualified to put them into practice. I can only laugh at these little friends! The knowledge level involved in product operation is so broad and general, otherwise people would not say that operation is like doing miscellaneous tasks!

After reading the above misunderstandings, we can identify ourselves with the corresponding ones! See if you have similar cognitive misunderstandings!

After talking about the misunderstandings, we should talk about how to avoid these misunderstandings, and if we really want to enter the operations industry, what methods can enable us to quickly and comprehensively understand operations, and in the future we will always focus on this point of view to deeply study the product operations industry.

1. Think about what you want to learn?

Why do we say “figure out what you want to learn?

I receive many questions, and they all ask: Teacher, I want to switch to operations/I want to learn operations, do you have any advice?

In fact, after hearing this sentence, I believe many friends who have worked in operations know that the scope of operations is too damn broad! In fact, I wanted to ask at that time: Classmate, do you know how broad the operation position is? If I really want to answer this question, I can only tell you what the definition of operations is? Instead of giving you advice on how to enter operations!

So, for students who want to enter the operations industry, think clearly about what you want to learn?

What do you mean by "learning"? Where do you want to start when you enter the operations industry? Which branch of operation is being referred to: content operation , event operation , user operation , community operation , channel operation, SEO , etc. These are all subcategories of operation. A newcomer entering the operation industry will generally first be exposed to a specific area of ​​operation. Don’t tell me that you want to be exposed to all of them. Classmate, I tell you, as long as you have touched all of them and reached a certain level, then tell me you want to do all of them!

I believe that many friends, especially college students, who want to engage in Internet operations, generally start with content operations, such as new media operations , content editing, editors, etc. So for those who want to engage in content operation, what knowledge do you need to know?

Definition of content operation Types of content Means of content operation Advanced path of content operation Skills of content operation (typography, essential tools , title routines, etc.)

Content operation means that we create, screen, edit and organize content suitable for the platform and present it to target users , so as to improve the content value of the product and achieve the purpose of attracting new and retaining users.

The content types mainly include: text, pictures, videos, audio, etc. When we edit content, these types can be used alone or in combination. The key depends on the positioning of the platform and user needs.

The main means of content operation include: creation, editing, review, dissemination, etc. As a content editor, we must be able to use the operation methods freely, these are the basics!

The advanced path of content operation. I believe that many people will pay attention to the career development path when entering the content operation industry, because this is related to future career planning, so you need to understand the career development path of content operation. The general career development path is nothing more than new media editor-new media operation-senior/senior new media operation-new media operation supervisor/manager-new media operation director -operation director-CXO/CMO/COO. This is the career development path for a long time in the future, but another career plan for content operation is: content editor-content operation-product operation. This is from a macro perspective. Only when you are exposed to content operation and continue to involve other modules, then you can say that you are doing product operation!

The skills of content operation are crucial. What content operation values ​​most is skills. When you apply for a content operation position, many interviewers will also ask what skills you have, including PS, office, editor, and copywriting skills. These are all skills, and are also essential skills for content operation! We will discuss how to learn it specifically below.

So, if you want to enter the operations industry, or are preparing to change jobs, don’t just say that you want to enter the operations industry, but not how to choose, or directly ask these stupid questions. If you want to enter the operations industry, what suggestions do you have?

2. Essential skills for deep learning + lots of practice

At the beginning of the article, we mentioned that many people have many misunderstandings when entering the operations industry. Two of them are buying a lot of theoretical books to read, and then thinking that they have reached a certain theoretical level before practicing. In fact, this is putting the cart before the horse. Because theory is just theory after all, it cannot be verified whether it is feasible. The most important thing is that there is still a long way to go before theory can be put into practice. So there is no need to buy a bunch of books and then practice after reading them. But Xiaoyu does not deny that reading books is useless. Books should be read, but they need to be read at a rhythm, and you must not put the cart before the horse!

When we decide to enter a certain module of the operation for work internship, we must deliberately strengthen our skills and thinking awareness, and also learn by practice.

The practice at this stage is, on the one hand, to deepen the understanding of content operation and improve skills, and on the other hand, to establish one's own knowledge system framework and continuously involve other modules.

Let’s continue with the content operation skills mentioned above. Skills are the foundation. Without these basic skills, you are not yet considered to have entered the operation industry. When you decide to enter the field of content operation, user operation, or event operation, you must subconsciously understand the skills that must be mastered in this industry. No matter whether you are unemployed or working, once you are sure, you must learn.

Where can this learning be included and what skills need to be learned?

Let’s talk about what skills to learn first?

The skills required for content operation are nothing more than the writing skills, Photoshop, text editor, typesetting, etc. that we mentioned above. If you are not clear about how to operate a certain module, you should first clarify the operating methods of the field you are entering. As we have mentioned before, the main means of content operation are creation, editing, review and dissemination.

In content creation, you need to have a solid foundation in writing or a feeling for words. What you write doesn’t have to flow smoothly, but it still has to be understandable to people, right? So you feel that your copywriting level is average, but it is a necessary skill for this industry. At this time, you need to train and study more and strive to reach this level as soon as possible.

As for editing, you may be required to know things like typesetting, finding pictures, retouching pictures, using editors, title routines, etc. If you feel that you are not familiar with a certain area, you can improve that area. For example, my PS is not good, but the editing work I am doing now often requires me to modify and beautify the header picture. At this time, I have to learn Photoshop or find some beauty tools, etc. The most important thing is to learn to be flexible!

In addition, after learning, we should process the knowledge in depth, organize a knowledge structure diagram, take reading notes, or teach others to deepen our cognition and understanding. This way you will have a deeper understanding of this field, and these good habits are also general skills for you to learn in other fields!

After talking about what skills need to be learned and how to learn them, let’s finally talk about where to learn these skills?

Where can I learn these skills and knowledge? Some people may say, of course, learn online! The Internet is so developed nowadays, if you don’t know a skill, you can just search on Baidu and it will come out in no time, right? This is certainly true, but in this era of information explosion, everyone says that free things are not the essence, and that you have to pay for them. So can we learn what we want by paying? That may not be the case.

What should I do then!

I can give you some ideas here. We should learn from multiple channels.

Multi-channel means: books + expert columns + learning platform

Buying books is the best way to systematically learn about professional fields. The knowledge on the Internet is fragmented, so what we absorb is scattered and unsystematic. This is also what many friends shouted: I have read so much knowledge, but I still can’t do product operation well! So buying books is a more direct approach.

Columns of big names can be divided into paid and free. Free columns refer to the WeChat public accounts , Zhihu columns, etc. of the big names. When they update their articles, they will update them to their own columns as soon as possible, so you can go and see what the big names write as soon as possible. Most of the new experiences written by big names are what they have experienced themselves, so there are still some desirable aspects. However, it does not mean that what big names write is necessarily good. We should absorb the good ones and discard the bad ones! Paid columns refer to the columns that these big names will open on NuMa, Zhihu Live, Get or some other paid platforms. If you want to hear these useful information, you have to pay a certain fee to read and learn.

The learning platform is quite general, but this learning platform mainly includes some WeChat public accounts , websites, videos and other platforms. There are free content and of course paid content. These are all for us to choose from that are suitable for you. There are so many platforms, don’t expect to have all of them. The end result of such a skimming approach is that you will learn nothing!

The sources of knowledge mentioned above should follow a principle, which is to choose a platform that is suitable for what you are doing now and where you can learn knowledge.

We have talked about deep learning above, but there is actually one thing we almost forgot, which is a lot of practice. This practice does not mean that you should wait until you have learned all the knowledge before practicing. Instead, you should learn one knowledge point and practice one theory, constantly verify and modify it, and consolidate your own knowledge system!

So how do you put it into practice?

I wrote an article before, "Operational Methods in the Post-Product Era" How to efficiently learn and practice operational knowledge! ) At the end, it is mentioned that after we have mastered certain theoretical knowledge, the next step is to verify whether the theory is correct. At this time, we have to apply it to our work. So how do we apply it?

Han Xu once said: "Understanding the theory" and "being able to execute" are two different things. Mastering the former does not mean you can also master the latter. Execution is another skill and an equally important subject. To achieve the ultimate effect, both theory and execution must be taken simultaneously, neither of which can be dispensable.

Why don’t people put the theory into practice after reading it? For example, those friends who can only write articles but not do things, it’s because they have only mastered one of the skills. The same applies to those friends who just bury their heads in work and don’t know how to refine methods and summarize rules.

So how should we apply the theories we have learned to operational work?

For example, we read an article about operational tips , which said: When we cold-start a product, core users (i.e., seed users ) are very important. The first 500 seed users determine the atmosphere and tone of the community, so we need to find high-quality users who meet the positioning...

But if you read this article and start to take action after thinking about it, you will encounter a big problem: how to find our seed users.

As we all know, the theory is correct, so the key link in this matter is how to implement it and how to find such users. If you are the supervisor, it will definitely not work if you just give an order and let everyone look for it separately without any method, process and clear standards. This means there is no control over the execution process, and it is impossible to predict the results.

The solution we can provide here is to determine all the elements that can be determined in advance as much as possible, and not leave too much room for operation for the executors, otherwise it will only bring uncontrollability. This does not mean that we ignore the personal creativity of employees, but that creativity is more suitable to be released at the "theoretical" level, and "doing" in the execution stage is more important.

So when we are looking at practical operational knowledge, your imagination can be unlimited, but when it comes to actual practice, you should focus more on the operability and certainty of the practice. You should not simply apply the theory, but constantly test whether the theory remains only a concept and is not operational in practice.

3. Join the Internet operation circle

This circle does not specifically refer to those offline sharing sessions or seminars! These are not circles of "forming cliques" but operating circles in a virtual atmosphere. It's very vague, isn't it! I'll give you an example and you'll understand. For example, when you go to learn to drive, during the period of learning, you will definitely come into contact with coaches, fellow drivers (friends who learn to drive together), various driving learning apps, question-answering websites, etc. In this way, you have inadvertently entered the driving learning circle. From now on, you will spend a lot of time in this circle, and many things you encounter are related to driving learning. This is the invisible circle, you don’t know it, but you have entered it.

It’s the same when we do product operations. When you enter this circle, you will come into contact with all kinds of operations gurus, operations cats (similar to those), various APP websites, etc. When you finish reading an article, the author’s information will be marked at the end of the article. At this time, you will add their personal WeChat or follow their official account. Over time, Internet operations have slowly penetrated into your work and life. When you are doing something, you will also think about whether you can combine it with operations in this way?

Take me as an example. Every time I go to a restaurant to eat, I always think, if I were asked to take over and run this restaurant, would it be better than it is now? Or if I were to take over, where should I start? These are all pioneering roles of operational thinking. So, no matter what your personality was like before, once you decide to do product operations, you must face it with an open mind.

After reading this article on how to quickly enter Internet operations, you should have some inspiration. Next, practice is the key, practice is the key, practice is the key!

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