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Donal O’ConghaileCredit Bryan Anselm for The New York Times

Donal O’Conghaile, 27, is an online community manager at Social Media Link, a marketing agency in New York.

Q. How did you find this job?

A. On Craigslist. When I graduated from Trinity College in Dublin in 2010, I wanted to work in New York, so I just traveled here. My family thought I was out of my mind. I knew no one. I stayed in a hostel in Times Square the first four nights, which was a culture shock. First, I found a three-month internship at The Economist. When that ended, I found an internship here. I was hired afterward and have been here almost four years. I’m here on a work visa.

What do you do?

I manage Smiley360, a social media community at Social Media Link that provides marketing for companies. Along with three other managers, I oversee a group of Internet users, mostly women, who receive free products from our clients, such as Procter & Gamble and Church & Dwight, in exchange for product reviews. I write web content, such as sample reviews, and contribute to internal forums where I interact with members, to make sure that things run smoothly. I also email back and forth with the members, especially to answer questions.

How do you manage people in this kind of environment?

My job is more to make sure our members are engaged, so it’s a loose definition of managing. They’re not required to write only favorable reviews. I want our reviewers, or influencers, to enjoy what they’re doing, because without them we wouldn’t have a business. To see what’s happening, I monitor our Facebook page, our Twitter account and anything else members are involved in. I also advocate on their behalf within the company. For example, one member might say she’d like to review more beauty products instead of home products, so I’ll relay that to the appropriate person.

What are your challenges?

There are always a small number of people who want to take unfair advantage of these offers, so I do a small amount of policing. We once found a woman using four different identities to receive multiple samples of the same product, so I flagged the account. Also, it’s a loosely defined job. I had no idea what the position was when I interviewed, and I still have difficulty explaining to friends what I do.