I've had to manage employees, admin on a mud, and op mid sized to large irc channels.
Don't be in any hurry to be a mod. It's a thankless job and one that isn't for most people.
Here at least the mods are able to sit behind a curtain of anonimity, but when you don't have that, man can people get nasty.
I've been called names, dos'ed, threatened, you name it. It gets rather hard to do a job when some kid is threatening to kill you because you banned him for breaking the rules.
These days I stick to opping in quiet irc channels where only the occasional idiot comes along.