Along with my colleague Roselynn Verwoord, fellow Next Leaders Network steering committee member, I presented on the topic of careers in the nonprofit sector at the latest University of British Columbia Student Leadership Conference (SLC 2010). As a UBC alum, I’ve presented at this conference before – I really enjoy meeting keen students interested in career development and the nonprofit sector.
The top tip I enjoy sharing with students is how a degree does not define you. You do. I demonstrate this by sharing my main post-university jobs (high school teacher, nonprofit gala event manager, and promoter of student engaged citizenship and community-university engagement) and asking what they think my undergrad degree was in. Chemistry and Biology are generally not the first guesses.
The workshop participants brainstormed different tips and resources related to finding employment in the nonprofit sector. They came up with a pile of suggestions in a really tight period of time – many that were new to me. Learning happens in every direction.
Looking for Jobs and Volunteer Roles
Networking and Mentorship
- Arts Tri-Mentoring/Engineering Tri-Mentoring
- Joining Clubs/Student Associations (e.g Emerging Leaders Group)
- Sharing experience with other volunteers
- Me Inc. – Commerce Conference (external networking)
- Parents and family friends
- Volunteer in residence
- Professors
- Friends of friends
- Mailing Lists/talking to people at fairs
- Make use of relevant LinkedIn groups (Non Profit & Philanthropic Job Board) and Twitter contacts (via Andrea)
- Research ideal potential employers and conduct an informational interview (check out a WLU informational interviewing booklet) (via Andrea)
Resumes, Cover Letter and Interviews
- Research company before interview
- Career services (for help)
- Hook for cover letter – be interesting
- Be specific to job description
- Be unique, passionate (to certain extent)
- Interviews –
- be down to earth
- practice potential q’s
- confidence
- Don’t’ answer questions in conventional way
- Situation, task, action, result, transfer (technique for answering interview q’s)
- Reveal your transferable skills
- Be honest
Learning and Workshops
- Mentoring Programs
- Involvement Showcase (CSI)
- Green Book
- SLC 2010
- Google
- Events UBC Site
- Career Days
- Community workshops
- Company workshops
- Clubs
- Go Global (Exchange)
- Read
- Community centers/resources
- Research seminars
- Research the rules are for the part of the sector in which you’re looking (do you need a specific degree?) (via mjfrombuffalo)
Things NOT to Do
- Don’t pick something you don’t find interesting
- Don’t lie about your passion
- Don’t be inconsistent in your approach (e.g. volunteer work can be just as important as paid work)
- Don’t have ANY visible content online that’s questionable. Always manage your online personal/professional brand. (via Andrea)
- Bashing – don’t criticize another organization
- Don’t name drop
- No assumptions
- Don’t ask about wages (to begin with, anyway)
- Don’t be in it for the money
- Don’t burn bridges
- Don’t do it just for the sake of your resume
What a fantastic list! You can find more ideas for young nonprofit professionals in Metro Vancouver here, including common mistakes made by new-to-nonprofit job seekers.
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Image Credit: Paul Caputo
New to the Vancouver nonprofit scene?
Young in age or young in career?
Here are some places for you to get yourself started.
- Careers
- Volunteering
- Networking
- Professional Development
- Learn More About the Sector
- Social Media
- Mentorship Programs
Got more ideas to add? Great – we’re just getting started! Comment and I’ll plug them into the post.
Careers
Volunteering
- GoVolunteer.ca -1000s of volunteer opportunities, searchable by location, activity, organization type, etc.
- VolWeb.ca – event volunteer opportunities – create an account and get notified of positions that match your interests
- CharityVillage.com – volunteer opportunities around Vancouver and across Canada
- Craigslist.org – user-posted volunteer opportunities
- Urbantastic – a focus on microvolunteering
- University sites (for current students/alumni):
Networking
- Net Tuesdays – a place to meet those interested in social media for social good and learn about current initiatives of local peeps
- Next Leaders Network – inspired by YNPN in the US, this network includes discounted workshops, newsletters, a private LinkedIn group and social events for the nonprofit sector’s next leaders
Professional Development
Learn More About the Sector (by browsing for free!)
Social Media
Mentorship Programs
Credit: This resource was inspired by Rosetta Thurman’s slideshare about nonprofit professionals in Washington, DC.
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I had a revealing week last week. I had travelled to Carleton University in Ottawa for the 2nd annual conference of the Association for Nonprofit and Social Economy Research as part of my job at SFU. I went to learn about issues facing the nonprofit sector and about trends in community-university engagement and community-based learning. Sure, this happened too, but the most important piece of information was about myself.
I love being a part of the nonprofit community of learning and practice.
I am a bit of an introvert and generally find myself uncomfortable at conferences and large gatherings–drink in hand, eyes scanning the crowd as if I’m just waiting for someone to meet me. They’re late. I look at my watch. I take a sip. I scan the crowd.
But this time I met a great group of people that have done and are continuing to do great things for a diverse society. I engaged in dialogue with them, contributed my experience and opinions and soaked up those of others. Learned from academics and practitioners doing research – wait for it – with PRACTICAL implications for the nonprofit sector (warning: sometime cynical university staff member). I learned about the Centre for Voluntary Sector Research and Development at Carleton, whose research associates are almost all practitioners with on the ground experience, and whose research focuses on information that can help nonprofits fulfill their missions through practical information, tools and resources. I met interesting people like Ted Jackson, Keith Seel, Martha Parker, Naheed Nenshi, Wendy MacDonald, Paula Speevak Sladowski. I felt invigorated and was sad for it to be over.
So time for me to get started, living it up with this confirmed love of nonprofit. This blog had been floating around in my head for a while. I follow a large number of nonprofit blogs (see my blog roll) but find a gap in what’s offered to local Canadian nonprofits (context is important). Sometimes it’s nice to work within a community that is virtual AND local.
Next step: share the learning I gleam from my colleagues in their blogs and Twitter updates, from my work and research, from my academic studies, from my involvement with the nonprofit sector.
Future plans: further my studies in nonprofit, help mobilize knowledge and improve practice. Obviously not concrete goals yet – perhaps just musings…
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