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job search strategies << back to Job Search Strategies 1. About Job Searches 2. The Right Job Search Attitude 3. Know Your Needs 4. Evaluating An Offer 5. Networking 6. Resumes 7. Non-Profit Salaries 8. About Volunteer and Service Programs > the right job search attitude Because jobs that make a difference require responding to ever-changing needs, organizations are always evolving, growing, disappearing and reappearing. This synergy is an exciting and necessary part of community-based work. Unfortunately, all this excitement can make a search for a job more difficult. Because these organizations are so dynamic, and because most work with limited resources, finding a "common good" job requires creativity and persistence. Because "common good" work often involves intersections between more than one sector of our economy these jobs often do not fall into neat and visible categories. The skills you have developed as a Brown student - navigating lots of options, researching opportunities, and shaping your own academic work - will be put to good use here. You may feel like you are putting in more effort than people pursuing more traditional options, but you will be rewarded with a challenging job that can make a real contribution. Few employers will come to you. You may be frustrated at seeing your classmates sign up for on-campus interviews and wonder why more non-profits aren't evident among the banks and consulting firms that recruit on-campus. Brown's recruiting program does include several national and international service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, Green Corps) and teacher placement agencies (e.g., Carney Sandoe), but most employers will not come to your campus. Most community organizations are small and are likely to have only one or two positions open at any given time. They also do not have budgets for extensive publicity or recruiting. You may have to go to them. If you know you want to live in a particular city or region, learn about that place, its people and the challenges it faces. Consider taking a "fact finding" trip there. The Stopover Program through the Alumni Network can help you with overnight accomodations in a faraway city. To find people, you have to work - talk to people. Network as much as you possibly can. Set up information interviews. Visit workplaces. Volunteer. Attend conferences. Meet as many people as you can who have jobs you find interesting. Talk to them. Use the networks and resources at Brown to their fullest. See the Networking section for more on this. This is a chance to put your values to
work. Many people find social change work fulfilling because it is an opportunity to synthesize your personal values with your professional life. Clarifying your values will help you as you wade through job descriptions and opportunities. You can't find what you want if you don't know who you are. How do you want to make a difference? What do you believe in? (See Developing Your Story for more on this.) You can invite yourself into the workplace. If you are interested in working for a big accounting firm, you can't really call them up and offer to hang out with them one day a week. One advantage of a non-profit job search is that you can usually insinuate your way into an organization by volunteering. You might volunteer for a week, a summer or weekly for a year. Volunteering is a common "foot in the door" for people interested in getting experience in a social change field. many non-profits hire from their volunteer pool or promot e folks from part-time to full-time positions when the money flows in. Find as many ways as possible to experience potential workplaces. See the Staying Involved section of this site for more ideas. Always have a Plan B. The essence of successful job hunting is having alternatives. Alternative ways of describing what you're good at, alternative approaches to finding a job, alternative leads to jobs, alternative ways of approaching employers. Identify more than one kind of job, more than one employer, more than one setting where your skills will be useful, and more than one strategy to get there. There is no season. One advantage to this kind of job search is that there is no starting or ending point. In many industries there are recruiting "seasons" during which companies look for a new crop of entry-level employees. While some service programs (e.g., Americorps, WorldTeach) do have recruiting seasons, most jobs do not. There is no wrong time to start your search. The jobs follow the money. When the money flows, new people are hired. Monitoring funding activity in the geographic area or field that you are interested in will be a key tool in your search. Read foundation reports, watch for announcements of new grants or projects. See the Fundraising for Social Change section of this site for more information on foundations and the grant world. You will have to be organized. A job search is in large part a research project - involving libraries, interviews and organization. You will have to sift through a large amount of information from a wide variety of sources. Get organized. Keep a notebook or file folders of the information you collect. Keep copies of cover letters, contacts and job descriptions for future reference. Use your academic talents here. It will take longer than you think. Persistence is the name of the game in finding the right job. Persistence means being willing to go back to places you've already been for more advice or to see if new openings have appeared. Particularly if you are searching for a job in a field that is new to you, you will need to spend a lot of time just understanding the field and what role you want to and are qualified to play. The conversations and research that help you define what job you really want to apply for are critical parts of the search, but often take a lot longer than people predict. Start your thinking and researching as early as possible and try to work at your job search consistently. You will have to be creative. Most employers won't be sending job announcements to Career Planning. For many community-based fields there is no accepted "track" or training program for entry-level employees. Most small organizations only advertise in their region or within their field. Working with Career Planning and other staff on campus you can figure out which networks you need to be a part of so you can keep on top of developments in the field or geographic area that interests you. Build a community. Often your job search only seems as hopeful as the last phone conversation you had. A disappointing interview can make you feel that you'll never get a job, but a good conversation can bring a burst of enthusiasm. Know as you begin the search that you will have ups and downs and that there will be times when you will need to regroup and reenergize yourself. Developing mentors or relationships with other people who are going through the same struggle can make all the difference on the bad days and can often provide the leads that create the good ones. (back to top) << back to Job Search Strategies |
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