How to get a job at an organization that's not hiring?
March 28, 2017 12:46 AM Subscribe
I've been following an organization in my town closely for a while; they do awesome work in a field I'm interested in. A few weeks ago, they posted a job on their website. I sent in my resume and cover letter, but heard nothing. I checked the website a week ago and the job posting has been removed, replaced with "we are not currently hiring."
I really want to work there, whether in that specific capacity, or another role. It's a small nonprofit (only 3 fulltime staff), so the staff wear many hats. I believe I have the skills and work experience to make myself a valuable addition. Assume this is my dream job.
What can I do, if anything? Reach out to the director directly? Offer to volunteer? How much contact from a prospective employee (hopefully) is too much contact before they get annoyed?
Ask for an "informational interview." What this means is that you're interviewing THEM - find out how they work, what's responsible for their successes, and what their organizational challenges are.
Tell them that you like them, show that you think hard about their stuff. Stay in touch. Maybe offer to volunteer or 'intern' (for a limited period of time - some hours per week, or for a set number of months). Make it clear that you contribute - and that you know the org inside and out. That's an asset!
Then ask them for a job. Write the job description yourself.
If they're this small, it likely depends on whether they have the funds in the first place to hire you.
posted by entropone at 5:04 AM on March 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
Tell them that you like them, show that you think hard about their stuff. Stay in touch. Maybe offer to volunteer or 'intern' (for a limited period of time - some hours per week, or for a set number of months). Make it clear that you contribute - and that you know the org inside and out. That's an asset!
Then ask them for a job. Write the job description yourself.
If they're this small, it likely depends on whether they have the funds in the first place to hire you.
posted by entropone at 5:04 AM on March 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
I've worked in and with nonprofits my entire career, and unfortunately this kind of thing happens a lot. I've offered to volunteer with small organizations only to have them never respond, or respond enthusiastically and then never respond to my emails. The thing to remember here is that with three full-time staff, as you said, they're wearing a LOT of hats, and they're probably insanely busy. While I'm sure they'd love to have you on the team in some capacity, getting someone involved with a very small organization can require an amount of work that may not be worth it for a tiny, overworked staff.
As jrobin276 said, the best you can do is reach out, try to be a regular volunteer, and keep in their good graces so that if they do need to hire someone in the future, it will be you.
posted by anotheraccount at 8:03 AM on March 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
As jrobin276 said, the best you can do is reach out, try to be a regular volunteer, and keep in their good graces so that if they do need to hire someone in the future, it will be you.
posted by anotheraccount at 8:03 AM on March 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
Unfortunately, my experience of non-profits is that some can be riddled with politics (office and local) and all sorts of power plays. (even the small ones).
As you have already spotted, most employees wear many hats. However, I've seen many non-profits bring in "outsiders" just for ad-hoc work. For example, one non-profit I know has one remote worker just for liaising with local radio and issuing press releases.
Maybe you could find a niche like this. Many of these non-profits usually need volunteers when they hold events? Do you you know if they have any events coming up where you could be a volunteer?
posted by jacobean at 8:10 AM on March 28, 2017
As you have already spotted, most employees wear many hats. However, I've seen many non-profits bring in "outsiders" just for ad-hoc work. For example, one non-profit I know has one remote worker just for liaising with local radio and issuing press releases.
Maybe you could find a niche like this. Many of these non-profits usually need volunteers when they hold events? Do you you know if they have any events coming up where you could be a volunteer?
posted by jacobean at 8:10 AM on March 28, 2017
I worked at a small non-profit like this and it ending up being a disaster. You should definitely volunteer and get a good sense of what it'd be like to actually work there, even if a job isn't immediately available. Those small joints can be just as ruthless as monster organizations.
Of course, this is just my experience, and your place may be wonderful. If you'd like me to elaborate, feel free to send me a message.
posted by girlmightlive at 9:09 AM on March 28, 2017
Of course, this is just my experience, and your place may be wonderful. If you'd like me to elaborate, feel free to send me a message.
posted by girlmightlive at 9:09 AM on March 28, 2017
I work at a small arts non-profit (5 full-time staff) and it's far from a disaster place to work, but it's a workplace like any other with its own dynamics.
I started with an informational interview -- I had a mutual friend of the artistic director and she helped introduce us. They were not hiring, but I started volunteering, first in the basic capacity of most volunteers (ushering at performances) and then I stepped up my involvement by assisting the education manager with creating resource guides, where I had some specialized expertise. When he left the organization, I was the person they called to come in to interview to replace him, and I got the job. If they hadn't already known me through those earlier efforts and seeing some of my work as a volunteer I wouldn't have gotten what was more or less a dream job.
Staff at small organizations are generally spread VERY thin, and thus identifying good volunteers and supervising their work can be a drain on resources rather than a help. I think the key is to start by volunteering for their very established programs, even if that isn't really the work you prefer to be doing, and then in some capacity that you are able to bring a real value-add rather than to need a lot of oversight.
posted by gateau at 9:42 AM on March 28, 2017
I started with an informational interview -- I had a mutual friend of the artistic director and she helped introduce us. They were not hiring, but I started volunteering, first in the basic capacity of most volunteers (ushering at performances) and then I stepped up my involvement by assisting the education manager with creating resource guides, where I had some specialized expertise. When he left the organization, I was the person they called to come in to interview to replace him, and I got the job. If they hadn't already known me through those earlier efforts and seeing some of my work as a volunteer I wouldn't have gotten what was more or less a dream job.
Staff at small organizations are generally spread VERY thin, and thus identifying good volunteers and supervising their work can be a drain on resources rather than a help. I think the key is to start by volunteering for their very established programs, even if that isn't really the work you prefer to be doing, and then in some capacity that you are able to bring a real value-add rather than to need a lot of oversight.
posted by gateau at 9:42 AM on March 28, 2017
Nthing the "offer to volunteer". And offering the perspective of someone who currently works in HR at a non-profit - it is a very, very, very rare thing for anything to come of sending your resume in as a just-in-case, not because we're not interested - but more so because we get so g-darn many. I also would not recommend calling the organization to discuss the position or any kind of "hi I'm looking for a job there and I'd like to talk to someone" thing, for the same reason. I personally get about 10 calls per week from people calling because they're interested in a job here, and they applied through our website but they also want to talk to someone in HR; and I'm not even in recruiting, those calls are spilling over from the recruiting offices' voicemail.
Another thing to consider is that a lot of non-profits are at the whim of government grants when it comes to funding, and the current political situation being what it is, this has made a lot of institutions take second looks at their budgets as a result ("Well, we were going to expand, but is there even GOING to be an EPA this week or is Trump going to blow it off for more golf?"); and that often translates into how fast people are hiring.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:59 AM on March 28, 2017
Another thing to consider is that a lot of non-profits are at the whim of government grants when it comes to funding, and the current political situation being what it is, this has made a lot of institutions take second looks at their budgets as a result ("Well, we were going to expand, but is there even GOING to be an EPA this week or is Trump going to blow it off for more golf?"); and that often translates into how fast people are hiring.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:59 AM on March 28, 2017
only 3 fulltime staff
I would not approach this with the idea that it's going to become 4 fulltime staff anytime soon. If this is genuinely your dream job, you need to revise out the timetable for that dream so that an acceptable solution here is that you're maybe not employed there for another five or ten years, potentially, but you seem to be talking about this in a very near-term kind of way, and my experience with small companies and organizations is that it's going to be frustrating to have someone hanging about who clearly wants paid employment you can't provide. If you're going to volunteer, volunteer because you love what they're doing, not because you want them to pay you later something that will make the volunteer hours "worth it". This is kind of, if you'll pardon the metaphor, like making friends with someone because you want to date them--when they're already dating someone else. If it's not worth doing for its own sake, without hoping that someday this relationship will be more, then it's not worth doing.
I'm very pro-volunteering, mind, just saying: Don't put yourself in a position where in a year or two you may be unhappy and frustrated if they don't wind up hiring anybody, or if they hire someone who isn't you.
posted by Sequence at 10:52 AM on March 28, 2017
I would not approach this with the idea that it's going to become 4 fulltime staff anytime soon. If this is genuinely your dream job, you need to revise out the timetable for that dream so that an acceptable solution here is that you're maybe not employed there for another five or ten years, potentially, but you seem to be talking about this in a very near-term kind of way, and my experience with small companies and organizations is that it's going to be frustrating to have someone hanging about who clearly wants paid employment you can't provide. If you're going to volunteer, volunteer because you love what they're doing, not because you want them to pay you later something that will make the volunteer hours "worth it". This is kind of, if you'll pardon the metaphor, like making friends with someone because you want to date them--when they're already dating someone else. If it's not worth doing for its own sake, without hoping that someday this relationship will be more, then it's not worth doing.
I'm very pro-volunteering, mind, just saying: Don't put yourself in a position where in a year or two you may be unhappy and frustrated if they don't wind up hiring anybody, or if they hire someone who isn't you.
posted by Sequence at 10:52 AM on March 28, 2017
Get inside as a volunteer or intern. Do helpful things for the organization AND search high and low for grants that would fund additional staff. Do all the leg-work for these grants and present them to overworked, many-hat-wearing staff as opportunities for some assistance. Repeat until one or more of the grants come in.
posted by hworth at 3:27 PM on March 30, 2017
posted by hworth at 3:27 PM on March 30, 2017
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The answer to questions like reaching out to the director and how much is too much is almost always "no" and "whatever you have in mind prompting you to ask is too much".
If you volunteer and develop a good relationship you will be in a very good position once they are hiring again - either because someone leaves or they get more funding.
posted by jrobin276 at 12:59 AM on March 28, 2017 [12 favorites]