How to get a nonprofit job?

January 5, 2020 6:39 AM

I left my job as a tenured psychology professor at a community college a few months ago to find a job at a nonprofit, but that has proven very difficult to do. I'm looking for help in obtaining this type of job.

The advice I've received from friends and acquaintances is to volunteer and to check Idealist. I check Idealist every day, and the pickings are slim for someone with just a teaching background and no Spanish-speaking skills. I also wonder whether my PhD is making me "overqualified" for some jobs I've applied for and maybe I should leave that off my resume?

I've volunteered at several domestic violence agencies (my top choice for nonprofit work) for years, and I've volunteered as a women's clinic escort for several years. Neither of these types of volunteering have been fruitful in terms of getting a job. I'd ideally like to work on helping with women's causes, but I'd be happy to work on helping in other areas (discrimination, hunger, teen pregnancy, etc.).

Any advice would be wonderful. The job hunt is super demoralizing, and I need any help I can get.

posted by Four-Eyed Girl to Work & Money (15 answers total)

How about adult education (GED, ESL, job readiness, financial literacy)? If you manage to get a job at a big agency, you can move laterally within the agency when something else opens up.
posted by 8603 at 7:29 AM on January 5, 2020

Also check indeed.com, putting "nonprofit" or somesuch in the "what" box. And check the websites of orgnizatins you are interested in.

Might you also be interested in doing research or analysis for a nonprofit?
posted by NotLost at 7:36 AM on January 5, 2020

I work in a non-profit research organization.

I would do informational interviews with people working in the type of positions you are working in - their path probably would be different to your own, but they could give you a better idea of what organizations are looking for. As well, if you are meeting people for informational interviews, they'll be aware of the fact that you are interested - and might mention opportunities they know of.

Is your PhD in a related field? That can make it easier to sell. That said, it can be a liability - I've known people who would not interview someone with a PhD for master's level position because they had bad experiences in the past of the hiree expecting a move to higher position (more of a problem in research than in a service organization - I actually hate this policy, the applicant knows what the job is and they wouldn't apply if they didn't want / need it, and having PhD is itself a great indication of both intelligence and tenacity. I say this as a not-PhD, only ABD).

You are not obliged to include your PhD on your resume - or if you do, you can address it directly in your cover letter and say how it fits you better for the position you are interested in.

if you are in Canada, check out "Charity Village" - it's a job website for non-profits.
posted by jb at 7:43 AM on January 5, 2020 [3 favorites]

LinkedIn is more important than it should be. Get that polished and look for ways to network, start meeting people so when a job comes available they think of you and hopefully reach out. Have you told your volunteer supervisors or the higher ups explicitly that you are looking for employment?

Most states will have some kind of clearinghouse for Non-profit jobs, find that and just start applying. For some domestic violence groups, especially those dealing with clients rather than advocacy, you may not be able to easily find openings for safety reasons.

If you are thinking of working in smaller nonprofits, consider serving on a board to network and perhaps leverage that into paid work. (You’d resign the board position or wait till your term was over) Larger nonprofits will have lots of information on Glassdoor.

This may be harsh, but unless it’s a research type place with specific education requirements, I don’t think your PhD will hurt or help. A ton of folks in this industry have a lot of education.However, I might avoid telling people you left a tenured position without making sure you have a great story to explain why. Nonprofit folks can be a little cynical, I’d craft it to make sure it sounded like “The time was right to apply my skills to a different set of challenges “ rather than “I quit my job to make a difference “.
Try to nail down what you’d like to do a little more, not as far as type of organization but what function you’d fulfill. if you enjoyed teaching/young people education related nonprofits or education departments of other nonprofits would be an excellent crossover career. Lastly, think hard about what you are bringing to the table. LOTS of very talented folks are also looking for these opportunities. Spend some real time crafting your “story” and outlining some STAR statements for your resume. I’ve worked in nonprofits for over 20 years, most recently as an Executive Director, and it can still be struggle and occasionally opaque when moving between markets. Now I work to help folks transition careers and honestly putting in the time really makes the difference, best of luck.
posted by stormygrey at 8:31 AM on January 5, 2020 [11 favorites]

Depending on how you feel about statistics, fundraising positions may be something to focus on, and depending on your experience with writing, grant writing positions may be another opportunity to apply your PhD and teaching experience.

You have a specific set of skills that could be very valuable to nonprofit organizations, and you may want to take seminars, like grant writing workshops, to hone your direction and focus your resume on what nonprofits need to survive.

You could also start volunteering to write grant applications for nonprofits that you have already volunteered with, because if you can establish a real track record of success, that may be very helpful for finding a paid position.
posted by katra at 8:55 AM on January 5, 2020 [4 favorites]

Network, network, network. Especially for smaller orgs, who you know is going to make a huge difference. Be ready to hustle for a job at a moment's notice, too.

And, okay. Ethically, I have issues with what I'm about to say, but it's also the most effective thing I had found, back when I worked in non-profits (specifically in the museums and heritage sector). Volunteer for an org, but make sure that you are doing something that you would be paid for if a paid position opened up. Either a position will open up at that org and you'll be at or near the top of the hiring list, or a position will open up somewhere else, and you can demonstrate concretely that you can accomplish what they're asking of you.
posted by kalimac at 9:35 AM on January 5, 2020 [4 favorites]

Volunteering to help with grant writing or similar was what I was going to suggest as well (plus the usual informational meetings/networking/etc.). That is the route I have seen people use effectively to get hired, and like kalimac says, you want to be demonstrating you can provide a needed skill that people will pay for.
posted by Dip Flash at 11:23 AM on January 5, 2020 [1 favorite]

I'm going to take a different tack on this. My background is as a fellow PhD who is now an executive director of a non-profit. I do a lot of evaluating resumes in my job, and speak to many other ED's in a variety of fields, so I think I have a pretty good sense of the terrain - though my area is not in the field you are interested in.

First, it's not clear what jobs you are applying for and what it is you want to do. With your background, are you wanting to be a social worker/counselor? Administrator? Department head? You should decide and tailor your resume to explicitly state how your work as a (former) tenured faculty with a PhD perfectly fits that role.

Second, I don't actually think volunteering is going to get you the job you are seeking - you aren't a new graduate, you are far too senior to come in as a volunteer looking for a job. Don't leave the PhD off of your resume, instead think of who would think of it as a bonus. I think you should take a different route from conventional volunteering which is to get onto the boards of small, local non-profits. This is how you will network with the most senior people - other board members and executive directors. Work really hard on a board, and you will get people's good will and attention. Where I live, they have something called "board match" that matches potential board members with non-profits. In this role you can still write grants and fundraise, which most small non-profits will love you for, and do all of the things that people list above, but your role will be more senior and the connections will be too. You can also put these on your resume, which will be an excellent selling point.

Third, start taking spanish classes immediately. If it is too costly, find some inexpensive adult ed classes or language partners/groups to meet with. I did language exchange for a while with spanish speakers to work on my Spanish - it just cost me a cup of coffee - we did 30 minutes in each language and both parties left satisfied.

Last, I agree that you need a really good story to explain why it is you left a tenured position to go into non-profits. It's great that you want to make a difference, but the reality of working at (not just volunteering at) a non-profit is really hard and people will want to know that you are prepared and have the appropriate background to do well and not get fed up and leave. Moreover, unfortunately, PhD's don't have a great reputation for working with others - in one of my first interviews after moving on from academia someone actually asked me how it was I was going to work with others given how badly academics do this. Good grief. So you should be upfront about how responsible, easy and collaborative you are to work with. Maybe even in your cover letter stating - "I love collaboration and the opportunity to work with others, and having taught over 5,000 students in 20 years I have learned to be exceptionally organized, reliable and creative with resources" or something like that. I also strongly agree with the specific advice above to include: “The time was right to apply my skills to a different set of challenges “ rather than “I quit my job to make a difference “.

If you have specific questions or want me to review your resume or cover letter, feel free to message me.
posted by Toddles at 1:58 PM on January 5, 2020 [15 favorites]

Response by poster: Some of you have asked what type of job I'd like to have and why. My specific goal is to become a domestic violence prevention educator. I want to educate the public, including high school and college students, about domestic violence, the signs, and its causes. I think my background in evidence-based teaching methods and my understanding of how domestic violence affects one psychologically (especially developmentally since that is my area of expertise) would be beneficial for this type of job. I've taken classes in college and grad school that addressed this, and I've taken continuing education classes regarding domestic violence.

I also survived a childhood with domestic violence in my home. I want to help others receive the help that my family did not.
posted by Four-Eyed Girl at 3:18 PM on January 5, 2020 [3 favorites]

My specific goal is to become a domestic violence prevention educator.

You may be able to do this independently, by developing your own curriculum and contracting with local schools, and possibly obtain grant funding. However, I would suggest coordinating with and seeking insight from the local agencies so you are not competing with them. You might also want to consider producing educational YouTube videos, starting a blog, etc, as a way to reach a broader audience and to develop a social media presence.

There is also work as a guardian ad litem (GAL) that could apply your developmental psychology expertise on a case-by-case basis. You might want to talk to the lawyers who work with the domestic violence agencies that you have volunteered with about ideas they may have about how to apply your skills to help survivors and their children, and your local court may have a GAL training program available that you could participate in to see if it is something that fits with your interests and skills. Obtaining more specific advocacy experience may also be important to establishing your expertise with nonprofit organizations that support survivors of domestic violence, and enhancing your credibility as a public educator.
posted by katra at 5:10 PM on January 5, 2020 [3 favorites]

I agree with katra that you should be looking into how you can do this independently. That's a fairly niche role and it sounds like you have a really well-developed idea of the kinds of training you want to do and the communities you want to serve. Which can actually be a detriment in the non-profit sector, where the kinds of work they do and the communities they serve can be at least somewhat determined by grants, or at least by the perspective of the ED/other org leadership. But your focus is perfect for being an independent consultant/vendor.

Instead of applying for random jobs with these orgs, I'd approach them to partner. Or find out who else is doing this kind of work and see if you can partner with them, being transparent about your own goals. The above advice about getting on boards could help with this as well.
posted by lunasol at 2:15 PM on January 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

I work for a DV / SA nonprofit and frankly I just walked into it via an ad in the local paper - my background is in museums, but that was close enough. A great deal depends on where you are located: keep an eye on your local .org's website and facebook pages. Honestly we never get around to listing anything on Idealist; it's too much trouble and just seems as if it's reserved for the big .orgs, not little ones - which is to say, most DV and SA agencies. The very nature of the work means it's hyper local - figure out where you want to live, who is serving that area and then focus on them.

We put our help wanted ads on our website, Facebook and Indeed. We also usually put them up on our state coalition's website, which, if you're in Oregon, is here. Other states almost certainly have similar coalitions and job boards. Here, for example, are the postings for Washington. The best thing you can do is volunteer where you want to work, though - and let your volunteer coordinator know you're looking for a paid position. Good luck! The pay is dismal, the benefits wildly uneven, the hours are long, the work can be grueling and extraordinarily depressing but, hey, at the end of the day you might have actually helped somebody start to turn their life around.
posted by mygothlaundry at 2:16 PM on January 6, 2020

Oh and also, most .orgs that I'm aware of don't do prevention education as a full time thing. We have a staff of full time advocates; one of them is our Teen Outreach advocate and she goes to high schools and community colleges and so on a couple times a week but that's only probably about 20 - 25% of her job. The rest of the time she is working the crisis line and drop in advocacy center and confidential shelter. Most positions like that are specific grant funded, which means they happen, last until the funding dries up and then it's on to the next initiative (eye rolling emoji here.) I would recommend just getting a job as an advocate and then once you're doing that, talk to your ED about wanting to move in to education.
posted by mygothlaundry at 2:21 PM on January 6, 2020

This might not align perfectly with your perfect job, but I am wondering if counseling in a rape crisis organization might not fit well. In my big city it's a large non-profit agency and offers individual fee-free sessions to survivors, as well as group sessions. If this sounds interesting to you I think seeking a collaboration with such an organization to support a program with the nexus of domestic violence and domestic sexual violence might be a wonderful program.

I think a clearly outlined (impassioned) explanation to such agencies supporting your decision to leave an academic environment for the trenches is completely believable, and if I were at such an agency I'd be thrilled to collaborate with you. I actually know people - only a few, usually those with personal connections to people who have been addicted - who have been seduced from academia, albeit not tenured faculty, to work with addicts and recovering addicts. There is so much need, one story at a time.
posted by citygirl at 3:40 PM on January 6, 2020

Response by poster: Update: I've applied to every domestic violence & sexual violence agency within commuting distance in the past three years, and I've been rejected from every one (including, most recently, the one where I've been volunteering for 9 years). It doesn't look like this dream is going to happen.
posted by Four-Eyed Girl at 1:09 AM on June 11, 2020