On August 1, 2017, PCDN launched the Social Change Career Helping Line, the world's first crowd and expert sourced resource for careers in change. In its first five weeks, we've grown to over 600 members from 15 countries ranging from the US, Nigeria, India, Mexico, Cambodia, Croatia and more. There have been over 1,000 posts, comments and reactions.
There have been amazing honest discussions about the many challenges and opportunities in starting or advancing a career of change. The purpose of the Helping Line is to provide a space to share struggles, questions, wisdom and more as we collectively seek to combine careers of purpose, impact and sustainability (it isn't always easy). The questions posted in our first few weeks have ranged from how to find a job at the United Nations, how to sustain one's work (not burnout while trying to change one's community or the larger world), to what are members' favorite books in change, to how to transition from one sector to another.
The questions have brought in many peer responses from members of the group, from the PCDN Team and some of our amazing advisory board members (we are very grateful for their participation) who are thought leaders in their respective fields. Each month we also select several key questions from the Helping Line and ask a few of the advisory board members to provide responses. This is our first such post and we will provide an overview of some key responses that we hope will help guide others on their career paths.
The questions the career advisory board addressed below include:
The respondents for this month include:
Paul Breloff, Co-Founder & CEO,Shortlist Professionals
Jessica Loman, Director, Special Projects Toniic
Dr. Catalina Rojas, Director of Innovation, PCDNetwork
Dr. Craig Zelizer, CEO/Founder, PCDNetwork
Bri Riggio Career International & Experiential Education Advisor / Career Development Facilitator
The Answers from our Career Advisory Group from the key question in the Helping Line in August are below. Please keep the questions coming and let others know about the Helping Line.
What is the best way to start a career in impact investing?
Paul:
About 7 years ago, I was trying to transition from a role leading business development for a big microfinance institution in India into impact investing, and it was brutal. I applied to what feels like dozens of open roles and never even got an interview. Since then, I managed to set up my own in-house venture fund at a big nonprofit, and have a better understanding of how hard it is to make the transition – but also some ways it can be done.
First option, of course, is to directly apply to open jobs. Good luck. It happens, but for every one impact investing role there are often hundreds of applicants. Hiring managers for funds go into zombie mode trying to triage resumes, and are often looking for evidence of strong analytical skills (read: management consulting, i-banking) and/or principal investing experience (though let’s be honest, if you had that, we wouldn’t be having this conversation). So: if you’re hoping to stand out in a crowd of resumes, get some of those goodies on yours.
Say you’re not a consultant, i-banker, or investor… what then? A few ideas to consider:
Jessica:
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How can I get a job in peacebuilding (or any social change sector) when one doesn't have direct experience?
Jessica:
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How to make time for continued professional development when you are a busy, overworked non-profit worker?
Mohit:
I believe that continued professional development is even more necessary when one is feeling busy and overworked. This is because how busy and overworked we feel is as much a state-of-mind than a reflection of the reality of the work-load. Based on my experience working with mid-career professionals from the non-profit sector, academia, and the private sector, I rarely hear of roles or work-loads that end at a certain time. In other words, everyone has to manage for themselves the feeling that there is more work than time available for it. Most professional development allows space for reflection on one’s day-to-day, so that one can reframe the notion that one is overworked and see oneself instead as committed. In order to sustain commitment, everyone needs to renew their skills and energy levels, and good professional development also provides that.
So scheduling in regular professional development should be treated as part of one’s “work” and is something that any responsible knowledge worker should plan for. In addition to skill development, there are usually several additional benefits to professional development including meeting potential customers and partners, staying current on the industry, and networking with peers. It should be a good investment of one’s time if one looks at the time-return on investment over a 6-month period. It’s a bit like getting 20-mintues of exercise in a day – it takes a little time out of one’s schedule, but energizes and renews one to be more alert during the rest of the day.
Catalina: I really appreciate this question because that is at the center of why I do what I do. I know the reality of non-profit workers or professionals in the social change business is one of less compensation, long hours and basically burn out as a result. This has become the norm and one of the things I want to work towards is to re-frame this reality. Do you have to choose between work/life balance in order to be committed to positive change? I like to believe not. Basically because with that framework the individual sooner or later will either get sick burn out and in the long run will stop his-her work. We need to change the systems and the attitudes of normalization of such culture of being underpaid and over worked ALL THE TIME.
Craig: I wouldn't say personally I do a great job at balance (even though I work for own social enterprise). A few things I do really well: Take periodic spontaneous play days or days off, do date nights with my spouse, and make play time for my son, see friends, travel, use the treadmill desk at work (it is amazing I often do 3-4 miles on a rebeldesk while working at 1776 , attend conferences and events, read, and continue to learn through relevant courses, networks. Things I don't do very well: Turn off, turn off social media (getting offline makes a huge difference), exercise enough, make time for purely fun reading, turn off thinking about PCDN or the world, build in structured downtime, meditate on a regular basis, etc.
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What should I do when employers ask for a salary history?
Jessica: What to do when an employer asks for a salary history and your pay levels are lower than you wish to have in the potential new job?
Bri: I know that some employers "require" an expected salary in order to move on in an application process (or sometimes even to submit the application in the first place). If it's unavoidable, I advise my students and alumni to offer a realistic range of what they would be looking for (a range based on a thorough, researched understanding of their own market value and of the salary expectations for their specific job/industry/region).
I have also heard the piece of advice to essentially tell the prospective employer that you are not at liberty to disclosure your current salary because your current employer does not allow you to disclose, but depending on how true this statement is, I imagine it could cause more trouble than it's worth (or worse, be an outright lie that could come back to bite you).
Catalina: Don't forget to ground your question to a country I assume this is US based.Is it legal to get this question asked. Let's say it is
You can always answer the question with another question:
What's the organization's salary range?
That way you can place yourself in that range and depending on the fit, your experience and skills you can identify if you are in the low or higher end of the range.
Also knowing helps in case the amount is so low you rather know earlier and don't waste anyone's time.
Craig: I was interviewing for a position once that sounded great. Had a wonderful first interview and then they invited me to NY for a second interview. I asked if they would pay my travel and they said no. Then I decided to be 100% transparent and asked about the salary range. It was far below what I had hoped and thus graciously backed out of the interviewing process and there were no hard feelings on either side (I am still on very good terms with the org).
If you are still reading this, good job! you are one committed social change professional. Yes, we know it was long but we had so much wisdom from our advisory board. Join or go back to the Facebook Career Helping Line every time you have a career question and keep checking the responses from the Advisory Board. Good luck in your professional search and hope you are getting a lot of out this group. Invite others who might benefit!