Nonprofit Careers – Page 3

This Week: Sustainability, the Environment and Your Career

This is an exciting week for Penn students with interest in sustainability and the environment!

First, on Wednesday February 27th, we’ll have several distinguished graduates presenting as part of the “Careers in Cleantech” alumni panel, open to all UPenn students with an interest in sustainability and related career paths – click for more details on the panelists and to reserve your seat!

Wondering what is “Cleantech”? Cleantech covers fields as diverse as materials, biofuels, energy, recycling, transportation, water, nuclear, solar, and wind, among others, and roles within Cleantech organizations range from business to technical. The term itself refers to new technology and related business models that offer competitive returns for investors and customers while providing solutions to global challenges.

Second, on Friday March 1^st, Penn will once again be partnering to bring you the All Ivy Environmental & Sustainable Career Fair! Now in its 10^th year, this fair is the premier event through which Ivy League students and graduates can meet with representatives from organizations in the private, non-profit and public sectors across a multitude of industries focused in sustainability and the environment. A sampling of represented organizations includes but is certainly not limited to:

Anchor QEA
Arcadis
CleanEdison
Department of Environmental Protection
ENVIRON International
L’Oreal
MTA NYC Transit
Peace Corps
Sefaira
Terra Cycle
Tetra Tech
United Wind
and more!

For full details on all organizations as well as several related educational programs that will be represented at the All Ivy Environmental and Sustainable Career Fair please visit http://allivyfair.ei.columbia.edu/

Lastly, candidates interested in researching careers in this space and others would be very well served to check out the multitude of resources offered not only through the Career Services Resources-by-Field-website, but also the Lippincott Library’s Research Guides – with access to highly relevant and valuable information (like the expansive Cleantech site, a comprehensive resource for alternative energies including research reports, companies, investors and more, under the “Energy” Research Guide) as well as info on other industries and career areas.

Using your liberal arts education for the common good – Q & A with Wyn Furman, CAS 2009

Wyn Furman graduated from Penn in 2009 with double majors in History and French. She is currently the Manager of Community Research for The San Diego Foundation, a community foundation that stewards philanthropic funds on behalf of the San Diego region. She recently shared her thoughts on her nonprofit career with Career Services.

1. What got you interested in working for a nonprofit, and in the philanthropy field, specifically?

My interest in working in the nonprofit sector developed when I realized how much I had benefited from the generosity of others—particularly in receiving my education—which made me want to “give back” through my work. Arriving at Philanthropy was a happy accident. In our field, we feel that people don’t graduate from college hoping to enter our line of work, probably due to a lack of familiarity with this part of the nonprofit sector. As a result, some of us are hoping to introduce more intentionality to this career path by encouraging young talent to pursue philanthropy sooner.

2. Can you tell us a little bit about what you do and why it’s important?

Primarily, I serve our donors by helping them learn more about the issues and organizations to which they would like to dedicate funds. This includes providing background on challenges our region faces and even evaluating organizations’ financial position via tax records (which I enjoy, even though I was a history major!). In addition to the research component, I also solicit reports from organizations that describe the work they do with grants from our donors.

The aim of my work is to help donors feel more informed when deciding which organizations to support. This is great for the community because we help donors act on their passions. For instance, we’ve had donors who read about an organization in the paper call us to vet the organization before making a grant. In those cases, we’ve helped turn news coverage into dollars that support the community!

Our capacity for research is also among the services that help distinguish The Foundation from other institutions that manage charitable funds, like banks. Although my role is “behind the scenes,” I think it is important because I provide tools that help my colleagues strengthen their relationships with donors, and that help donors feel more connected to the community. It’s a win-win that ultimately benefits our region.

3. What are the different hats you’ve worn since joining the San Diego Foundation?

I started by helping to coordinate Our Greater San Diego Vision (www.OGSDV.org), a campaign that engaged 30,000 people across the greater San Diego region in planning for its long-term future. After more than a year and a half in that position, the bulk of the project was complete, so I chose to apply for the newly created position of Manager, Community Research.

This work draws on the regional knowledge I gained by working on Our Greater San Diego Vision. The nice thing about moving from a programmatic role (working on the Vision) to donor stewardship is that I have a solid understanding of the responsibilities and priorities of our two major areas of operation, and relationships throughout our organization. This has led to being engaged in some exciting projects and discussions in which I might not otherwise have been involved.

Continue reading “Using your liberal arts education for the common good – Q & A with Wyn Furman, CAS 2009”

Innovation is our bottom-line

By Christine Nieves @nieveschristine cnieves@rwjf.org

Hey guys! Just a quick shout-out to the Penn Career Services. They rock! And in case you are wondering why, you should go to as many panel discussions as you can, get help with your resume and interview skills, and walk into their library. I did that since I was a freshman at Penn, and it has paid off exponentially.

I wanted to share a post I recently wrote for our blog: Pioneering Ideas. But let me take a step back: before you check it out, you should know that at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation we work to improve the health and health care of all Americans. And yes, there are such organizations out there where the bottom line is having a social impact (i.e. Philanthropy).

Within RWJF I have the fortune of working for the Pioneer Team. At Pioneer we support projects that use original, unconventional and/or cross-sectoral approaches to create transformative change on large and pressing challenges that will be critical to the future of health and health care. Our vision is getting young people (like you!) to come up with new, resourceful ways to solve big, messy problems. And well, to facilitate that, we have a process whereby you can apply for funding!

So now, back to the post. You can find it here: Innovation and Youth: Tapping our Young Resources Oh, and don’t forget to follow me on twitter @NievesChristine where I am constantly talking about what I do/read/think for a living.

If OCR’s not for me, what should I be doing now?

By Kelly Cleary

If you’re on Penn’s campus this month you’ve likely seen many seniors in dark suits spending their afternoons attending information sessions and career fairs and their nights updating their resumes, applying to On Campus Recruiting (OCR) jobs via PennLink.

But what should you be doing now if you’re not interested in working in for the finance, consulting, consumer products, and technology firms that recruit on campus in the fall? It is nearly impossible to provide a “one size fits all” job search timeline since each type of position you apply for comes with its own industry-specific protocols, but if you’ve asked yourself the question,” If OCR’s not for me, what should I be doing now?” here is some advice:

If you’re not sure where to begin, visit our Career Exploration page where you can access career interest inventories, resources for researching different kinds of careers, handouts on “What Can I Do with My Major?”, and specific information on first jobs and graduate schools for Penn alumni.

Ready to start looking? If you have an idea of the types of jobs or industries that might interest you (and it’s smart to keep an open mind about this), then visit our Job Search page where you’ll find tips for finding a job and specific resources for job postings. Since most industries don’t hire for post-grad positions until the spring, for now you can develop your wish list of prospective employers and gather a list of favorite job posting websites. Now is also a great time to network and do informational interviews with alumni and others who work in your field of interest.

Considering a Gap Year or a Year of Service? There are many interesting and worthwhile alternatives to starting a traditional first job. Our Year(s) of Service/Gap Year Programs website highlights many opportunities and resources. If you’ve met with me, you may know I’m a big fan of heading abroad or doing a year of service after graduation if you’re inclined to do so. My first job after college was as a teaching intern at an international school in Italy. I didn’t make much money, but it was an amazing experience that certainly helped shape my career path. Some of these Service programs and some government agencies do have earlier deadlines.

The Policy & Government Fair on Friday September 28^th will be a great opportunity for you to learn about some of these post-grad options. Registered attendees include service programs such as the Peace Corps, Teach for America, and Americorps, as well as the U.S. State Department, the FBI, U.S. Courts, Americorps, American Enterprise Institute, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York who will be hiring for internships and full-time positions. For the full list of registered organizations, go to: http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/undergrad/GovFair2012studentinfo.html

For more resources on public service related careers, visit our new Common Good Careers website. The International Opportunities Fair on October 25^th will be another great change to learn about post-graduate service programs and jobs.

To make sure you don’t miss out on these types of events and opportunities, join our Common Good Careers and International Careers listservs for updates on related events and opportunities.

To subscribe to either of these listservs, send an email from your Penn account (NOT from a GMAIL or another account connected to your Penn account) to: listserv@lists.upenn.edu with this command in the body of the e-mail: SUBscribe CommonGoodCareers AND/OR SUBscribe InternationalCareers

All of that said, be open to OCR opportunities since some consulting, marketing or research positions might be attractive to “Non-OCR types” If you’re not an “OCR-type” you still might enjoy and be very qualified for some consulting, marketing, research, paralegal or government positions that are available through OCR (which really just means they collect resumes through PennLink and conduct interviews in our On Campus Interview suite in McNeil instead of interviewing people at their office or by phone or Skype.) Create and schedule a Search Agent in PennLink to make sure you don’t miss out on any OCR or general job postings that match your interests.

You have enormous flexibility over when you start your job search, but it almost always takes longer than one wishes to find a job, especially in a tough economy. For most job hunters, three months is the minimum amount of time it takes to find a job you want (this would mean if you want to start in June 2013, you’d start applying in March or so.) Good luck with your search!