NEWSON THE JOB/PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

I admit it. I am addicted to LOST, now in reruns on ABC and the SY FY channel. (I can't stand that they changed Sci Fi to SY FY...Was "sci" too hard to pronounce? Do they think it looks cooler? Why aren't we holding our language to higher standards? But don't get me started...)

A good night is when I stumble on an episode I haven't seen. I'm seeing them all out of order anyway, which is actually cool if you know the show because it involves time travel and so hopping back and forth is what it's all about anyway. It's a show that makes you feel smart because the characters are named after philosophers like John Locke and Jeremy Bentham and they throw in a lot of literary allusions so you don't feel guilty when you're watching; you're getting an education.

Here are a few things you can learn about working in a non-profit from LOST so you can go in with your eyes wide open: (and if you've seen the show, you know it means something when the show starts with a close up of a character whose eyes are open--or one whose eyes are closed...or closed and fly open...)

1) Starting a job at a non-profit might seem like crashing on a desert island with people you barely know beyond the interview/ airport lounge.People who were strangers yesterday could be your best friend tomorrow. 

2) Resources are scarce; you have to learn to be creative and make do with what you have. Watch out for people who think they're entitled to the lion's share, like Sawyer. When you run out of resources (LOST:  fresh water. Non-Profit: $)  you have to go looking for more. Seek and ye shall find. 

3) Any non-profit will have leaders and followers, just like LOST. If you're lucky, there won't be any smoke monsters, torturers, or Others. But every job and every organization has its nightmares and challenges. Roll with it. That's what the LOST survivors do, and many of them have made it through several seasons.

4) Remember Jack's motto: in a crisis, give in to panic, but only for 5 seconds; then let it go. Whether you're job-hunting and feel desperate or are facing a hard situation at work or a lay off, this is good advice. You have a right to panic and wallow in despair...but only briefly. Feel the fear, and then move on. 

5) Live together, die alone. They always say this. For our purposes, let's say this is why we're all here and what change.org and jobs for change are all about: helping us all live together in harmony on this planet, seeking social change and social justice, and making a difference to each other while we're here.

If your calling is to the non-profit sector, this is where you'll end up. Like the Island, you'll end up there if you're meant to be there, even if you escape for a while. Don't fight it. Meant to be, meant to be.

I was checking Twitter's non-profit offerings today and I came across a fabulous list of  20 non-profit and philanthropy blogs written by people of color --and lo and behold, I see that the list has been compiled by my colleague Rosetta Thurman!  Check out her Young Professionals  jobs.change.org blog here.

Rosetta underscores how few people of color are in the non-profit sector, including their representation in the blogosphere in this area. She qualifies the list noting  that a) you can't always tell if a blogger is a person of color b) she has included several Jewish writers although not all Jews identify as people of color c) she has tried not to include bloggers writing for and representing a specific cause  (like AARP). Here's the list:

1. Black Gives Back (anonymous author is African American)
2. The New Jew: Blogging Jewish Philanthropy by Maya Norton
3. South Asian Philanthropy Project by Archana Sridhar, et al.
   
4. New Voices of Philanthropy by Trista Harris, et al.
5. White Courtesy Telephone by Albert Ruesga
6. Leadership as a Field of Study by Lindsey McDougle
7. Entry Level Living by Allison Jones
8. Asian American Giving by Dien S. Yuen, et al.
9. Marketing for Nonprofits by Jocelyn Harmon
10. The African Philanthropist by Bahia Akerele
11. Give Black by Angelia Dickens
12. Being the Difference by Darius Graham
13. Nonprofit Connectors by Antonette Artiz
14. Nonprofit Law Blog by Gene Takagi
15. Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology by Michelle Murrain
16. Jewish Donor Blog by David Rubin and Yoav Kaufman
17. The Fabulous Giver by Karyn Brianne
18. Beacons on the Frontline by Asia Hadley
19. Mission Paradox by Adam Thurman
20. eJewish Philanthropy: The Jewish Philanthropy Blog (group blog)

I'm relatively new to Twitter (@ellenreeves) but as many of you know, the Twitter world is rich with non-profit resources and possibilities for connecting to people in a multitude of organizations.

I wanted to note one general non-profit Twitter resource: http://twitter.com/nonprofitorgs whose mission is "to serve as a portal to all nonprofit organizations on Twitter [by only following nonprofit organizations.)"

If you're not following nonprofitorgs you may just want to start. Or if you're working with a non-profit, make sure it's on the radar of something like this. Now, by chance, today's Tweet talked about jobs.change.org--that's a good sign in my book!

Topics are wide-ranging--there are non-profits of the week featured; non-profits and social media; you name it.

Check out the rest of the jobs.change.org career advisors and follow them on Twitter. And let me know if there are others we should be following.

I'm in Chicago doing a book signing tomorrow at the American Library Association (ALA) Conference. My mom, Joan Ress Reeves, a public library advocate from Providence, RI is here, too. She's not a librarian but rather a lay advocate, lobbying to keep public libraries open and able to serve their communities. (Boy, did we laugh growing up when she got mail addressed to "Joan Reeves, Regional Lay" or "Joan Reeves, National Lay." Did my dad really know what this was all about?)

Libraries were always the bees knees, but in this economy, it really pays to remember your local library.

Libraries provide amazing resources to non-profits and job-hunters alike. Many non-profits obviously cannot afford to have private libraries the way many corporate firms do, and although so much information is available on line, your local library can be a great source for periodicals and books you may not be able to access. Good librarians are phenomenal guides to whatever you're looking for.

For job-hunters, you should know that many libraries have extensive career offerings. In addition to offering computer usage, many libraries have career centers, offer resume and cover letter advice, and often bring in experts to talk on a variety of career-related topics.

Libraries in New York State, for example, offers these services (not in every location, unfortunately):

• Specialized web resources developed by libraries and links to job search web resources
• Information on career development
• Education and training
• Résumé assistance and other job hunt strategies
• Workforce development services (Literacy instruction, GED assistance, citizenship information and referral)

In February, New York State did a poll and found that 80% of libraries in the state had helped someone job-hunt in the previous three months. Unfortunately, much funding for libraries is being cut.

"As the state faces its most difficult economic crisis in decades, public library usage has rapidly increased, particularly with people seeking help in finding employment," said Michael Borges, NYLA's Executive Director. "Libraries provide people not only with help in finding jobs, but also with accessing public assistance programs, with basic computer training, with résumé building and career development."

"When the neediest among us are looking for help, now is not the time to be cutting the very services and assistance New Yorkers rely on the most" Borges said. "When folks lose jobs or cut back on spending for fear of losing their jobs, people turn to libraries for free internet access and books, cds, videos and literacy programs for their families. Libraries have become part of society's safety net for the neediest in our communities."

Check out this short video from TODAY on ways libraries can serve you--and the challenges libraries are facing along with their patrons in this economy.

Why not plan a trip to your local library this weekend or this week? You may be surprised at what you'll find!

Today I did a marathon five hour straight radio satellite tour for my book, Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview, and one of the interviewers asked me about the section called "Don't Be a Prima Donna." 

I told the story about a young woman who quit her first job on the spot when someone asked her to change a light bulb.

What?

Spare me. I was 30 years old when I took a $25/day internship as the first Education Fellow at the non-profit New Press, a publisher in the pubic interest, and I had two masters' degrees... and in addition to working with amazing authors like Lisa Delpit I was picking dead mice off the intern room floor-- because that's what needed to be done. 

So I was not impressed with this tale of woe and injustice. A job is a community, and maybe it's just that much more evident when it's a small, hands-on non-profit. Limited resources make people resourceful; there is a shared bond in "making do."

But in any work situation, be a good colleague. Don't be a prima donna. Pitch in whenever you can, even if it's "not your job."

While I hope you won't have to deal with rodents, I urge you to always clean up after yourself. Don't leave messes for the janitor or cleaning crew. If you break or spill something major, leave a note or tell someone--don't just run for the hills.

If you break a glass or need to throw out chemicals, take precautions. FInd out where the remnants should go and take the necessary steps. A custodian at a former workplace of mine sliced his arm and was rushed to the emergency room for stitches when someone threw a broken glass in a trash barrel without wrapping it or leaving a note--an innocent mistake, but a thoughtless one with consequences.

If you eat at your desk or use an office kitchen or sink, clean up after yourself. Be blameless when using the office bathroom. Change the toilet paper if you use up the roll and check to make sure you've left the place clean.

When you use something up or a machine you're using breaks, don't just walk away. Refill the printers and copy machines! If they jam, try to fix them, and get help if you can't.

So let's try again: How many employees does it take to change a lightbulb ????????

I've been editing 100-word bios for the Columbia Publishing Course where I teach every summer. These statements are circulated to the class of 100 students and to prospective employers. Editing them reminded me that you should have one! If you don't already have one, draft one this weekend.  If you already have one, take a few minutes this weekend to update it--you never know when you’ll need one. 

What's a bio and why do you need one? 

A bio or biographical statement is a professional statement of your experiences and accomplishments used, for example, as an introduction if you are speaking somewhere, in a conference program, or at the end of an article you've written. As Jobs for Change Bloggers, we all have mini-bios next to our blog names. You may not think you'll be doing any of these things but you never know, and writing a bio can even help you determine what you might like to be doing and how your experiences appear when summarized this way. A bio may also include personal details not found on a resume. (Not overly personal; I mean things like "Rosemarie grew up in Wisconsin and has two children.") You can also cite affiliations, memberships, board service and so on.

You can have several bios, each tailored to a particular interest, so that a non-profit/volunteer bio will highlight all your skills and activities in this sphere. 

Believe it or not, this is one of the most important pieces of writing you will ever craft.  Your biographical statement must be articulate, direct, and engaging.  It should summarize your background, experience, education, and interests, and give the reader some idea of your personality.  Because you have so little space, choose your words with care and make sure every detail you include is significant. Be specific. 

You should have two versions: one at 100-150 words, and a longer one, but usually not longer than a page. You can reorganize according to your audience as you go along. Here are some things to thing about.

Good bios...

1) Are written in the third person (i.e. “he” or “she”).

2) Vary sentence structure; do not begin every sentence with “She.”

3) Stick to the word count if one is given.

4) Provide information NOT necessarily available on your resume.

5) Provide an opener for conversation in an interview.

6) Make the reader want to meet you.

7) Use concrete experience to show, not tell.

8) Contain at least one memorable detail to distinguish you from others (“Oh, you’re the Hula-Hoop champion!”)

9) Convey modesty, but also confidence and competence.

10) Are not self-deprecating, cute, overly clever, gimmicky, or basically annoying.

11) Do not include phrases like “Ever since she was three, Jezebel knew she wanted to change the world."

12) Do not offer adjectives in praise of self—let the reader be the judge of your talents.

13) Explain terms and acronyms.

14) Do not waste space selling the business at hand to people already in the field.

("Social entrepreneurship is an exciting venture which matches John’s love of humanity.”)

15) Are grammatically correct, punctuated correctly,  and free of typos.

Start painting your professional self-portrait and have a good weekend!

OK, I know all about arranged marriages and how many of them actually work, but in my opinion, like any kind of relationship, you can't force a professional mentor/mentee situation.

I say this because after a talk I gave at a leadership conference, a young women e-mailed me and said she loved my talk and asked "Will you be my mentor?" I was flattered, of course, but also saddened, because I felt that she didn't understand the rules of these relationships. To me, a mentorship should arise organically and over time. I would never ask someone I met once to "mentor" me; and when she asked, I had no idea what she had in mind--what were  the parameters she envisions? What would I be be committing to? How much time and how frequently would we meet? 

I replied that I'd be happy to be in touch and she should feel free to ask me any career questions and that I did want to talk more at some point about her request. I know she had nothing but the best of intentions but it did make me think about what would be the best approach.

3 things to keep in mind:

1) Better to let mentor/mentee relationships develop organically over time.

2) Be specific about what you're asking for and expecting:  weekly phone meetings? Monthly in-person meetings? Unlimited e-mail?

3) Make it comfortable for the person to say no, but do find out if the person is open to other limited contact:  "would you be willing to schedule a brief phone interview?"

Be sincere--be respectful of other people's time--and be flexible.

If you have any mentor/mentee stories or stories about people asking to be mentored, please share them here!

Fundraising may be the magic word for a résumé in the non-profit sector, but what if you truly have no experience in this area? I’d suggest getting some right away. The easiest way is to volunteer. Find out if you can have an informational interview with or shadow a fundraising professional in your community for part of a day, or be trained as a volunteer by your college, if they recruit volunteers to solicit classmates.  This way you’ll acquire the background and general knowledge of key issues and the vocabulary of the fundraising field. Read the websites of the foundations or sponsors who fund the non-profit you’re interested in. Check out the Foundation Center (www.foundationcenter.org) or the Council on Foundations (www. Cof.org). Consider signing up for a webinar or local seminar. Even a one-day or evening seminar can be listed right on top of your most recent educational experience so it stands out: Certificate in Fundraising Basics, City University, Spring 2009. This shows great initiative and interest on your part.  “Fundraising is basically all we think about right now,” says the head of a New York City-based settlement house. So before you start sending out your résumé, think again: make sure you’ve got the magic word on there.

You know that your prospective employers will likely Google you during the hiring process, but are you proactively Googling them?  Let your search engines help you in your job search.  Set Google, Yahoo or other alerts for companies and organizations you’re interested in or applying to so you’ll be as up to date as possible.  You can also set alerts for a specific non-profit sector (“wage discrimination,” “children in poverty”) but don’t be too general or the alerts are apt to be less useful.  I prefer weekly alerts so I’m not bombarded daily but it’s up to you and depends on your purpose and time frame; you can set them to receive updates daily, as they come in, or weekly. You’ll choose from parameters that ask what you want searched: news, blogs, web, Google groups, video or all of these areas. These alerts aren’t infallible and won’t pick up everything, but it’s worth the minimal effort involved in setting them up. When you schedule an interview, ask for the names and titles of the people with whom you’ll be interviewing. Google them and set alerts for them, too. Now, you don’t want to appear to be a cyber-stalker, so be discreet in your use of the information you find. You want to appear informed, not creepy. You can also check images to see if you can find a picture of some of your interviewers; putting a face to a name humanizes the process and makes it far less intimidating. When I had to do my very first radio interview for Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview? I found the host’s web site, saw pictures of him, listened to podcasts, and saw pictures he’d posted of his wife and family. Seeing photos of him with his adorable 4-year-old son lowered my blood pressure considerably. Of course you should set alerts for yourself as well, with and without your middle name or initial, so you can see what’s popping up about YOU! Once you’re on the job, be sure to set alerts for the organization you’re working for and for your boss (and key clients and competitors as relevant) so you’re not caught in the dark when big news breaks. But don’t set and forget; these alerts are only useful if you bother to actually read them!

Stop looking for a job and start looking for a person. This is my mantra, and the first thing I do when I’m looking into a non-profit I’m interested in is to look at the board and staff lists on-line or in an annual report to see if I happen to recognize any names. A personal connection or recommendation makes all the difference when you’re applying for a position or a grant or seeking an informational interview.  A recognizable name in the opening line of a cover letter or in an e-mail or phone call  is one of the best hooks you can have. But don’t just scan these lists and give up if there are no familiar names; take it one step further. Read the bios, and if none are offered, Google each person to see what you can find out. You may discover affiliations that are one or two degrees away. For example, you might know no one on the board, but you might find that one of the members is on another board or involved with an organization with someone you DO know—someone you might ask for an introduction. Linked-In and other social networking sites can help, too.  Let friends and family know where you’re applying; don’t overlook your references or former professors; post a discreet query on Facebook. (“Does anyone know anyone involved with City Year?”).  For Arts organizations I always read performance programs carefully. Donor and sponsor lists are another source of information; these are people who care enough to support an organization and may have a connection you never knew about. At a professional conference, read the bios of the speakers and organizers.  You never know where a lead may come from; you owe it to yourself to do a little investigating. Even if you don’t come up with a name, you’ll certainly know more about the organization and the backgrounds of the people who run it than when you started.