Jobs Helping Animals, Directly and Indirectly

A few weeks ago, a new section was added to Change.org, as hopefully many of you noticed: Jobs for Change. At that time, my colleague Emily, over at the Stop Global Warming blog, wrote as succinct and helpful an explanation of the addition as I could now, so I'll let her explain at the end of this post.

But right at the start here, before I get into that and before I even get into a deeper discussion about working with and for animals, I want to draw your attention to a few of the animal-related jobs currently being advertised:

• Development Director with In Defense of Animals in San Rafael, CA
• Communication Administrative Assistant with Alley Cat Allies in Bethesda, MD
• Director of Volunteer Programs with Compassionate Action for Animals in Minneapolis, MN
• Internet Marketing Manager (virtual, you-can-live-anywhere position) with Best Friends Animal Society (in fact, Best Friends has several open positions, including additional "anywhere" jobs)

But of course, when you're exploring Jobs for Change, you're not limited to looking at just the jobs related to animals. All the animal advocates I know are committed to other important causes and areas of social justice too, and there are nonprofit positions being advertised across these causes.

Jobs where we get to work directly with or for animals aren't always easy to come by. But this is what that "Indirectly" in the title of this post is all about. The way I see it, the work you do to pay the bills day-to-day can help animals in two different ways: you can be lucky enough to get to help animals directly through your work, but you can also look at your employment in other fields (1) as being what allows you to do work for animals in your off-hours, as what supports you so that you can devote your non-work time to animal-related endeavors, and (2) as being an opportunity for you to impact those around who might otherwise never be exposed to issues and conversations related to animal rights.

Even being in a corporate job you're not crazy about or in a position that isn't all you hoped for--or in a job that you do love but that isn't related to animals--gives you the opportunity to connect with and influence people. Your polite but honest conversations with people? All those delicious vegan treats you bring in to share on holidays or just-because? That pile of leaflets you quietly keep on your desk in case someone asks a question or that small but thought-provoking sign on your cubicle wall? The way you help your colleagues at a human-issues-centered nonprofit see the connections between injustices and oppressions? Those efforts make a difference. Those efforts, the personal connections you make, and your presence in that job have the potential to reach people whom you'd possibly never reach while working directly with an animal advocacy organization and who would otherwise possibly never be encouraged and challenged in their thinking about animals. The chance that you'll get your whole office to go vegan or swear off all forms of animal entertainment or support only charities that do not research on animals may not be great, but the chance that you'll impact someone--and multiple someones over time--is good.

So back to where we started: go check out Jobs for Change. Here, finally, is how Emily describes it:

This new facet of our site features job listings in the non-profit and public sectors across all the issues we cover on our blogs, and more -- complete with some snazzy filtering tools to help you search the site quickly and easily. . . .

The Jobs for Change advising team will be answering your questions and offering advice for finding, landing, and making the most of that job.

Looking to fill a job? Put up a listing. . . . You'll be helping to support independent media -- i.e., the Change.org editor-bloggers -- along with a crack team of career advisors, when you place your listing with Jobs for Change.

If you're a blogger or web site manager and want to bring the Change.org listings to your site, you can use the handy widget (see below) that our tech guru has created. Scroll down to the bottom of the Jobs for Change home page to grab the embed code.