know yourself

Yesterday was another informational interview. I have recommended to anyone that I know who is looking for a job to go on as many as early as possible. Anyway, back to the informational interview. I had coffee with a friend of a friend who makes her living as a professional grant writer. Sometime over last summer, I decided that my life work was going to be grant writer. I literally read every book in the Austin Public Library system on writing grants, researching grants and how grants are evaluated. I learned a lot, and tried to apply for some jobs, but before I could get a job, I needed experience. So, I have volunteered to write a grant for an organization that is looking to do something that I am actually passionate about! I was very lucky to be able to write my first grant on something that I actually like!
Anyway, we chatted about how her experience as a contractor/consultant has been and the unique challenges facing grant writers who do not work directly for an organization. She mentioned that she does not just do grant writing, she also will work to develop programs, evaluate past (failed) grants and mentor someone who is looking to expand their career into grant writing. She said that one of the biggest things to focus on right now is the services that I will and will not provide. Creating boundaries within my work will help me to be most effective at my job, most effective for the organization and efficient.
I think that this was the thing that struck me most about our conversation—that setting boundaries for when I pick up the phone, should a client call, what to agree to do, etc. is the most important because you know your own strengths and capabilities better than anyone. I believe that acknowledging these things will help you to become successful!

Just listen while you work

I have gone on many informational interviews recently. They are amazing and helpful, and I have met and spoken with many interesting people. It is far out of my comfort zone since meeting with people I don’t know makes me sweat. Not like exercise sweat, but nervous sweat.
I did what any perfectionist, type-A over-achiever would do—I prepped. A lot. I researched the organization that the person worked for, Googled them and then came up with a list of about 30 questions to ask. When I met my interviewee, I bombarded them with awkward questions and took notes on my paper.
As I have gone on more and more of the informational interviews, I have become more comfortable. They still make me sweat, but at least it is not pouring off of me like before. I have put away the questions and the pen and paper, and now focus on having a genuine conversation with this person who has taken the time to meet with me. I still ask questions, only this time, I remember the questions and it isn’t so awkward.
To my shock, I think I have gotten pretty good at them! One of things that I make sure to ask at every interview is “What skills do you think are the most important for someone in the nonprofit industry?” The answers have ranged from learning HTML to having the ability to have many different roles in the organization and be comfortable with it.
This past week, I went on one of the best informational interviews to date. When I asked the skills question, my interviewee thought for a second and then said “Listen, you need to be able to listen”. Wow.
The nonprofit side of my head started thinking that this was a great idea. If someone is donating their money or spending their free time volunteering, there must be a reason behind it. Listening to them—figuring out what motivates them can strengthen your mission as an organization. People want to be heard, and for the most part they enjoy telling their stories. Listening to them makes them feel like a valued member of your nonprofit community.
Then the for profit side of my head started thinking—if you can listen effectively, you can figure out how to market your organization most effectively to that person. You can figure out which way to approach them so that their passion can be utilized most effectively.
As we continued to chat, my great interviewee spoke about how difficult it was to actually listen. To be present and actually listen is an incredible skill. This may be a huge challenge for nonprofits with limited resources and stressed staff, but if they can just find a few moments to listen to the stories of their constituents, it will surely pay off in the long run.

Today, I met with Renee', who I met last week at the class. It was great! She is in a pretty similar situation, which makes me feel so much better! We got together and discussed what we have been doing, who we have been talking to and what we could do to help one another out. It felt great to speak with one another and to see what we have been doing. We came up with a couple of different people that each of us could speak with to hopefully get things moving a little bit better. Renee' also recommended that I get connected with the "Young Nonprofits Professional Network". I had no idea that this even existed, and I'm so glad that there are other people out there who are just like me and Renee'! Renee' and I have agreed to meet next week--this will be great. I have someone to be accountable to, and she has someone to be accountable to as well. super! She and I exchanged a couple of names of people to contact, and I think that this will be very helpful!

Yesterday I met with another employee (Anthony) of a foundation who is in charge of managing prospects. I love going on these informational interviews since it gives me a more well rounded view of the nonprofit world and the different employee opportunities available. On the flip side though, every time I talk to someone new, I want to do their job. Perhaps it is because they are so passionate about what they do day to day or because I want/need a job so badly. I'm not sure, but after speaking with Anthony, I had a moment where I wanted to make a career of prospect management and analyze data and follow up with employees about how their contacts with potential major donors is going.

Anthony also gave me some really sound advice on what I can do with my resume to make it more nonprofit friendly. He suggested that I keep it to one page and that I remove the "Objective" portion of the resume. I agree with him about this, but I think there are two very different schools of though about this--some people insist that the objective should be on every resume, others think that it is just a waste of precious space.

what are your thoughts on the resume geared towards nonprofits? Does having an objective matter? How about the fact that I am "changing careers"? Does that warrant an objective?