1-900-HUSTLER - Non-profit is NOT for me

Welcome to 1-900-HUSTLER! No this is not a dirty phone service. I'm taking your questions and providing you with usable answers and strategies to solve your career conundrums.  Got a question? Need some advice or input on a tough work situation? Email me at antonia@cubiclehustler.com.  Let's jump into our first query. 

Dear Cubicle Hustler,

I’ve been on a serious job hunt for the better part of the past two years. I’m currently working for a non-profit but realized that the non-profit world just isn’t for me. Before I went back to school for my Master’s, I was in corporate America but that was six years ago. Now that I’m looking, I do pretty well in getting interviews, and always get past the first few rounds. But it seems that every time I get to the final round interviews with the senior level leaders (SVPs and such), I never close the deal, even though all other members of the team seem to really like me.  I’m only targeting jobs that I am qualified for and would essentially be lateral moves from my current position. What am I doing wrong? Is coming from a non-profit holding me back?

Signed,

Not for profit, not for me

Hey NP,

First things first, congrats to you for staying committed to a job hunt for two years. Looking for a job generally sucks. No one enjoys it. No one. Give yourself some credit for staying committed to finding the right fit for you after all this time because giving up and resigning yourself to your current org is so much easier.  

Anytime someone is consistently getting shut out in a job process, I typically think there is a mismatch of skills, personality, or expectations. But that doesn’t seem to be the case here. You’re looking for a lateral move in just a different industry.  So let's see why you might be getting shut out.

If after two years, you think that coming from the non-profit world is the thing that’s holding you back, I’m gonna guess that you’re probably right.  You’re interviewing with people who would be your peers and your managers, and they love you. But you’re getting up to the big guys, and they have reservations.  They’re worrying about your ability to generate revenue or deliver return on investment from your projects.  

If you’re not coming from a non-profit that’s also a major, large organization, they may also be wondering about your ability to influence people, lead teams, work with diverse groups of people, or perform in high pressure situations.  It’s not that non-profits don’t produce professionals who can do these things; it’s that some corporate people simply don’t respect non-profit experience. Sucks but true.

All that to say, if you think that’s the thing holding you back, it probably is.   So assuming that’s the case, what do we do about it?

The best defense is a good offense. In your next interview with a senior leader, try some of these tactics –

Draw explicit links between your current role/organization with the potential new job’s business.

Simple but so often forgotten.  Make sure the interviewer knows exactly how what you do now can benefit him and his business.  Transferrable skills can seem so obvious but it's very, very easy for hiring managers to gloss over these and look for people whose experience is more obvious.

“In my current role as Communications Manager at Shoes for Children, I’m responsible for all aspects of our communications strategy.  This includes targeting high-net worth individuals as potential donors.  Here, at Luxury Hotel Group, you often do the same thing.  Although our messages may be different, we both need to understand the lifestyles and motivations of this target group to create compelling and relevant messaging. Here's an example of how I've done that."

Highlight Your Experience in Managing Financials

The only true difference between non-profit and for-profit businesses is simply what happens with the revenue after expenses are paid. Businesses give that money back to the owners (or shareholders); Non-profits have to put it back into programming (or executive compensation but that’s another subject).

But, in real life, lots of corporate execs think of anyone who is not in a profit-driven organization as simply not being able to cut it, especially if your non-profit is on the small side. So craft your answers to show that you could survive in corporate America and you will.

“When launching the new fundraising campaign, staying on budget and establishing success metrics was crucial.  After all, every dollar we spend takes away from our program funding, so we can’t afford to be cavalier with our expenses.  I worked closely with our finance team to build a bottom up budget for the program and then established the key performance indicators by which we’d measure its success.  In the end, visits to our website, attendance at the gala, and individual contributor pledges rose 12% during our campaign versus the same period the previous year.”

Straight up ask about it

If you’ve already been doing both of the above in the past two years of interviewing, your next step is to go on the offensive and quash the idea that your non-profit background is a hindrance before the thought can fully take hold. There’s always a point in every interview where your interview will say “do you have any questions for me?”

Beyond the normal ones (what do you most enjoy about your role/this org? what made the person previously in this role successful?), ask him or her outright about their potential reservations.

“I’ve really enjoyed learning about Acme Parts and think I could leverage my experience at Shoes for Children to create communications strategy and execute compelling campaigns. But I understand that you have to find the right fit for your team. What are your reservations about hiring me?”

Now this is bold, so you should practice saying this in a confident, assertive but not aggressive manner. Some may feel this is too bold and may ruin your chances, but I disagree.  If your current job is holding you back, this gives you one more time to try to persuade the interviewer that you can be an asset to their team.  If that person did have real concerns about your ability to do the job and demurs, then you don’t want to work for them anyway.  Nothing’s worse than getting stuck with a leader who avoids potentially awkward conversations.  But if they answer honestly, you'll finally get a sense of what the interviewers for the past two years have been thinking.  

Consider Adjusting Your Search

Lastly, if none of the above tactics work, consider retooling your job search.  The sad truth is, people do hold a bias against things they've never heard of, especially companies and schools.  "Never heard of it?  Must not be that good."  

That couldn't be farther from the truth but it's real.  If you feel like working at your non-profit is holding you back, try looking at other non-profits that might not.  If you're coming from a small organization, try looking for a lateral move within a large, nationally known org.  If your current company takes public positions that might be controversial, find a role at one that is generally neutral.  Yes, it's an extra step and not exactly what you want, but it just might be the thing that gets you to your final destination.  One year at a "way station" job is better than another year of fruitless interviews and pounding your head against the proverbial wall.  

Write back and let me know how your job search turns out!