Professional Development Project

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Professional Development Project

• Rachel Williams

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My project

• Resume development
• Interviewing
• Talking about WGS

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Why I chose this project

• Graduating in December
• Need to work on resume, job search
• Need knowledge of how nonprofits choose
  candidates for jobs
• Need to translate skills from WGS to nonprofit
  work

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Interview Questions

• What do you look for when hiring for entry-level
  positions?
• Does having a graduate degree help?
• How is a graduate degree weighed against
  nonprofit experience?
• I have some experience in grantwriting, but not
  working with actual clients how do I sell
  myself for positions working with clients?
• What are the dos and donts of interviewing?
• What advice do you have for a WGS grad student in
  terms of resume and interview skills. How might
  I market myself in way that is appealing to
  organizations that do not know what WGS is?
• What advice do you have for undergraduates with
  majors like nonprofit management and youth
  programming?

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Who I asked

• Karen Grode, Girl Scouts
• Craig Boche, Operation Threshold
• Amanda Breeden, fellow WGS grad student going
  into nonprofit

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Karen Grode

• What do you look for when hiring for entry-level
  positions?
• Diversity well rounded life
• Curiosity
• Ability to hold oneself accountable
• 3 Is intelligence, initiative, integrity

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Karen Grode, cont.

• Does having a grad degree help? How is it
  weighed against experience?
• Get experience, then get the graduate degree
• More to offer
• You will start at entry-level either way
• You will know which part you like best
  fundraising, programming, etc.

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Karen Grode, cont.

• I have experience in grantwriting/fundraising,
  but not working with clients. Advice?
• Show you are creative
• Show that you can problem solve
• Show you can work with conflict resolution
  regardless of past experience

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Karen Grode, cont.

• Interview dos and donts
• Be real
• Be yourself
• Be honest
• Dont exaggerate, but put on your Sunday best
• Think about what job you want in the future to
  communicate that you have aspirations

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Karen Grode, cont.

• How do I market myself as a WGS person?
• Give specific example
• Personal application of knowledge
• If-then scenario, how I can help with what I
  bring to the table
• Have the knowledge and show it

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Karen Grode, cont.

• Advice for undergraduate nonprofit management and
  programming majors?
• Back up nonprofit experience with practical
  business knowledge take business classes
• Take courses that teach conflict resolution
  very important!
• Show that you will hold yourself accountable
• Show that you are self-motivated
• Show that no one will have to babysit you,
  because no one has time to babysit new hires

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Craig Boche

• What do you look for when hiring for entry-level
  positions?
• Eagerness nonprofits dont pay, so you have to
  want it
• Have some knowledge of how nonprofits work, how
  they differ from corporate world

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Craig Boche cont.

• Does it help to have a graduate degree? How is
  it weighed against experience?
• Experience is way more important
• People who often have trouble getting jobs take
  Masters degree off resume in order to get an
  initial interview
• Over-qualified, fear that you will leave after
  six months, use entry-level as stepping stone

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Craig Boche cont.

• I have experience grantwriting and fundraising,
  but not in working directly with clients what
  to do?
• Talk about any customer service experience
• Any experience working with the public
• Any volunteer work I may have done working face
  to face with clients

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Craig Boche cont.

• Interview dos and donts
• Obvious grooming, professionalism, thoroughness
  in answering questions
• Passion be enthusiastic over potentially
  working there
• Fake it if necessary
• Make it clear you wont leave in 6 months
• Play up areas of education, market them as
  experience
• Communication, schmoozing, providing results,
  accountability, reporting

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Craig Boche cont.

• How do I market myself as WGS, translate those
  skills?
• Show that it is not just about women
• Organizations are trying to fix inequalities,
  play up my knowledge of that
• Play up the electives Ive taken that might apply
  more directly

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Craig Boche cont.

• What advice do you have for undergraduate
  nonprofit and programming majors?
• Keep getting experience volunteer and intern

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Amanda Breeden

• How do you translate your skills from WGS to
  work?
• Translate some of the theory we learned -
  intersectionality
• Disguise theory as experience

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Amanda Breeden, cont.

• What do you highlight on your resume, what do you
  leave out?
• Leaves out her work at Younkers, but brings it up
  in interviews as customer service experience
• Highlights accounting and budgeting work

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Amanda Breeden, cont.

• How do you talk about WGS to people who know
  nothing about it?
• Stick to the basics
• Talk about intersectionality
• Compare it to something they do know about
• Example Jordans presentation on immigration

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What I learned

• Come up with concrete examples of how what Ive
  learned is applicable to a job
• Come up with a quick way to explain WGS to those
  who dont know about it
• Talk about my electives Fundraising and
  budgeting, this class
• Maybe play down or take off the grad school thing
  for first interviews, or convey that I would not
  be using the position to immediately move up
• Come up with list of skills gained from grad
  school
• Writing
• Analytical/critical thinking tools

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What you should remember

• Take business classes
• Learn conflict resolution
• Learn about intersectionality