Middle of the Pack

Minnesota Compass released information about the annual job growth put out by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Minnesota saw a 1.1% job growth from March 2011-2012. They also cited

"Those without a job, especially residents without assets or a second worker in the household, may experience hardships such as high debt, health consequences, hunger, foreclosure, and even homelessness. Even those workers holding jobs may experience limited mobility and depressed wages and salaries when jobs are in short supply."

I have spent the last eight years working in communities that have been economically isolated due to disability, scarcity of resources and scarcity of demand. The recession did not help these people. We now have the opportunity to rebuild. Based on what we have learned from the recession we as a community can rebuild our businesses and economy and encourage business owners to be socially conscious and understand their relationship to their community. We can focus on sustainable growth that is good for businesses and people. We can find answers to social issues built from an understanding that people within a community know what is best for them. Economic security provides the possibility of finding answers to reducing poverty, increasing access to nutritious food, higher high school graduation rates and healthier people.   

Currently, I believe, there is great interest in rebuilding our communities. Most people would agree our high unemployment rate is of great concern. Moving forward we have an opportunity to regain our past economic prosperity and also address barriers that cause economic disparity.

The Work Space in Little Canada is currently supporting small business owners as they work to build their business and employ people in the community. I think their model of supporting entrepreneurs who have already launched their business is interesting. They have seen that about 50% of small business owners close their doors after 5 years. By supporting entrepreneurs at a critical spots of growth businesses have a greater opportunity to sustainably grow and be foundations for economic security within their community. 

Leverage that Volunteer Experience

By recruiting interns every year I get to look at lots of resumes from young professionals. It is amazing how much experience some young adults have that they leverage into getting an internship and eventually a job. And more then ever I see resumes of people who have done extracurricular activities forever, whether it is sports, a scouting club, debate, joining a professional group or oodles of volunteer experience. All the time you spent doing this stuff has provided great life experience and I bet has helped build some professional skills along the way. Don't waste this experience my not mentioning it on your resume the next time you apply for a job.

Here are a couple of thoughts on adding your volunteer experience to your resume.

1) Mingle your paid and unpaid employment together in your work experience section. If you are applying for a job, especially in the nonprofit world, the time you spent on a board, mentoring or organizing people in your community is valuable. Not only does it show that you have built skills along the way but that your desire to work in a nonprofit is more then just getting a paycheck.

2) Don't minimize what you learned and the skills you developed through volunteering. I have seen people add their volunteer experience to the very end of their resume in a list with a one sentence descriptor. The volunteer experience should be highlighted and celebrated! Make sure you put as much thought into what you did as a volunteer as you did as a paid employee. And make sure you use the title of your position as a volunteer. Don't simply say "volunteer".

3) If you begin your resume with a skills and expertise section make sure you draw on the skills and expertise you built while volunteering. If you do this make sure you support your claim to these skills and expertise in the body of the resume.

Business Model

I have heard a couple of comments lately about people from the private sector mentoring people in the nonprofit sector. As in "there are a ton of people retiring from the for-profit sector and they want to mentor professionals in nonprofits". I think there is something we must distinguish about this scenario.

People in the private sector have many skills and talents they can bring to a cause they are passionate about. The luxury of nonprofits is that we can recruit people with specific skills and talents that will help us solve the particular issue we are trying to solve. And if you are that person we would love to have you. The generalization that people from the private sector are an automatic boon to a nonprofit can be detrimental to collaboration to truly solve social issues; and here is why.

1) It portrays nonprofit employees of lacking some sort of professionalism or intellect. This gives private sector people a false impression of the skill and talent they can work with. It can also turn prospective employees, like students, away from the sector because they think they will be under utilized.

2) It creates a barrier for true collaboration and partnership with people in the private sector because  the relationship is not  accurately established. Without a clear understanding of why the private sector person was recruited they won't be able to be efficient or effective in their work.

3) It continues the myth that nonprofits are run on some sort of magical organizational plan instead of establishing the reality that succesful nonprofits have a solid business plan just like any business.

It's not really volunteering

"It's not really volunteering if you are forcing me to do it". I have volunteered almost my entire life. One of my earliest memories is walking in Take Back the Night marches with my mom. I guess I probably volunteered to go with her; I don't remember throwing a temper tantrum in protest. As I went through school it became increasingly common to have a volunteer obligation connected with getting to the next grade. It seemed like a good idea for schools to ask their students to volunteer. The school was promoting good works in the community, it was giving the students experience, the students got to broaden their networks and horizons by meeting new people and do new things. It seems like a win for everyone.

Many forms of volunteering give the volunteer some sort of benefit; maybe it is a job reference, credit for school, developing professional skills or building their resume. There is nothing wrong with getting something out of volunteering. I have seen people very successfully leverage their volunteer experience into a new job or school application. This is great. It also shows us that volunteering isn't "supposed" to be one specific thing. For those of you out there working with youth volunteers I would encourage you to add evaluation as a key piece to their experience. By adding reflection into the orientation, training or end of the day wrap up you will avoid having the experience be only about the extrinsic reward and instead will uncover all the intrinsic gems that come from volunteering.

Check out these reflection activities for groups put out by California State University, Fullerton
http://www.fullerton.edu/deanofstudents/volunteer/resources/reflectionActivities.html

Volunteering to Employment

I just read a great YNPN blog entry by Lisa Thalacker Joyslin about transforming volunteer work into employment. She had some marvelous tips on how to approach it. Almost anyone looking for a job in the nonprofit field will tell you that networking and the people you know is your fastest way into a job. Employers are getting hundreds of competitive resumes for every opening. Employers are looking more favorably on volunteer experience as a way to distinguish between applicants. If there is one tip I could give someone about turning volunteering into employment it is: volunteer within the cause you want to be employed. Don't worry so much about volunteering for the organization you want to be employed at. The nonprofit world is small despite the fact that we have thousands of organizations in the state. If you are able to get on the right committee or task force you will soon be meeting other professionals and volunteers within the cause and probably some from the organization you really want to work for. And don't stop with just volunteering within the cause. Make sure you are going to educational events, networking events and fundraisers that other organizations are putting on. Because you believe in the cause it will be obvious that you are authentically there beyond just searching for employment. You will stand out.

Volunteering for employment is the long game. It is not a shortcut to a job. Volunteering gives you opportunities for skill development, leadership opportunities and experiences beyond what you have been educated, trained or paid for in the past. Reflecting on my past five years as a manager for the Brain Injury Association of Minnesota I can see that I have had the opportunity for mentorship and growth within my position. But because I also took time to take on leadership roles in other state wide organizations I have turned five years of experience into 15 years of experience. This added experience has given me tools to apply to my day job and it has also given me clarity in making decisions about my future. If you only do what you are paid to do your professional growth will be slow. Accelerate yourself as a professional and volunteer. You will reap great rewards for yourself, and who knows it may get you a job too.

Institutionalized Good

I love working with volunteers and being part of the good they are creating in the world. As I have worked in the volunteer field I have made observations in regards to how people "do good".

Volunteer programs are essential to nonprofits and to the communities those nonprofits serve. They build capacity for providing education, services and advocacy around important social issues. They also create community by bringing together people who are passionate about the same issue; the original Facebook group. Originally many of these nonprofits began because there was some void in support or services for a particular group of people. And just like any industry people realized it would be more efficient to build a unified structure to deliver these supports and services. As nonprofits became more prolific the community began to more regularly look to nonprofits as a source of information, support and service. Everything was looking good. We had an issue, a group from the community decided to do something about it and now we have an institution to rely on. Peachy.

There is nothing wrong with this model but I do believe it has had an effect on how we "do good" in the world. People rely on nonprofits for their services but also as a way to impact their community, they become volunteers. Volunteering means going to an institution in order to make a difference; getting permission to help someone. The result is a person might not recognize their neighbor is hungry and in turn offer to invite that family over for dinner. Instead they search for a volunteer opportunity to work at a food shelf or kitchen to serve families affected by food scarcity; maybe ending up serving at the food shelf their neighbors go to. In some ways we have institutionalized good. Through the system of service we have shifted the responsibility of people taking care of people and neighbors taking care of neighbors to an institution.

I believe there is a balance in providing opportunities through nonprofits to serve others and empowering and encouraging people to take action immediately when they see the need in their community. As a professional Volunteer Manager I would encourage my colleagues to understand this balance of collaboration and empowerment. As organizers we have the opportunity to bring people together and also give them the knowledge, tools and maybe the push they need to make a difference in the world. We can balance bringing people into our organization with supporting the organic service they are doing in their community.

Test this theory: If you are wondering whether or not you live in a neighborhood where people take care of people and neighbors take care of neighbors do this one activity. Go to each house on your block and ask for a cup of sugar. Let me know how many cups of sugar you collected and what you learned about your neighbors.