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Caroline Barlerin ... Top 10 Tips to Land a Job in Social Good

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Top 10 Tips to Land a Job in Social Good

Nothing satisfies the soul like a career that challenges your mind, reflects your values and provides a bit of cushion to your bank account. When you’re thinking about your own work path, I suggest looking at Jim Collins’ hedgehog concept in Good to Great and asking yourself these three simple questions:
... What can you be best in the world at?
... What are you deeply passionate about?
... What drives your economic engine?

The intersection of these three answers is where you’ll find true happiness and career success. Understanding what gives you energy and how to get to do more of that is also really helpful on your career journey.

For many people I talk to, the idea of combining social good with business resources would be a dream job. Although these roles are growing in importance and visibility - often called “social innovation” or “corporate social responsibility” (CSR) – are in fairly short supply. Here are ten steps that might help you break into this specialized arena:

Start where you are. You don’t have to wait for a new job to start doing social good. Whether you currently have a job in accounting or engineering, your company likely has a community relations or other department that pursues some CSR activities, even informally. Offer to manage volunteer events, review grant applications, or lead the giving campaign, for example. These projects gives you experience. And when a broader “social good” role does become available, it’s likely the search will start internally – and your talents will already be known.

Know why CSR is important: Creating positive impact can create both social value and business value. Understand what the fiercest bottom-liners and the staunchest financiers actually care about. Customer analyst firm Nielsen reports that “fifty percent of global consumers surveyed are willing to pay more for goods and services from companies that have implemented programs to give back to society.” Equally important, if companies want to attract the best, brightest and most innovative millennials, they need to integrate positive impact into their structure. According to Net Impact, half of the student population (58%) would take a 15% pay cut to “work for an organization whose values are like my own.” For more on the growing influence of CSR, check out Deloitte’s Business and Social Impact 2014 Trend Report. If you want a career in this field, get comfortable presenting the business case for this work.

Study the industry and follow the people in it. To determine where you might best fit in, you need to know the landscape and language. For a perspective on impact investing, CSR and sustainability, read the Stanford Social Innovation Review, the Net Impact blog, and Sustainable Brands newsletters, as three recommendations, and otherwise consume what you can find, which is plentiful. Join the Shared Value conversation. Follow social good trendsetters on Twitter - people like Susan McPherson and don’t miss the LinkedIn social impact influencer channel.

Discover what skills are in demand. Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), Net Impact and Bridgespan all have job boards that are regularly updated with listings that fall under the category of “impact careers.” Read them! It may be sobering at first given the requirements they often want, but the point is to understand the skills and experiences that forward-thinking corporations and nonprofits desire when hiring in this field. Suggest you also check out roles at B corporations (here’s more on the difference between a“Benefit Corporation” and a straight-ahead profit-motive business).

Connect with people. Meet and follow the pros who already have your dream jobs. After all, none of us gets to where we are without a little help from our network. And generally people are happy to help, either because they were in your shoes once, or want to extend their own networks for the future. A good way to identify people you’d like to meet and reach out to is, of course, LinkedIn. Already on LinkedIn? There are ways to harness its power even more. For example, search by key words (not just by organization or person) which can help you stumble upon related interests. Following Groups is also helpful for job leads, discussions, or articles – you can search by [corporate social responsibility] or [socially responsible business]. It’s also a good reminder to make sure your profile is spruced up and current, because you never know who will come across it, including recruiters. If you land an informational interview, remember to come prepared with thoughtful questions, be respectful of your contact’s time and always follow up with your thanks.

Develop your skillset by learning. Embrace the knowledge economy and gain that extra expertise. There’s a world full of free and paid tutorials and webinars out there! Visit Quora to ask experts for answers on long tail topics such as product management, CSR or even engineering, sales or marketing. Medium is another great resource, check out the recent piece on incorporating CSR into your company. Sign up for MOOCs to learn the some of the “hard” skills you may be missing (for these, check out Coursera, Udacity, Udemy and LYNDA. Sign up for the next Giving 2.0 MOOC – and read the book. Fellowships like the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs and Fuse Corps are also worth considering, so too programs like Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship and the Boston College Center on Wealth and Philanthropy.

Deepen your skillset by doing. Being in the shoes of those asking for, and giving away, money will not only help you develop important skills, but give you greater understanding when you’re working with colleagues and clients on the other side of the table. You don’t have to be a director of development or a grants specialist to gain this expertise. For example, are you involved in fundraising, supplying information to help steward donors, or creating strategic relationships with community donors? (Put another way, did you run a race with Team in Training or for another cause? Congratulations! You have experience asking for money. On the flip side, serving on a scholarship committee, being a Kiva lender or even donating to your favorite charity counts as involvement in giving away money.) Doing pro bono work is a great way to keep learning. Tap into the Taproot Foundation to harness your talents for good and further build your network.

Recognize that the easiest way in is often from the inside. If you have a healthy respect for your own company already, find a position that suits your strengths and network to meet your colleagues in the CSR department. Many companies that grow and expand these programs hire from within, so it is easier to make connections and show your worth when you have constant contact with the CSR team. Furthermore, the startup realm is full of fast-growing companies. As these organizations expand, and increase their profits, they recognize the need for a CSR program. While you may have started at the company as a programmer, marketing lead, or operations head, when it is time to create the CSR program, you will have a better chance of getting in on the ground floor. Also, recognize more and more CSR departments are hiring “sector switchers” – people who move from nonprofits and government realizing the enormous value that experience brings to these roles. Consider a tour of duty at a youth services organization or in local government. The perspective and knowledge you will gain will help position you as an expert.

Donate your time to build your network. There are a lot of conferences around the topic of CSR, but access can be pricey. Reach out to organizers and offer to volunteer by (for example) helping with social media, photography or blogging in exchange for attendance. Some conferences you might consider include: Social Innovation Summit, Global Philanthropy Forum, BSR Conference, Net Impact, SOCAP, Clinton Global Initiative and Mashable Social Good Summit. Can’t get in? Watch the live stream, follow the Tweets, read the blogs, study the speakers’ bios, and join in the discussions.

Have faith. If it’s taking a while for the dream job to come through, find other ways to get involved in the meantime. Look for community organizations that need volunteers or board members, look into other roles or fellowships (Acumen, Global HealthCorps or FuseCorps) that help you get experience along the way. It can be a slow process, and sometimes seems as if these jobs are few and far between, but remember the network you are building and the skills you are creating. Keep at it! Landing your dream job will take time, but when you read that job announcement that sounds like it was written for you, you’ll be there with a thoughtful perspective, deep experience and a network that has your back. Remember – the universe will take you to where you need to be. Good luck! Here’s to the journey ahead.
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Caroline Barlerin has been on her own social good journey for the past 20 years. She has spent her career bridging the worlds of profit and purpose. Caroline is the Head of Community Outreach and Philanthropy programs at Twitter where she’s harnessing the power of the platform and company for good. Prior to Twitter, Caroline ran volunteerism, disaster relief, and giving programs at HP as their Sustainability and Social Innovation Senior Director of Global Community Engagement. Her mandate there was to engage and equip more than 300,000 HP employees around the world. As the Founding Architect and board emeritus of Taproot Foundation, Caroline realized her passion for engaging business professionals in service and nonprofit capacity building. Earlier in her career Caroline ran partnerships for a software startup, designed a rice thresher for small acre farmers in Burma, led Level Playing Field Institute, and consulted Fortune 100 companies as a brand strategist at Landor Associates. In 2012, Silicon Valley Business Journal recognized Caroline as one of their '40 Under 40'. She also received the Hoffman Prize from the State of California for her commitment to service locally, regionally and globally. Caroline currently sits on the World Affairs Council board, Bay Area Women’s and Children’s Center Advisory Board and US Fund for UNICEF NW region board. She received her BA from Vassar College and was a Sloan Fellow at Stanford University Business School.