Is a non-profit job really different from a job in the for-profit sector?

Well, yes and no.


The for-profit sector has one over-riding goal. That goal is profit. I don’t mean to imply that people in for-profit businesses aren’t good people doing good things, but the whole reason for the existence of the company they work for is profit. Profit is not a bad thing. Profit motivates people to work hard, try new ideas and innovate. For-profit companies come up with all sorts of idea that help people, families, and society in general. If a pharmaceutical company invents a vaccine for AIDS that will be a huge benefit to many individuals and society in general. The company will also make a lot of money from it. That profit does not take away from the fact that it is beneficial.

At the other end of the for-profit spectrum examples like Enron and AIG come to mind. These are examples where greed got the better of some people who could make decisions and they were purely interested in profit alone, at the expense of any possible benefit to individuals and society in general. Here there was no benefit to anyone, and actually a great deal of harm. Profit for profit’s sake led some people down the wrong path. Of course that can also happen with a non-profit as we saw with the United Way scandal, but I think it is much less likely.

I spent 15 years in for-profit and had a successful career there. I enjoyed my work, but as I moved up in the company it was more and more about profits, quarterly statements, capital and return on investments. That just didn’t excite me. I knew we did some things that benefited the world but most of it either didn’t benefit anyone or actually harmed some or at least had the potential for harm. The idea of working myself silly for the enrichment of stock holders just wasn’t exciting anymore.

That’s where the real difference is in non-profit. The mission. The actual work could be the same. An office manager, finance director, HR manager, etc., all pretty much do the same thing in non-profit companies as they do in for-profit companies. The different is that their work in a non-profit is not about making money for stock holders. It’s about the mission. It’s about cleaning up lakes and rivers. It’s about taking care of sick children. It’s about providing bed nets to African children to keep them from getting malaria. It’s about preserving ecosystems for a healthier future. It’s about providing vaccines to a mother who couldn’t otherwise afford to get her children vaccinated. It’s about providing a bed or a meal to a family in need.

So ask yourself, “If I got up every day and went to work knowing I was helping to fulfill one of those missions listed above, vs. making money for stock holders, would I feel differently about my job? Would I be happier to get up and go to work every day?” If the answer is yes, then for you a non-profit job probably would be different than a for-profit job.

One other difference that I can address is purely part of my experience. I cannot say that this applies across the board but it has been my reality. Non-profit companies, again in my experience, are just more humane. The non-profit places I’ve worked have been more sensitive to me as a person, to my need for a work/life balance, and all my other needs than the for-profit companies where I have worked. I think it’s just an artifact of the mission. If you really care about the world, it’s a little easier to treat people close to you better, and a little harder to treat them poorly. It just goes against the grain of why you are there in the first place. That does not imply that you won’t work hard in a non-profit because you will. Perhaps harder than you ever worked in a for-profit, but somehow it just feels better.

That is not to say that all is happiness and light in the non-profit sector. Unfortunately this sector has its share of jerks, a**holes, and just plain mean people. There are folks out there just worried about getting ahead and they will step on anyone in their way. But generally speaking that kind of behavior tends to be much less accepted in the non-profit workplace. Those folks tend to be “in the closet” so to speak. It’s only really bad when one of them becomes a boss, but unfortunately that can happen here just like anywhere else.

Finally, let me dispel a myth about the difference between the non-profit and for-profit work places. When I left for-profit some of my friends and co-workers implied that I would be disappointed in non-profit. Some told me that people went to non-profit when they couldn’t get a job in for-profit and that the work and general quality was just lower. In my experience that could not be further from the truth. The people I have worked with and come across in non-profit have been just as skilled, knowledgeable, thorough, meticulous, and hard working as anyone I’ve met in the for-profit world.

Please email me with your questions at zippyjobadvice@gmail.com

Should I Take Just Any Job I Can Get?

I once had a boss who used to like to tell us all about these little sayings he made up. The only one that made sense to me was “It’s better to want what you don’t have than to have what you don’t want.” He would always pull that one out when we were hiring someone. It makes sense. A bad hire is worse than no hire at all.

In some sense this is true for jobs. A bad job can be worse than no job at all. But the “Should I take just any job I can get?” question is really one that no one else can answer for you. What is your situation? Do you have a family to support? Are you running out of money? Are your kids hungry? What’s the economy like? I’ve always said that I would work at McDonald’s slinging fries if that was what it took to feed my kids. Fortunately I have never been in that situation.

I would recommend carefully weighing the down side of taking a job you don’t really want. While it might make some sense to put some food on the table or pay the mortgage, you need to recognize that the time it takes to get good at a new job is time away from looking for the job you really want. It’s also true that the psychological drain of being in a job you really hate can take away from the emotional energy you need to look for a job. Looking for a job is hard work and if you already have one it’s going to use up a lot of your time and energy. It will be almost like doing two jobs if you do it right.

I am a strong believer in going with your gut. If you have a bad feeling about a job there is probably a good reason. If you’ve got that bad feeling I suggest you dig and dig and dig some more and totally satisfy yourself before saying yes. By dig I mean ask to speak to others at the company. Who supplies (information or anything else) to the group? Who do they get their raw materials (information, budgets, whatever they “need” to do their jobs) from? These are good places to ask questions. Basically go upstream and downstream of the group you will be working for to get a good feel for them. If you are wondering if you can get access to these groups, I think you should be able to. If a company has made you an offer they should be willing to allow you to talk with other employees to help you make your decision. If they are not willing to let you talk with other employees than my guess it’s because they have something to hide and I think you should stay away from them.

But in the end there is no one right answer to this question. I am convinced that good people get jobs. And good people eventually get good jobs. You have to decide what is right for you and your situation. I would just caution you not to go against you gut unless you really feel you have to. If you do decide to take a job you don’t really want, go into it with your eyes open and a plan in mind.

Email me with your questions. zippyjobadvice@gmail.com

OH NO! THEY SAID NO!

Whenever someone tells me they got a “no” on a job they wanted, I look them in the eye and say, “great news!”

Now I’m not being mean, and I’m not so naïve that I don’t know it’s tough to get a no, but guess what. If you are looking for a job, you are going to get a lot of “nos.” So think about it. If I have to get a lot of nos before I get a yes, then if I just got a no, I’m one closer to that yes.

It may seem counter-intuitive, but it’s really how it works. Sales people really understand this. I’ve known sales people who really celebrated the nos. They knew that if they got a no they were just that much closer to a yes. Statistically speaking it’s just how it works.

I had a wise boss once who’s advice was always “fail faster.” He ran a medium size research facility. He didn’t want everything to fail, but he knew that in research there are just a lot of failures. So the idea was to get to the fail point as quickly a possible so as not to waste any more time than needed on a failure and move along to the next thing. In research there are probably 99 failures for every success. If it takes you a month to get to the failure point then you will have a success after 100 months – that’s over 8 years. If you can shorten the failure cycle to 1 day then your success comes just over 3 months. So failing faster can be a profitable idea. In my opinion it’s pretty much the same with finding a job.

Now, this advice needs to be taken with a healthy dose of common sense. It doesn’t mean you should fail or get a no on purpose. It also isn’t an excuse not to do your best or to apply for some job that makes no sense for you just to get a no. But if you get out there, work your program, do your best, and give it your all, then a no really isn’t a bad thing.

You’re just that much closer to that yes. Which ain’t a bad thing.

Remember to that if you have to get through a lot of nos then you better have lots of irons in the fire. I'll talk about volume and what I think of it, in a future post.

If you have a question email ZippyTheWonderbat at zippyjobadvice@gmail.com

What's the key

Hi Again:

I've been thinking about this question. What's the one key element to finding a job? Is it a great resume? Knowing someone? Networking? Persistence? Doggedness? A nice suit? The ability to lie through your teeth? Thinking fast on your feet? An amazing smile with dazzling white teeth?

Well most of those are useful or important (although I'd never lie, it's a bottomless trap). But none of them feel like the real key. What advice did I get that I stuck to that made my job hunts successful? What worked for me and what have I seen work for others?

After pondering long and hard I hit on the answer. Or at least the answer for me. It's being realistic and giving yourself a break. Every day get up in the morning and lay out what success for that day will be. It will be different on different days. Some days it might be "I'll apply for 10 jobs on line." Other days it might be "I'll sign up for unemployment today." or "I will find one job I want to apply for today.".

Note that those possibilities really move across a range. Guess what. Not having a job is tough. It's depressing. It's supposed to be depressing. It's hard. Find a job is hard work. It's a darn sight harder than actually having a job. Some days will be pretty good, and some days will absolutely suck. Some days you'll do all you can to get out of bed. Some days you may not even make it out of bed. That's what being unemployed and not having a job and looking for a job is like. That's the bad news.

The good news is that it's not impossible. It's damn tough, but it's not impossible. Others have done it. Frankly if I've done it, I bet you can too.

My point is to be realistic. "Today I'm going to find a job." is not a particularly realistic goal for the day. Define success that way and I don't think you are going to feel successful very often. Give yourself a break. Define success as something realistic and something within your control.

Once you've reached success for the day, allow yourself to celebrate a little bit. I don't mean blow all your money on the town. Pick a small reward. What works for you? Have a cookie. Watch a movie. Spend 45 minutes playing that on line game you like. Just reward yourself a little bit and don't feel guilty about it. But if you do, that's OK too.

You're not going to be Mr. or Ms. happy cheerful person all the time when you are out of work and looking for a job. That's OK. Cut yourself some slack. Anyone who tells you that you have to be cheerful positive and look at everything through rosy glasses all the time is not being realistic. And they are probably trying to sell you their "system" for finding a job.

So set your goals a little more modestly. Define success as something you can actually achieve. This should not be used as an excuse to do nothing and pretend you did something. You know yourself. Set a goal that's right for you today. Not too easy and not too hard. String together a few successful days and you might feel up to a slightly more challenging goal soon. Next thing you know you'll string together a bunch of success, start feeling good about yourself, and really get moving.

You'll have bad days. That's OK. Just keep plugging.

I know you're looking for a job, but you already have a job. Your job is to find a job. It's volunteer work, but it's worth it. It's for you. It's for any family that you may have. If you felt a little down one day, you wouldn't call in sick would you? No, you'd probably suck it up and go to work. Well, this is your work. Keep plugging at it and you'll eventually get what you are working for. You may not know it, but you're employed. Think of it that way and it will be easier to do.

ZippyTheWonderbat

Who is ZippyTheWonderbat and what does he know about getting a job?

Hello:

I'm ZippyTheWonderbat, a male in his late 40's living in the Southeast (although I'm not originally from here). I'm a regular guy from a blue collar family who got himself educated. I had a successful 15 year career in the for profit sector before I got laid off. I took that opportunity to re-evaluate what I wanted out of life and decided I wanted to make a difference in the world. I wanted to do something I could passionate about. I wanted to go to work every day and know that I was making the world a better place for my kids, and hopefully someday, grandkids. The idea of spending my blood, sweat, and tears enriching share holders was no longer appealing to me. I wanted to do something that was meaningful to me.

At that point I embarked on a non profit job search. After a few months I landed the job of my dreams. For 5 years it was the best job I ever had. When the time came to move on I embarked on another job search and found the next job of my dreams. For the last year I've been loving my current job.

Over the last year of so I've helped several of my friends find jobs. I've given advice on resumes and cover letters, networking, and nearly every other aspect of the job search process. I didn't set out to help people find jobs, I just wanted to do what I could to help my friends. Since then I've been told by many people that I should open a business giving job hunting advice. I've been told my help was critical and I've been called an inspiration. I love my current job so I have no interest in starting my own business right now, so instead I decided to start a blog.

The purpose of this blog is to help people looking for jobs. If no one reads it, that's fine, but if anyone is interested here it is. I think I have some good knowledge and I'm happy to share it. I certainly know some things that have worked for me and for others. The other purpose is to create a place for people to share things that have worked for them.

If you have a question, please post it. If you have a good idea, please post that as well. ZippyTheWonderbat is listening.