Hotline
Getting the right degree for an overseas career
Setting limits for volunteer fund-raising chores
Fighting the 'overqualified' tag as a job candidate
The Chronicle's Philanthropy Careers section asks its readers to submit questions about job hunting, recruiting, and management challenges in the nonprofit world. In our bimonthly advice column, we respond to some of those inquiries with tips about resources and recommendations from experts.
Previous editions of Hotline are available at http://philanthropycareers.com. Send your questions about job hunting, recruiting, or managing in the nonprofit world to hotline@philanthropy.com.
Q: I am currently studying for a master's degree in theology. I would like to develop a career in humanitarian work overseas, particularly in Africa, and would like to get on the right track to reach my goal. What master's degree should I attain for this type of career? And whose advice should I seek?
A: The quick and easy answer is: a master's degree in public health, says Nathaniel Dunigan, founder and director of Aidchild, a nonprofit organization in Uganda that provides homes, medical care, and education to orphans with AIDS.
"The degree offers important historical perspectives and a critical understanding of the health issues facing our world today," he says. A master's in public health will also open many career doors for you in the international community, whether your interests are in research, service, government or development, adds Mr. Dunigan. "An M.P.H. is to the modern humanitarian scene what an M.B.A. was to the corporate world in the 1980s."
Of course, a master's in public health is not the only degree that can provide a solid foundation, says Josh Ruxin, director of the Access Project for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a program administered through the Earth Institute at Columbia University, which focuses on public health needs and poverty in Rwanda. If you would prefer to work directly with governments and make public-policy recommendations, a master's in international relations or development might be a better route; or if you're interested in economic development, a master's in business administration may be the answer.
In fact, Mr. Ruxin suggests that anyone hoping to work for an aid organization consider attaining a management degree. "There is a great shortage of that particular skill set in humanitarian work," he says. "Excellent managers are usually snatched up by the private sector."
In addition to general administrative abilities, there is also a need for many specialized skills, such as those required for HIV/AIDS program management, notes Dave Piraino,executive vice president for human resources at Catholic Relief Services, in Baltimore.
"While there is generally adequate medical staff, there is an inadequate pool of candidates that have HIV/AIDS and related health programming and project-management skills," says Mr. Piraino.
His charity and others like it, he says, are always seeking applicants with backgrounds in conflict resolution and mediation experience. Several universities offer master's degrees in peace and justice studies, where you can learn such skills.
You will need more than a good education to be successful, however, says Mr. Dunigan: "The life of a humanitarian in Africa has an extreme number of challenges, and you will likely feel unequipped to address them if your main resource is a degree."
So before you apply to a master's program, do some hands-on research. Start by talking with your college or university's career counselor. Then, obtain informational interviews with people who have worked for international aid groups. (You can read more about informational interviewing in Philanthropy Careers' archives.)
Mr. Dunigan also suggests contacting the U.S. Foreign Service. "Specialists in the field have access to opportunities and resources that simply aren't available to most other humanitarians," he says.
Volunteering, especially for the Peace Corps or another aid organization, might also help clarify your future, he says. "Churches and service clubs also often have opportunities that might provide you with just the right experience to get your feet wet, and your goals more fine tuned."
Or plan your own trip to the country where you envision yourself working and meet some of the expatriates there, suggests Mr. Ruxin. "Particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, these tend to be tightly knit groups who are happy to share their experiences with you," he says. "A short visit of a couple of weeks will yield valuable insights that may help to steer you down the right path."
Q: I have recently begun volunteering at a nonprofit arts group. I feel I have been given projects that are above and beyond what can be reasonably expected of a volunteer — such as putting me entirely in charge of finding funding and corporate sponsorship. I have put in many hours already, and my supervisor, whose job is salaried, has mentioned nothing to me about compensation. I feel that I deserve something for my efforts and would like to propose to her that I take a cut of whatever money I can raise. Is 5 percent fair — and is it appropriate for me to suggest this arrangement?
A: For small charities with limited resources, volunteers are an invaluable asset, says Rebecca Young, president of TACA, a nonprofit organization in Dallas that promotes the performing arts. Her charity has just four full-time employees and more than 75 committed volunteers.
But volunteers, by definition, don't get paid, no matter how tough their work is, says Ms. Young. "If you signed on as a volunteer," she says, "I think it's inappropriate for you to expect to be paid."
However, she adds, you should be getting some satisfaction from the experience — and if you're not, you should talk to your supervisor.
"It sounds as if you are a valuable and productive volunteer, but it also sounds like it is too much — and too stressful perhaps — for you to do this much work as a volunteer," she says. "There is nothing wrong with coming to this conclusion. It is, however, your responsibility to set your volunteer parameters, not your supervisor's."
Ask for a written outline of your responsibilities and the time commitment the group expects of you, suggests Jeff Gray, director of business and community affairs for City of Refuge, a charity in Atlanta that provides food, shelter, and job training to the needy. Then decide if you feel comfortable with what is being asked of you. If not, tell your supervisor, in writing, what you are willing to do.
"The result of this process should be a volunteer role that is manageable and fulfilling for you and beneficial to the nonprofit," he says. "If your supervisor is not ready and willing to work through it with you, consider investing your time and talents with another organization."
On the other hand, perhaps what you really want is a job.
"If the organization is relying on volunteers so much for fund-raising support, it may well be time for it to consider employing a paid fund raiser," says Paulette Maehara, president of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, in Alexandria, Va. "It is most certainly appropriate for you to bring these issues up, especially because the organization seems to rely on you so much, and it always needs to hear the views and perspectives of its volunteers."
If the organization does create a full-time position for you, however, be aware that the percentage-based compensation structure you propose is highly unethical, says Ms. Maehara. Her group, which represents more than 27,000 fund raisers, takes the position that a charity's mission must come before a fund raiser's financial self-interest. To take a percentage of money raised, she says, means that "charitable mission can become secondary to self-gain, donor trust can be unalterably damaged, and there is incentive for self-dealing to prevail over donors' best interests."
Indeed, the Association of Fundraising Professionals prohibits its members from working for percentage-based compensation or accepting finder's fees. (You can download a copy of the group's ethics code on its Web site.) "It is critical to the profession and to the sector to follow an enforceable code of ethics," says Ms. Maehara. "It serves as a guidepost for new fund raisers, such as yourself, to help you determine the most ethical and, in the long term, effective course of action when soliciting donations."
If you have questions, Ms. Maehara encourages you to call the Association of Fundraising Professionals' Ethics Committee at (800) 666-3863.
Q: I have been trying for years now to get a position as a program officer at a foundation, in one of my areas of specialty (youth development, employment and training), with zero success. I have a master's degree; I believe I have a good résumé and write excellent cover letters (I'm a published author), and I worked for 15 years for a nonprofit organization that funneled donations to other charities. But still, I can't get an interview — the one time I did, I was told I was "overqualified." Is it simply because I have never worked at a foundation? Or is there something else I could be overlooking?
A: Foundation jobs are notoriously difficult to get because there are few of them and there's very little turnover, says Laura Gassner Otting, author of Change Your Career: Transitioning to the Nonprofit Sector, which is being released this month by Kaplan Publishing. Foundations make up about 5 percent of nonprofit organizations and employ less than half of 1 percent of its workers, she notes, citing statistics from Independent Sector, a Washington coalition of more than 500 charities and foundations.
And when they do hire, they're picky.
"Corporate foundations tend to hire from within their own ranks, typically from retiring executives or marketing and public-relations senior staff," says Ms. Otting. "And private foundations are often looking for people with deep experience, a Ph.D, or sometimes both, in the fields that they fund."
You may have better luck with one of the newer foundations created by Internet millionaires and venture capitalists, she says: "The newer foundations do not share the typical traits of older, more staid foundations and thus think more creatively about the hires they make."
Your lack of direct foundation experience is probably not the issue, says Andrea Briscoe, director of human resources at the Ms. Foundation for Women, in New York. Your main obstacle, she agrees, is the stiff competition, and so you need to find a way to get on people's radar. Rather than continue to send résumés, spend time getting to know employees and board members of foundations where you would like to work, she suggests.
Set up informational interviews with someone in human resources and with staff members who are attuned to your area of expertise, suggests David Waldman, vice president for human resources and administration at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in Princeton, N.J.
"This can help you assess the organization's potential need, and at the same time it's a stress-free opportunity for the organization to become familiar with your background," he says. Also, ask about any short-term consulting opportunities that would allow the organization to become familiar with your work, he suggests.
One obstacle you may be facing is that foundations tend to operate in an insular fashion and develop strong internal cultures that can be difficult to break into, says Handy Lindsey, executive director of the Cameron Foundation, in Petersburg, Va. For example, he says, foundations typically prefer to teach new employees their particular brand of grant making, so an applicant with substantial experience, like yourself, may be regarded as having a lot to unlearn and is thereby less attractive.
Office culture could be working against you in another way too, he says: Maybe your cover letters and résumé are giving off some signal that you're not a good fit. If that's a possibility, he says, "You may want to have your documents reviewed by a career coach or an executive-search manager."
In regards to being "overqualified," chances are that whoever made the comment meant just that — perhaps you simply have more skill than is needed for the job.
"In my last four recruitment experiences for new program officers, I have been inundated with the credentials of persons who appear to have not read the position description," says Mr. Lindsey. "I've had to engage in difficult conversations discouraging applicants who would most certainly find themselves under-employed in a starting program officer position. No one wants to be in a position where their skills, experience, and potential for leadership are unacknowledged or undervalued."
That said, if you do apply for a job for which you know you're overqualified, be honest about why you still believe you're a good fit, suggests Mr. Waldman. Employers may not be calling you because they think the job won't be challenging enough and you'll become bored or try to work outside of the parameters of the role, he says.
"Address this issue head-on and assert why the role fits your employment strategy," he says. "This may help to relieve any concerns regarding your motives, despite the impression that your skills may be more highly developed than the position requires."
Of course, "overqualified" can also be a euphemism for "you're too old." For more on age discrimination in the nonprofit world, see "Facing an Age-Old Problem" (The Chronicle, February 3, 2005).