Finding and Landing Your First Nonprofit Job - Jonathan McCoy, CFRE, Becky Endicott, CFRE and Julie Confer

11:28PM Sep 14, 2021

Speakers:

Julie Confer

Becky Endicott

Jonathan McCoy

Keywords:

people

nonprofit

julie

job

network

interview

podcast

linkedin

connection

young professionals

resume

person

friends

professional

values

feel

young

social channels

passion

connected

Hey, I'm john.

And I'm Becky.

And this is the we are for good podcast.

nonprofits are faced with more challenges to accomplish their missions and the growing pressure to do more, raise more and be more for the causes that improve our world.

We're here to learn with you from some of the best in the industry, bringing the most innovative ideas, inspirational stories, all to create an impact uprising.

So welcome to the good community. We're nonprofit professionals, philanthropist, world changers and rabid fans who are striving to bring a little more goodness into the world.

So let's get started.

Hey, guys, Happy Friday, everybody.

So excited, we've got a three way conversation happening today, we're having Julie roll her chair up to the table today,

she's sweating, but we are here.

You're the expert on it.

So today kicks off a new Friday series that we are so excited for this is we want to talk specifically to the young professional, but don't tune out if you're not a young professional, because there's something here I think that everybody can learn and grow from because that's really the posture of this, this up and coming generation coming into the sector is here to stay and transform the sector. So the way we can support each other, lift each other understand each other, it's only for the better.

Absolutely. And if you learn nothing more than how to empower a young professional in your office, then it's totally worth it. Because the Gen Xers I'm sorry, the Gen Z years that are coming up had such tremendous passion. And we want to take that passion and we want to put it on fire inside our missions. And so let's talk about ways to retain them. And instead of ways to drive them into for profit, because we want to keep their energy and heart here.

We agree. So this marks the beginning of our series, we're calling Friday combos with young pros. And we're going to do four weeks through this. So we want to share a little bit about what's coming. But before that, let's do a little bit of tone setting. You know, we love to set the tone for these conversations. And one reason we love young pros is because truly the three of us with we're for good. sit around and talk about young pros all the time. Yep. If we if you look at our marketing of how who we really design, this space for our podcast, all the resources Pro, we really created this with young pros is one of our core audiences is one of our avatars. So don't be creeped out young pros, but you're one of our avatars. But it What does that mean? It means that we really try to think about what perspective Are you coming at this content? And how can we create content that you would feel seen? known heard welcome. And that's just like a bedrock of what we forget is for. So I hope that you feel that or sense that and if you don't like let us know, because we're missing the mark. But it's just, it's got a soft spot in our heart because we just truly value this segment so much.

And because we were young pros, once all of us were in, we remember what it felt like to walk into a nonprofit shop for the first time. And look around with these sort of wild wild eyes going, what is this language that people are speaking? And how do I approach this situation? And what is what is the proper etiquette, you know, to talk to this donor to engage in. So we're just taking all of that early anks that we had early on in our careers. And we just want you to feel like you have an ally in this. And you know this this to us when we pour into young professional, it's really about giving you more tools and assets to do more than just do your job. It's about growing you. It's about growing your skill set. It's about growing your network. It's about making sure that you're self reflecting and tuning in and making sure that you're okay from a mental health standpoint, and you're emotionally okay. And because we know that all of those things will converge to create the professional who is thriving in you in personally and professionally and lucky for you. We gave you somebody to be your Shepherd in this. So Julie Confer our amazing producer is our good prof for young professionals and she is always in your corner. And Julie I just curious because this is something that you've done that I think is so helpful for our company, john and i will be charging 100 miles an hour down a path. And Julie will hit the brakes very hard and gently say something like, how can we look at this through the lens of a young professional? How do they get value out of this? You guys might have heard Julie, pipe up in different podcast episodes and say things like, you know, how can we look at this through the lens of a young professional? What advice would you give to new professionals who are in the business and so I just think she is a constant advocate for you and ambassador and Julia I'm gonna throw you the microphone and pop in here and say anything else that you want to say and you're not allowed to say stop talking?

I'm gonna say thanks. Now I feel embarrassed. No, I just think we as a whole feel super passionate about young professionals because like john said, there's just not a lot of resources out there for us and also we're not very good. It all talking about the way that we're feeling anytime I'm sitting down with friends, and we may be in totally different sectors of the workforce, or maybe some are still in school, some started working a little earlier than others, everyone's feeling and around about way, the same thing. Everyone's overwhelmed, everyone doesn't know, like what they're doing, honestly. And so we're just excited to curate these conversations inside pro on the podcast, and just know that we're always thinking of you. And I just hope that any young professional listening really tunes in and then also activates and talks to their friends and talks to their co workers, because I think a lot of us aren't talking about how overwhelmed we feel. So I'm here to I'm here to be that voice for you all.

And there's a reason why we call Julie the unicorn on the team because she literally does it all and sees it all. So, so happy to have you as part of this conversation. So here's the deal. The next four weeks, we're unpacking young pros. Today, we want to dive into how do you get a job? Like how do you how do you rate a job? How do you kind of get your resume and stuff in order to be able to land that job? Next week, we're going to dive into what do you do the first 30 days in a nonprofit job, and we're going to set you up for some serious success. Even if you're maybe new to the nonprofit profession, but not new to having a career, there's gonna be a lot of takeaways with that. Then week three, we're going to dive into money, promotions, difficult conversations, these are all things that make john completely scoring. So you definitely want to tune in. And Episode Four is really designed for everybody else of how do we attract this type of talent to our team? What do we do with the talent that that's young on our team? And how do we better listen and really lift their voices? Okay, so let's dive in.

Okay, so you have made the decision you are you want to go into the nonprofit sector, you're applying for your first jobs. First of all, kudos, we are so excited. Yes, we need your heart in your hustle here. So the first place we want you to start is warming your network. And this is what I mean by warming your network, you need to get on your favorite nonprofits, social channels and on their websites and get to know them, start examining their tone, start examining their programs and priorities, look at their voice and see how they're positioning things. See how they talk to their group get a sense of their goals, especially if you are applying for a position and open position at one of these nonprofits. I am telling you to saturate yourself inside their digital world and get to know them there. It's really going to help you understand what they're about where their focus is, and where can you plug in with your goals. The other thing is volunteer if you want to warm your network, get out there and just start using some of your free time to get inside an organization. Learn the people learn where they're pointing, volunteer movements, how they're integrating with cultivation and solicitation and stewardship. Speak up, bring your voice to the table. The third one is values, we want you to value align with a nonprofit, who is someone that you could see yourself not only working for but perpetuating that mission. If you are someone that absolutely loves animals, you feel so called to adopt and save every single animal, you should be looking at animal welfare organizations or different nonprofits who serve different kinds of animals. And so look at your values, do a self analysis and then find the nonprofits that value align with you. And then the last one is Have some coffee, of course we're gonna say coffee we love coffee here is for me, but yeah, I want hot. But still, even when I'm saying that get out, meet with your nonprofit friends meet with influential people in your network. It doesn't even have to be physically coffee. If people are quarantined down and they have batten down the hatches, have a virtual coffee, ask someone if they would give you 30 minutes of their time. So you can express your dreams, why you want to work in the nonprofit sector and ask them simply who they know, I think most people want to be really helpful, especially to a young professional, I know I do. And any way that they could just flex that network a little bit could really take you from ground 02 already in somebodies inbox or wheelhouse and they already have you on their radar,

I think to which is interesting. We've had guests on the podcast, the pandemic has changed a lot of things. And one of them is the remote capability. You know, we've talked to donor relations professionals that are saying specifically, they work in a space that really can be done from anywhere. So it kind of changes the talent pool. So you don't just have to look locally anymore. So we're going to include some resources in the show notes of this, but also the weird for good community. I mean people post jobs there often. And it's a good starting place just to get your ideas moving of what kind of position you might be interested in and what kind of causes align with your values.

Well, and I even think of like donor relations guru.com I mean, they have a huge job board for donor relations specific positions around the country. So if there's a particular part of the nonprofit sector that you want to go into whether it's a social service or whether it's healthcare, go into those places and try to curate in a way that's targeted toward what your passion and your specificity are.

So okay, let's assume you found a job or a few jobs that you want to narrow in your focus. A lot of questions now come in about what kind of cover letter should I write? And what should my resume look like. So we want to riff a little bit on this. And I'll tell you, I had the opportunity to hire, I don't know, dozen people probably over my time. And that means went through hundreds of applicants truly, that are coming in the pipeline. And there's a lot of things to me that stand out. And we can talk through a few of those. But one of the biggest is this cover letter. And I can't say it enough, but if you're really trying to appeal to somebody about anything in life, but especially a job, that's like a huge opportunity for you, and you're not customizing that letter to why you want to work somewhere, or why that mission moves you or why you're especially qualified, or you're hungry, or excited or anything. If it's a standard cover letter, you're missing a huge opportunity. And if you hang around the podcast, you know, we teach a lot of the frameworks that if you're employing them, it's going to make you more magnetic, being human, you know, storytelling, showing connection, and empathy, all of that converging is going to set you apart. So don't miss the cover letter is my first piece of advice. Yeah,

my pro tip would be do not Google covered nonprofit cover letter, like just don't even do it.

Because this happened. Like I got to fill in the blank letter that story. Some I mean, truly, because I read it, I'm sitting there reviewing all these applications, we actually had this person in an interview. And I thought this seems really robotic, like beyond just like normal robotic. And I copied this sentence, pasted it into Google. And it was literally like, here's a template of a car letter is the first hit from like, they had just called it changed my name. They changed the date of when the interview was, and they changed, like the location or something. And that was really disappointing. You know, for lots of factors, but mainly just like, do you not care enough to customize this for this position? What's it gonna look like for you? Whenever you're trying to outreach to donors, like whatever, I want to put that in front of somebody that you can sniff out authenticity. And it's so clear, it's so such an easy win.

I laughed out loud when you said that, Becky, because I in college slash my friends, would Google how to write a cover letter? Yeah. So I, that's why I said it. Yes, I think Let this be your freedom to just personalize it. There's not a formula to this. And I think, oftentimes the way that we go about job applications, job processes, we think that there's some formula that if we say the right thing, do the right thing, present ourselves in a certain way in an interview, it's gonna work out. So we're here to tell you go for authenticity. I wish someone would have gone back a couple years and just told me to take the pressure off of yourself. And there's not like a formula to this, just be yourself and introduce yourself like you would at coffee.

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It's really about letting your personality and your passion shine through. That's what that's what I want to see as someone who's hiring so want to transition into resume because I think one of the things that a lot of people get hung up on whether you're new to the nonprofit sector, or just new to having a job is people feel like I don't have the relevant experience. And I don't know how to illuminate that on my resume, even though I've either done a lot of these things in college or, you know, in certain social groups, or if you've been a volunteer, or if you've been in a for profit job, there are things that are translatable. So I would definitely say on your resume, put the most relevant experience at the very top. And then my challenge to you is flex your action verbs and show what you've done. That's very translatable things like I lead x, I volunteered at x organization in my free time and I learned x. You know, I envisioned this and brought X to life when I was working on it could be as something as simple as a group project or in an internship. I grew this by this percentage by employing these strategies and tactics. You guys see where I'm going with this because I don't think it has to be I worked in a nonprofit, and I did all of these things and checked all those boxes. me I'm a fit person and I've always hired largely on fit. I think if you have the basic tenets to do the job, then We can teach you and train you up. But I'm more interested in who you are as a human, and how you're able to cross cut against any sort of project industry. I just want to know, can you lead? Can you speak up? Can you communicate with competence? Can I give you a project and trust you're gonna run with it? I think that switching your resume to be in that sort of vein is really going to help elevate you. And it's going to kind of tamp down that imposter syndrome you have, I don't have anything relatable to share.

Yeah, I mean, I agree, I think if you can show that you can solve problems, you know, and whatever those problems are, to me, it's translatable, because so much of it is easy to, I wouldn't say easy to learn, but you can learn because, you know, if you're coming at it with a growth mindset, of course, you can learn all the ins and outs of the organization, especially if it's something you're passionate about.

Okay. So I would say there are four things that I want to see on a resume or some form of them, I want to see an example of how you've LED, I want to see an example of how you have galvanized or gathered support of something, I want to see how you activated that support. And I want to see how you hustled to, like, get it done. And if you can show me all of that. And we click from a personality standpoint, on probably going to give you that job. So there's a little pro tip.

Okay, so once you've created your cover letter and your resume, it's time to activate your network. And I just have to give the caveat that I like to think of it more as building connections, not building a network, because at least I had that experience in college was that you needed to go to the certain career fairs, you needed to be in your suit, you needed to shake the right hands, meet the right people, and you would land yourself a job. And I had the opposite experience, things that fell into my lap came from taking that coffee date or asking someone their advice that I admired the work that they were doing and picking their brains on the phone. And so I think it just I wanted to start the conversation around focus on connections, not networking, because I just think that it's a bad word.

Well, it is a bad word. And we you know, have had the godmother of connection Susan MacPherson on the podcast and I think her framework go back to that episode, I think it was 75. If I remember, right, she just taught us a different way that it's like each person we get to meet is building this constellation of connections using your word, Julie, I think that is a healthier way to view it too. Because it becomes less about like what you're getting from the relationship and more, how can you lift and understand what their needs are, and that just reciprocates, so I love coming at it from that standpoint. LinkedIn gets a ton of press and networking. And I feel like I just want to kind of powwow about LinkedIn because I do think it's a powerhouse place to be. If you're not there. You know, as you're cleaning up your resume and writing cover letters, you need to get your LinkedIn page profile intact. So looking at it from a third party view, like does your profile tell a story like? Who are you? What is your passion? And where's your values? And where does how does that all converge into the work that you're looking to do with the work that you've done? And how does that look visually? Is it visually appealing does it makes sense whenever somebody easily lands on your page, but what I love too about LinkedIn is that it gives you a platform. And this platform is not to be undersold, I think if you're a young professional, it is really easy to just start talking about start having conversations around the work that you want to do, or that you want to be involved in, you already feel passionate about it. So just get involved in the conversation. And LinkedIn is an incredible place to do that. And let me explain why. You know, there is thought leaders that are always sharing their, you know, different articles or posts or pages, just start following some people that you really respect, admire, and engage in their content. Because by doing that, we're leaving a really insightful, valuable comment of that I really appreciated this, this is something I got out of it, being a really engaged commenter is going to expose you to a whole new network of people, the people that follow you, we're going to see that and you're going to get connected and meet with people that you've never been connected to. It's true of us. I mean, over the last year, the amount of connections that we've made, just because of the different content we're sharing on LinkedIn every day, it's like new people that we're getting to meet. And it's just because of the visibility of sharing and connecting and coming from a place of service. So I think LinkedIn is not to be undersold of where you should be as a young professional. I know I'm really impressed anytime I can go and really get to know a person just by checking out their profile.

I'll be the first to say that I did not use my LinkedIn very well and probably still don't in the best way that I could. But I want to ask you guys, your in your experience, someone my age, has anyone ever like reached out to you via DMS, what has impressed you in the way that they come about? starting a relationship with you? I think a lot of people my age are a little intimidated to put themselves out there and that way of reaching out via LinkedIn. Like what Have y'all seen that you liked? In your experience?

That was such a smart question. And I'm so glad we're talking about it. So I set on the advisory board of local university here for their strategic communication school and when I would go in and speak to those students, whether It was in, you know, a conference or just in their classroom, I would always say to them, if you need help networking, come find me on LinkedIn, connect with me. And if you need help DM me, and I think I had three people do it the, for the 10 years that I was volunteering, and but those three people, one of them stayed with me for two years. And I met with her every two to three months. And we talked about her career journey, we talked through the path, it was such an easy thing for me to go in. It was so frictionless to send them a DM to ask a couple questions, what are you looking for. And then I would also say, Hey, if you're applying for a job, once they have dm to me, and we're connected, I would say, let me know where you're applying. And then I look through my network, and I say, Oh, I know somebody over there, okay, I'm gonna just shoot them a quick little email, we were able to get, you know, at least I can think of three of these young ladies, all of them were able to get jobs just by flexing their network in some way. And I just want to say that people again, want to be helpful. They want to help open doors, they remember how hard it was to find a job that they loved, or to get even their first job. So I say, just kind of bury your heart to him talk about what you need, and ask them if they could do one little thing for you. That's just that one little thing. And I never mind anybody sliding into my DMS ever, because I really do want to be helpful.

with the caveat of please don't spam the DM. Right. Yeah, I agree like anybody that actually is personally reaching out like, that stops you in your tracks, you know, because we're all used to just getting spammed for immediately after a connection getting asked to, I don't know, move on my insurance premium somewhere. But like somebody that's thoughtfully reaching out and saying, hey, this really resonated with me or Hey, I have a question about this. Like, what a posture to show up.

And I don't think it's like boastful and arrogant to say what you want. I don't think that you look like a bad person. If you're saying, These are my dreams, this is what I want. I really admire what you're doing. Can we just have a conversation about how you can help me get to that point, I don't think it is boastful for you to say the things that you want.

No, it's actually quite helpful. I feel like on the on the back end, because I'm already starting to think about who do I know in those passion areas who would be a good mentor for this person, who would be a good person to watch or follow on social media. So I think the more that you can illuminate any of that it would be helpful. And guys, LinkedIn content sticks around for ever. And so I would just say, as you're kind of building this network, if you ever meet anybody in business, you know, in life, go and find them on LinkedIn and connect, I will tell you, every time we end a podcast recording, we go and connect with someone, every time we have a 30 minute calendly meeting to get to know somebody that's been introduced to us, we go and connect with them on LinkedIn, it can be a vibrant tool, don't do what Becky did and just create a LinkedIn account 10 years ago, and then not do much on it for 10 years, because now we're starting to flex it and the amount of connection that's coming to us is only going to be used for good.

Okay, so we want you to get off LinkedIn and get into the interview chair. So let's assume you've applied and you get a call or you get an email, set up an interview time, let's go through some do's and don'ts. Because I think there's some huge things here that you can do to avoid giving any red flags.

So the first one is, find two to three things that you definitely want people to know, before you leave. This could be a couple things that you're really great at a story that illuminates your talent, make sure that you're somehow working that into the conversation when they ask you for examples. Or even if you don't can't find a way to work it into any of the questions they've asked you put it into your question at the very end, when they ask you if you have any questions, say I noticed x. And that's really important to me, because I, you know, have this experience and this and I think that I could be an asset here. So find those two to three things that you really want to bring up and set that down as a goal of things you want to work into the combo.

Thank you that was such a good one. I mean, weaving in your these priorities is like a secret sauce. And it's so evolved and smart. Okay, the next one is find a place or a time in the interview to share really why this aligns with your passion and values. If you don't get asked that thread it together. I mean, we believe in the power of storytelling. And so I think answering with story is one of the most important things you can do. People don't want to just hear that they think that you think that you're really organized. They want to hear this insane story of how you took the most complicated thing and showed how you had this insane ability to organize it that's going to resonate and stick and remember in people's minds a lot better than any kind of braggy points.

I would also say, do your research. Make sure that you have gone through the organization's website, all of their social channels. If there's no opportunity to show that you did this turn again turn it into a question at the interview. I noticed on your Instagram you're launching AIX, and I'm really interested in knowing more about it because it aligns with my values in this way or something like that. Find a way to show them that you have done your homework, they're going to want somebody who hustles and does the background work.

So while you're doing that research, which is so smart, also, like, think of a couple questions that you can hold back, that would really not put them in an uncomfortable spot. But quite the opposite. What are some questions that would allow them to shine and be something that you're genuinely interested in learning, by putting those at the end, you're leaving on a really high note, and you're showing that you are inquisitive and showing some of those values that you're just hungry to learn more and get connected with the organization. One

of my favorite questions that I had in my back pocket in interviews was to ask at the end, like a year from now, what their dream for that position looks like. So that they can kind of paint a picture of to also for me to see if it would be a good fit for me and a year from now, what do you want this person to have accomplished? What do you want it to look like? How can the organization look different? And then from that answer, I was able to talk through skills where I could plug in to help make that happen. And then that also may be your chance to see, it may not be a job that you think is best fit for you.

Oh, that was a really good one. Can I tell you what my final question is for the last like eight years. My final question in every interview is what are you passionate about? And that has been such an illuminating question, because some people will be very blunt, say and, and they will relate it back specifically to the mission that they're interviewing for. And I really want to know what personally drives you and the ones that have like open their hearts, I can see an immediate fit. So love that. Okay, just a couple more do's arrive early. Yeah, this is kind of obvious, right? Write a thank you note, at the end, show that you have some understanding of stewardship. And then the last thing is make sure that you're circling back to whoever that influencer was, if there was one who helped open a door, get your name sort of at the top of the pile, share how much you loved the job interview, and the person who hired you and what enthusiasm you have for the job. I mean, it could be the thing that gets them to reach back out to the organization and say, I just heard from so and so they said they had a great interview, I want to thank you for that. They're such a shining star. And I hope you saw it too. And that could be the one thing that pushes your selection over the finish line.

Totally. Okay, we have all these great dues, we have a few don'ts. And some of these may be obvious, but I feel like we should just talk through these. Try not to ramble. And you know, from listening to our podcast, if you're tapping the fast forward, it means we're talking too much, right? So don't you don't want to be that person in the interview, try to be concise and don't speak negatively. I think this is a huge opportunity. Even if you're really, you know, disappointed in your current job situation. It's just not a place to like start throwing people under the bus, it starts to set the tone of maybe that's how that person is going to be whenever they get in here. It's just there's no reason to go there with the conversation. Like keep it up here. Keep it high optimism, keep it enthusiastic. And I think that wins the day every time.

Okay, I have to tell you this next one was the number one mistake that I read several articles that millennials and Gen Z ers make. And it was shocked me dressing appropriately for the interview. Is that shocking, shocking, it was shocking. culture has maybe just make sure that you're extremely presentable.

And you know, the worst thing that can happen. Here's one of my young professional stories. I walked into a meeting where everybody was like C suite level, and I had just been kind of promoted, but I was low on the totem pole. And I was wearing a suit and they weren't. And they said, one person said, did you wear that just for this meeting? I said, Yeah.

I remember that. And I was actually, that's wonderful that you did

that. I'm like, that's that's survivable. Like that's a much better thing to say. And they can feel kind of dumb for being a jerk. But you know, you can just be like, Hey, I overdressed because it's how serious I'm taking this, you know, commitment to this opportunity. Okay, this

is the last one. But don't forget about cleaning up your social channels. If you have been in college, and you have been throwing some stuff down on Twitter that does not align with these values that you're talking about, that you have, in your interview, clean it up. Because I can assure you in this day and age employers are going to all of your social channels to understand who you are and who they're hiring.

And I think I'll just make one last comment on interviews. I'm pretending that I am your like young professional friends sitting at coffee with you. Just remember that this is almost like dating, you are trying to make sure that this is a right fit for you too. I think oftentimes, we get into survival mode, and we just really want a job, we really want to switch jobs. So we are just going into these interviews, just really hoping that we impress these people so that we land the job, just remember that you're trying to make sure you're going to spend a lot of time with these people. Make sure their values align, make sure it's a mission that you can get behind. Just remember that you have a choice in this too.

That was a one good thing that was a strong one good thing

so strong. And I would say to about Julie because she you know was amazing. Number one that we are for good. And she had never produced a podcast when we tapped you to come produce the podcast. And the reason is, is that we knew how she shows up to work. We know how she approaches problem, how she sees people, how she connects with people, all these things that mattered way more to us, because anybody can Google and watch a YouTube on how to produce a podcast. But you can't just innately have those things that Julie had, which made her incredibly qualified for this role, no matter what her job description was going to be, you know,

what's crazy, is I have just somehow, this is not in our script at any point. But it's like, I just realized that everything we're saying is what Julie did to get connected to our former job. She literally volunteered while she was in college, to come be a gala volunteer at our event. She showed up on a Friday night and her bedazzled dress, and use Yes, do you see I skipped a date, I

told the point no to go to it. Oh, okay. I

didn't even know that story, which makes it even more dreamy. And we fell in love with her at this event, even though it was chaotic. She comes in and she applies for a job, you know, an entry level position at our nonprofit, she gets hired and immediately that charisma that hustle that I leaned in mentality, she got a promotion within the first year started leading some donor relations and stewardship. So what we're saying is not just theory, Julie is actually practice this. And it has helped propel her against all of these other individuals, you know, because of just how warm and loving and how much good spa you have, you've got great, Julie. So

at that volunteer opportunity, I would have told you I was moving back home to Dallas in a heartbeat. And just kind of like one thing led to another and I ended up wanting to stay and applied for the job. So just don't go into things with an end game. Because I think that can sometimes be a slippery slope. I think just things happen. And just work hard and keep your head down and do your job and make friends and just be a good person. And I think things fall into your lap.

I agree. And if you're clear on your values, and what's most important to you, I mean, the job title, I don't I want to be the older person telling you this, it doesn't matter doesn't matter. Oh, like at the end of the day, nobody. It's not this magical thing that makes a toxic culture, okay? Like, you want to be in a place that's using your gifts and pairing it with something that you really care about. And that's where it comes alive. It's not the title or

never know where your current position will lead you. So just know you're in a current season for a reason.

Yep, that's it an every low road is going to lead you to your next connection, which is why we're going to finish this conversation talking about how do you start building your network. And I think this is really tone setting for your professional career. I hope you look at every experience in your life as being a little seed planted that will grow possibly at some point, some will grow faster than others. And I love this idea that Julia's challenge, which is really about focusing on connecting, not networking, this is about partnership. So as you start to build your network, I think it's perfectly fine to start by saying it's okay to ask for help. And as a young professional, put your hand up, let people see it, let them come over and pour into you in a way that works for them.

And I mean, just saying yes, I mean, there's power. There's books written about this, right? There's movies about this, there's power in saying yes to being the first one to say, I'll go do that I'll go to the meeting, I'll volunteer for this role, I will, I'm willing to try this new aspect of our program or whatever it may be. Those are the people that you're going to end up meeting like minded friends in the process are, you're going to have an incredible conversation with somebody that's going to change the trajectory, like coming at it with that posture really does change things.

I would also say be philanthropic, be philanthropic in a way that works for you. Give your time give your talent, give your treasure, you're gonna meet people in those spaces. If you're giving to a charity, that means something to you, you're gonna find other people that love that charity, probably for the same reasons. And all of a sudden, you have two like minded individuals who are brought together by their passion, by their belief in this thing. And so think about how you want to give and if you don't have anything to give right now, you've got your time you've got your voice, you have a network, wherever you are, share something for a nonprofit and get out there and just start getting your face and your voice known.

So good. And I would say also reach out to the people that you admire and tell them I can assure you, they're probably not hearing that as much as you may think so in their head. So it's just gives you an opportunity to genuinely just share your appreciation or how much this resonated or connected with you with whatever they did or said or whatever it may look like that genuine connection point is is going to serve you it's going to make you feel boosted by encouraging that person but it's also going to be reciprocal in so many ways. So just reach out.

Okay, if you're listening to this and you're not a young professional one, patch yourself The back, I'm glad you're here, because there are things that we could that can be learned. And we're learning them right alongside you, I can tell you that a lot of these things we're talking about today, we did not employ back in the day because we didn't stop and think about it. And so this puts some intentionality behind your hiring practice and how you invest in young professionals. But I think one thing you can do, if you're not a young professional, is work to introduce young professionals at your organization, to other people, whether they're in the organization or outside the organization, maybe they're in your network, maybe they're donors, when we have a donor that comes in, if you're the major gift officer, don't just take them back to your office or to the conference room, like go introduce them to a couple of these young professionals so that their network can be expanded, it really does create a ripple effect. And you know how we are about grabbing somebody's hand and pulling them to the table, this is our chance to bring our young professionals to the table. And we want them to feel more confident and empowered. And they can only do that if they feel like they have safety from their peers, and that they have advocacy from their peers. And the

last one I'd add here is ask someone to be a mentor. Like we all need mentors in our life at whatever stage of career you're at. But I can say having a mentor during certain periods, especially at times of transition and trying to step into this is completely invaluable. Just somebody that you can be authentic with, talk about your fears, talk about what you're experiencing, and getting feedback on that can be invaluable. And it doesn't have to be super formal, it could be coffee, once every other month, or whatever that may look like, but reach out. And I do think that just the the Ask maybe the hardest thing you could do, but it could be the highest ROI beneficial thing that you could do in your personal life.

So that was a lot. There's a lot of tips, everything in here. So something I'm really excited about is like we said earlier, we are developing resources to help you implement some of these ideas. So inside Pro, once a month, I'll be moderating a workshop with amazing friends that we've met on the podcast and just around the country so that they can share different topics such as mental health, how to find a mentor, just all of these things that we're all thinking, negotiation, conflict management, what is my leadership style? And how can I leverage that in the workplace, we're going to dive into all of those topics once a month. So you can sign up today at we're for good pro.com It sounds like I'm on QVC. But we're just on stream, which is really love to see a lot of young professionals in there and just building a community of like minded people, and we will just all just figure it out together.

And if you're saying oh my gosh, I'm the lowest man on the totem pole of my organization, they don't have any money to pour into my professional development. We got you go to we're for good pro.com backslash scholarships, we have scholarships there, we would love to give you one we've had our for profit friends, investing you already and they want to see you grow, as do we. So we've talked a lot today, that was a lot of conversation that I wish I would have known 20 years ago when I went into business. But here's some themes and some values that we want you to think about as you're going through not only this series, this Friday series with us. But as you go through your career, stay positive, stay hungry, stay humble, stay enthusiastic. And the last one is get confident. We didn't put stay on that because we know that most people do not feel confident when they are getting into their job. But find a way to get confident and know that you do know things you know people you have value to add to your nonprofit fight for investment in yourself. We are so glad that you are committing to learning growing and having humility along the way. We're gonna keep showing up for you giving you the tools and the mindsets to help you get there. But again, it's a partnership and it's about connections. So we're glad you're here at our kitchen table. And we couldn't be more delighted to be pouring into young professionals because you guys are the future of our sector and we just think you're gonna do amazing things with your passion.

This has been good. We're so glad you're here rooting for you.

Hey, friends. Thanks so much for being here. Did you know we create a landing page for each podcast episode with helpful links, freebies and even shareable graphics. Be sure to check it out at the link in this episode's description. You probably hear it in our voices but we love connecting you with the most innovative people to help you achieve more for your mission than ever before. We'd love for you to join our good community it's free and you can think of it as the after party to each podcast episode. You can sign up today at we are for good comm backslash Hello. One more thing if you loved what you heard today, would you mind leaving us a podcast rating and review? It means the world to us and Your support helps more people find our community. Thanks friends. I'm our producer Julie Confer and our theme song is sunray by Remy bourse boom