June 15, 2005 | Read Time: 3 minutes
Q. I succumbed to the voices that said “join corporate America to make enough money to live a good life.” Now, four years into my career as a consultant, I have found nothing but emptiness. But I’m only 26, so it’s not too late to make a drastic career change. I would love to work for a group that does child-protection work, or works on educational or environmental issues. For more than a year, I’ve been looking for such a job, but employers either tell me I’m overqualified or dismiss me as a do-gooder seeking to escape the corporate world. Can you offer me some practical advice?
A. It may well be that employers are dismissing you as “overqualified” because you are unintentionally presenting yourself that way in your résumé, says Karen Alphonse, a senior consultant at ExecSearches.com, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Ms. Alphonse, who specializes in filling nonprofit jobs, says employers tend to call candidates “overqualified” when their résumés include every credential and experience they have ever had, or when it includes information that is slightly, but not directly, relevant to the job being filled.
“If you are applying for a job that requires fund-raising experience, for example, you may want to downplay other related financial skills you have which deal with non-fund-raising activities,” she says. Similarly, you may want to omit your publications, speaking engagements, or travel abroad, particularly if these activities do not match clearly and directly with the skills being sought, she says. “In a few instances, I have advised applicants to exclude an irrelevant master’s degree or doctoral program,” says Ms. Alphonse. “If it does not directly point to your ability to perform a precise role at the organization, less is more.”
However, she cautions, “overqualified” can also sometimes be an employer’s code for “lack of fit.” If your résumé shows very little or no past involvement with charitable organizations, it makes sense that employers would question your sudden desire to join the staff of a charity. The best way to combat their skepticism is to increase your involvement in volunteer and community activities and note that involvement on your résumé, she says. “This will make the point that you are sincerely committed to public-sector work and will diminish, if not eliminate, the prospective employer’s tendency to dismiss your application,” she says.
You might also try focusing your job hunt more narrowly. Find out which nonprofit organizations have a history of hiring from the corporate world by consulting the biographies of the key staff members listed on charities’ Web sites or by asking friends and acquaintances if they have contacts at the organization, suggests Ms. Alphonse. “Targeting first those charities that you know have already hired people with for-profit experience may increase your chances of getting an interview,” she says. “Those who have already made the transition from the corporate to the nonprofit sector will better understand your desire to contribute.”
Once you secure an interview and have your foot in the door, keep it there by discussing how your accomplishments, skills, and experiences as a consultant will specifically benefit the organization, says Patricia A. Hvidston, vice president for development and external relations at the College of St. Catherine, in St. Paul, who previously worked as an independent financial consultant as well as in senior positions at several for-profit companies. You might discuss, for instance, how you, with your consulting experience, could lead new programs and practices at the charity. “As an example, current legislation in Congress may require not-for-profits to adhere to Sarbanes-Oxley principles,” says Ms. Hvidston, referring to the 2002 federal statue designed to make companies more accountable. “And even if this doesn’t become law, the trend will likely drive not-for-profits to begin to utilize these tenets. If you can explain to an organization how you would help them make that transition, that would be very impressive.”
